8 Drought-Tolerant Ground Covers for a Vibrant, Low-Maintenance Garden Transform your garden with minimal watering. Close Credit: fotolinchen / Getty Images Key Takeaways Drought-tolerant ground covers are low-maintenance plants that conserve water and enhance garden aesthetics.Options like creeping thyme, sedum, and creeping raspberry offer vibrant foliage and flowers while requiring minimal irrigation.Incorporating these plants into your landscape reduces water usage and provides year-round visual appeal. Ground covers suppress weeds, retain moisture better than grass, and are generally easy to maintain—if they're drought-tolerant, even better. Some ground covers can be planted anytime, but for many, it’s a good idea to plant them in spring to let a plant's roots establish before drought conditions occur. Here, we spoke to experts about the best ground covers to weather dry climates—and how to care for them. David Hillock, consumer horticulturist and state coordinator of the Oklahoma Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Program Mike Arnold, PhD, director of The Gardens; professor of landscape horticulture at Texas A&M AgriLife 13 Beautiful Ground Cover Plants That Keep the Weeds Away 01 of 08 Purslane Credit: Pakin Songmor / Getty Images Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is a succulent with fleshy leaves and thick stems that hold in water, making it very drought-tolerant. "There is a cultivar, ColorBlast™ Watermelon Punch, with a very bright pink and red flower that's really cool-looking," says Hillock. Purslane flowers are known to close up on cloudy days, but newer cultivars keep their blooms open longer without sun, creating a bright and cheery garden—even when the weather is the opposite. Zones: 2 to 11Size: 6 inches tall x 12 to 18 inches wideCare requirements: Full sun; well-draining dry soils 02 of 08 Rose Verbena Credit: Mindaugas Dulinskas / Getty Images Rose verbena (Glandularia canadensis) is excellent at attracting pollinators and withstanding bouts of dry weather; it's a must-have for those who live in the southern portion of the U.S. Hillock notes that this verbena-family plant comes in several different reds and purples. Depending on where you live, it can be used as a perennial ground cover, is mildew-resistant, and blooms for most of the summer. Zones: 8 to 10Size: 6 inches tall x 24 inches wideCare requirements: Full sun; dry, sandy soils 16 Pollinator Plants That Will Attract Birds, Bees, and Butterflies to Your Garden 03 of 08 Hardy Plumbago Credit: Getty / Oleg Kovtun You can't go wrong with hardy plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides). It's easy to grow in well-drained soils and has small blue flowers that look similar to phlox. The foliage can turn a burgundy color, too, says Hillock: "It blooms a lot when cooler temperatures set in during the fall." Zones: 5 to 9Size: 8 to 12 inches tall x 18 inches wideCare requirements: Full sun to part shade; well-draining fertile soils 04 of 08 Poppy Mallow Credit: Getty / Valeriy Lushchikov Wine cup, or poppy mallow (Callirhoe involucrata), is a native ground cover with a long taproot, making it a good candidate for drought tolerance. Better yet, it's good at covering large areas. "You can allow it to reseed itself," says Hillock. "If you have a large area that you need a ground cover to take over, it works great." Zones: 4 to 8Size: 6 to 12 inches tall x 6 inches to 3 feet wideCare requirements: Full sun; rocky soils 05 of 08 Silver Ponysfoot Credit: Getty / Katsiaryna Yeudakimava Silver ponysfoot (Dichondra argentea) is a native semi-evergreen to evergreen perennial with a vining tendency. You'll know it by its silvery leaves that resemble a colt's or pony's foot. "The striking color is iridescent in the summer sun," says Mike Arnold, professor of landscape horticulture at Texas A&M. Just be careful when choosing a location to plant it, he says, as shade and overwatering can lead to reduced canopy density. Zones: 8 to 13Size: 4 inches tall x 4 feet wideCare requirements: Full sun; well-drained oils 06 of 08 Southern Wood Fern Credit: Getty / Hossain Mahmud Hasib For less sunny spots in your garden, such as under trees, consider the southern wood fern (Dryopteris ludoviciana), as it can handle dry, shaded conditions during hot summers. "These ferns die to the ground in winter and can be interplanted with spring geophytes for early color," says Arnold. "This species has evolved to thrive in dry shaded woodlands, but can tolerate moister conditions if needed." Zones: 6 to 10Size: 4 feet tall x 4 feet wideCare requirements: Shade to part shade; well-draining soils How to Grow Ferns, an Easy, Low-Maintenance Plant That Thrives in Shade 07 of 08 Low Prickly Pear Credit: Getty / leekris Some cacti, like low prickly pear (Opuntia humifusa), remain close to the ground and spread on rooted pads. This creates a sea of yellow cup-shaped flowers atop coarse, textured foliage. "Cacti are among our most drought-tolerant landscape plants, with their water-conserving succulent stems functioning as the plant's photosynthetic organs," says Arnold. Because of their built-in protections, these cacti can handle drought and extremely well-drained soils. Zones: 5 to 9Size: 18 inches tall x 18 inches wideCare requirements: Full sun; well-draining soils 08 of 08 Creeping Thyme Credit: Laszlo Podor / Getty Images For those in colder climates, creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum) may work well as a drought-tolerant cover. Its tiny pink flowers pop out in summer, and its leaves smell like mint in the right conditions—although they're not edible. The only issue, Hillock notes, is that they don't spread as quickly as some plants, so if it's more than just a small patch you're trying to cover, then consider a more vigorous option. Zones: 5 to 9Size: 4 inches tall x 12 inches wideCare requirements: Full sun; rocky or sandy soils Explore more: Garden