Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Share

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
Not Yet Rated

Wednesday - March 28, 2012

From: Fullerton, CA
Region: California
Topic: Plant Lists, Groundcovers
Title: Strong groundcover for Southern California
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Need a strong ground cover. Hard time getting anything to grow. Full sun. Prefer some color. Low upkeep. The soil probably isn't great. It is a small hill within a planter.

ANSWER:

Las Pilitas Nursery, a native plant nursery in Santa Margarita or Escondido, has a page of recommended groundcover plants that you might like to look through.

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Kinnikinnick) and you can see several varieties that are available from Las Pilitas Nursery.  For example, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi saxicola is one recommended that is low, evergreen and does well in sun or shade.

Artemisia californica (Coastal sagebrush) grows well in full sun and poor soils.  There is a variety Canyon Gray Trailing Sagebrush that grows to only 1 ft high.

Baccharis pilularis (Coyotebrush) does well in sun and dry, sandy soils.   One commercial variety, Baccharis pilularis pilularis 'Pigeon Point' (Dwarf coyotebrush), grows one foot high and twelve feet wide.

You might also check out the article, "Lawn Alternatives Using California Native Plants", featured on another website of a California native plant nursery, Yerba Buena Nursery, in Woodside—northern California.  They also have a page listing Ground Cover Plants.

Here are some from that list:

Symphyotrichum chilense [syn. Aster chilensis] (Common california aster or Chilean aster) and you can see the write-up on the Yerba Buena Nursery page.

Corethrogyne filaginifolia [syn. Lessingia filaginifolia] (Common sandaster) and you can see a photo and more information on the Yerba Buena Nursery page and more photos from UCLA.

Epilobium septentrionale [syn. Zauschneria septentrionalis] (Northern willowherb) and  here is more information and a photo from Yerba Buena Nursery and more from Las Pilitas Nursery.

You can also find a list, California—Southern Recommended, on our webpage that gives commerically available native plant species suitable for planting in your area.  You can use the NARROW YOUR SEARCH option on the sidebar to narrow the list down by putting in the criteria you are seeking.

 

From the Image Gallery


Kinnikinnick
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

Coastal sagebrush
Artemisia californica

Coyotebrush
Baccharis pilularis

Pacific aster
Symphyotrichum chilense var. chilense

More Groundcovers Questions

Short or mowable plant for walkway
June 03, 2008 - I'd like a short and/or mowable plant to use as a walkway in and around a vegetable garden in upstate NY. I was planning on clover, but I want to use a native plant if possible. The native clovers ...
view the full question and answer

Destruction of Straggler Daisy in Austin
December 18, 2011 - I hate Straggler Daisy. Not to be offensive, but it appears from other posts on this site that you, Mr. Smarty Plants, and many others would like to treat it as a protected species. It is taking over ...
view the full question and answer

Splash-proof plants from Oakton VA
October 01, 2012 - Hi Mr Smarty Plants, Re: low, evergreen ground cover, Northern Virginia The bare soil around my freshly painted screen porch splashes up onto the white framing when it rains so I am looking for ...
view the full question and answer

Groundcover Suggestion for OK
April 24, 2015 - I need your suggestion for a groundcover for a flower bed in the sun and in the shade in Oklahoma.
view the full question and answer

Reducing Allergens in Yards and Gardens
January 31, 2012 - What are some allergen-free native plants to Central Texas that thrive in the soil and can survive in the weather?
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.