Drought tolerant ground cover for dry sandy soil & sunny exposed locations

Many of the tough Mediterranean sub shrubs such as lavender and Cistus as well as low growing conifers such as juniper make excellent drought tolerant ground cover. Such plants will flourish on a hot sunny spot such as an awkward sandy free draining bank or a sun baked corner of the garden. These plants can provide a low maintenance edging plant at the front of a border or can be planted as drifts in larger borders. Such drought tolerant sun loving plants will also cover the ground – locking in any soil moisture against transpiration and reducing the need for weeding and thus cutting down on maintenance time.

Drought tolerant ground cover can be mixed in around taller shrubs or inter-planted amongst drought tolerant grasses and herbaceous plants. You can give plants a helping hand when planting on droughty dry soils by digging in plenty of compost into planting pits and giving them a good watering in and regular watering while they establish, also a decent surface mulch of compost or bark chip after planting will hlep lock in any soil moisture and reduce weed growth, which means less after care and happier plant.

Click Image for Full Profile	Latin & Common Name	Earmark	Type & Form	Flowers & Foliage
	Convolvulus cneorum Convolvulus		Shrub, Ground cover, Container-friendly, Spreading clump	White flowers (Summer)
	Ceratostigma willmottianum Chinese Plumbago, Ceratostigma		Shrub, Rounded - Bush	Dark blue flowers (Summer late)
	Stachys byzantina 'Big Ears' Lamb's Ears		Herbaceous Flowers, Ground cover, Container-friendly, Spreading	Yellow flowers (Summer)
	Cistus cobariensis		Shrub, Ground cover, Container-friendly, Spreading	White flowers (Summer)
	Rubus Betty Ashburner		Shrub, Ground cover, Rounded - Bush	Non-flowering
	Sedum rupestre		Herbaceous Flowers, Ground cover, Alpine, Container-friendly, Spreading	Non-flowering
	Juniperus x media 'Gold Sovereign' Juniper		Conifer, Ground cover, Spreading	Non-flowering
	Erica x darleyensis 'Silberschmelze'		Shrub, Ground cover, Alpine, Container-friendly, Spreading	White flowers (Summer early, scented)
	Persicaria affine Bistort		Herbaceous Flowers, Ground cover, Container-friendly, Spreading	Red flowers (Summer)
	Brachyglottis greyi Brachyglottis		Shrub, Rounded - Clump	Yellow flowers (Summer early)