The Best Drought-Tolerant Ground Cover

In hot, dry summers or dry soil, a drought-tolerant ground cover provides a decorative alternative to bare soil and suppresses weeds while requiring little care. An annual ground cover grows from seeds or transplants at the beginning of the growing season and dies at the end of the year, and a perennial ground cover returns every year. Several annual and perennial ground-cover plants are drought-tolerant. Select one that thrives in the available light, and, if it is a perennial, ensure it is hardy in your U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone.

A ground cover that grows best in sunny spots needs at least six hours of direct sun exposure per day, and a ground cover for partially shaded sites grows well when receiving four to six hours of direct sunlight daily.

An annual ground cover must be planted after the final average annual frost date if it is used in a cool or cold USDA zone.

Moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora) is an annual ground cover that grows well in poor, dry soil and offers white, yellow, red, rose or orange ruffled blooms up to 1 inch wide from early summer until frost. Growing 3 to 9 inches tall and 6 to 12 inches wide in a spreading, mosslike mat, moss rose thrives in sunny spots.

Moss rose sometimes self-seeds. To prevent new seedlings from appearing the following year, remove moss rose blooms when they fade.

Creeping zinnia (Sanvitalia procumbens), another annual ground cover, features daisylike, yellow to orange-yellow flowers with dark purple-brown centers. It grows 3 to 6 inches tall and 9 to 18 inches wide. Creeping zinnia does best in light, sandy soil and full-sun areas.

In USDA zones 5 and below, a drought-tolerant perennial must survive freezing temperatures as well as dry soil.

Common bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) is a perennial ground cover that is hardy in USDA zones 2 through 7. Named for its red, berrylike fruits, which remain on the plant through winter, this evergreen shrub also offers white-to-pink blooms in spring and bronze-colored leaves in fall. Common bearberry grows 1/2 to 1 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide, and it thrives in sunny spots but tolerates light shade.

Bigroot geranium 'Bevan's Variety' (Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety') grows in clumps 9 to 12 inches tall and 18 to 24 inches wide, and is hardy in USDA zones 3 through 8. Its deep-magenta, 1-inch-wide flowers appear from spring through summer and are followed by decorative seed heads. This perennial also offers divided, medium-green, fragrant leaves. Grow the 'Bevan's Variety' cultivar in sunny or partially shaded spots.

Cool USDA zones experience frosts and freezes in winter and sometimes have hot summers. Several drought-tolerant, perennial ground-cover plants grow well in those conditions.

Bishop's hat (Epimedium brachyrrhizum) bears spiderlike, rose-pink blooms in spring among rose- or purple-tinted new leaves, which mature to green in summer. Hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9, bishop's hat loses its leaves for winter in USDA zones 5 through 7 but is evergreen in USDA zones 8 through 9. Also called fairy wings and short-root barrenwort, this perennial grows 6 to 12 inches tall and wide, and it thrives in partially shaded and fully shaded sites.

Ice plant 'Kelaidis' (Delosperma 'Kelaidis') is a sun-lover that grows best in sandy soil. Its salmon-pink, daisylike flowers appear from early through late summer above its mats of thick foliage growing 3 to 6 inches tall and 12 to 24 inches wide. In winter, its leaves are sometimes tinged purple. 'Kelaidis' is hardy in USDA zones 4 through 8.

A drought-tolerant ground cover for warm climates must grow well in warm or hot temperatures year-round.

Livingstone daisy Mezoo Trailing Red (Dorotheanthus bellidiformis 'Mesbicla'), a ground cover that is hardy in USDA zones 9 through 10, is named for its rose-red summer blooms and spreading stems covered in white-edged, light-green leaves. Growing 3 to 6 inches tall and 6 to 12 inches wide, Mezoo Trailing Red thrives in full sun.

Tansy (Tanacetum haradjanii) grows 3 to 6 inches tall and 12 to 24 inches wide, and features finely divided, silvery gray leaves. Hardy in USDA zones 8 through 10 and growing best in sunny or lightly shaded spots, this perennial ground cover is also called silver tansy and silverlace tansy.