I have put pea gravel in my entire back yard 9 years ago and flower beds all around the perimeter of the yard and house. This works great BUT Home Owners association would not let me do it in Front
I have st augustine and after the hurricanes the yard is a mess.
I want to go groundcover in front area is two sections of 6oo square feet each. What do you all suggest that will cover in one year and be green besides Asian jasmine. Which is what my county ag agent suggested. Beverly
florida zone 9 want to try xeriscaping needs help
Hi Beverly,
This may sound a little strange, but being in Calif I think that our weather systems are similar... I say strange because most people think of this as a large almost shruby plant... but it might be fun to investigate the possibility of Yarrow (Achilea). I have seen it as a ground cover in a front yard in Redondo Beach. And it was cool. The only thing I am not sure of is how they KEPT it a ground cover. It had a nice soft look to it!
Let me look somethings up, but you might want to check it out... it had a real soft look... as a matter of fact LOL , I might even try this myself. Yarrow is very drought tollerant. And I'm thinkin' (however dangerous that may be) that you can mow it. And you would need that for such a large area.
Hmmmm... thinkin'
Abby
LOL found lots... hehe.
Achillea ageratifolia, 4-10", A. tomentosa "Woolly Yarrow"... I think is what I saw..
Whatever you choose I wish you great success!!
Ab
I can't think of anything worse than asiatic jasmine. It's really invasive and once you put it in, you'll never get rid of it. (Unless that's what you want.)
I was going to suggest dwarf mondo grass. It will look just like regular grass from afar, but it's drought tolerant once established, can take full sun or nearly full shade and requires zero maintenance. You could also buy fewer plants than you need, divide them while planting and they will send out runners and sort of fill in the holes themselves. I use it in my front yard surrounding a dogwood. If I think of it, I'll take a pic and post it here for you. I also have the asian jasmine, which surrounds a Japanese Red Maple, and for which I curse the previous owners... (that and the creeping fig GAH!)
Just found this and am contemplating something other than "whatever grows, grows" since the lawn is actually just whatever grassy-weedy thing grows, gets mowed and into the compost. The mondo grass I tried years ago didn't seem to "take" to a larger area. Anything that spreads faster and would still be a good contributor to the compost? Have areas that really get baked-out this time of year (before the rainy season begins). Any other suggestions out there?