Common name:Lavender Cotton
Botanical name:Santolina chamaecyparissus

This groundcover-small shrub will grow to 3' tall and has small, greyish-silver leaves with yellow flowers that bloom in the summer.

Common name:Mother-of-Thyme, Creeping Thyme
Botanical name:Thymus praecox arcticus

This evergreen groundcover needs full sun to light shade. It grows to 3" tall, forming a dense, thick mat. It needs well-drained, light soil. Creeping Thyme is considered drought tolerant. The foliage is dark green and slightly hairy. It has a pleasant, minty fragrance when crushed, though not considered for culinary uses. Flowers are lilac-purple and bloom in the summer. Attractive to bees and butterflies.

Common name:European White Birch
Botanical name:Betula pendula

This medium-size weeping tree will grow to about 40' tall and has a whitish-brown bark with deciduous green leaves.

Common name:Red Star Texas or Autumn Sage
Botanical name:Salvia greggii 'Red Star'

This shrub will grow 1'-4' tall and wide. It has glossy green leaves with red flowers that bloom from spring through fall. It prefers well draining soil with regular watering although it will take drought conditions. It will become leggy looking. Prune spent flowers to encourage more blooming.

Common name:Santa Barbara or Mexican Daisy
Botanical name:Erigeron karvinskianus

This low mounding perennial, with fine leaves and white to pinkish daisy-like flowers, is an excellent asset to rock gardens.

Common name:Monarch Blanket Flower
Botanical name:Gaillardia X grandiflora 'Monarch'

Gaillardia gra. 'Monarch' is a perennial. Grows to 2'-4' high, 1.5' wide, with roughish grey-green foliage and single or double mixed red and yellow bicolor blooms 3"-4" across. Exceptionally long bloom. Keep dead-heading and they'll bloom til frost.

Common name:Prostrate Rosemary
Botanical name:Rosmarinus officinalis 'Prostratus'

The 'Prostratus' grows to a height of 2'-3' with a spread to 8'. Its flowers are pale, lavender-blue in color, and the leaves are needle-like with a dark, blue-green color. This plant makes a good ground cover, and its leaves can be used as seasoning in cooking. Bloomtime is winter and spring, but also intermittently throughout the year. This ground cover like full sun and well draining soil. It is drought tolerant once it's established.

Common name:Elijah Blue Fescue
Botanical name:Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue'

The 'Elijah Blue' is a lovely ground cover grass with silver blue foliage that quickly reaches 12" tall and wide. This evergreen grass has golden flowers that bloom in summer. However, 'Elijah Blue' is grown for its foliage. Plant in full sun in coastal areas; in warm inland areas, it should receive afternoon shade to prevent it from turning brown. It is drought tolerant once it's established. It prefers well draining soil.

Compost for Healthy Soil and Plants

The natural world works in cycles. Everything is changing form and moving from place to place in an endless energy exchange system. The leaves and twigs that fall to the ground, not to mention other life forms that might die, decompose and combine with water, air and minerals of the soil to create a medium for future plants.

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Permeable Surfaces

If you have impermeable paving that you would like to make permeable, there are two main methods for doing so:
1. Break up hard paved surfaces to create spaces for water to seep through.
2. Remove and replace the surfaces with permeable paving.

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