We all know that we face the possibility of more severe water restrictions as the drought progresses without relief. It may be a good time to evaluate those areas where the turf has thinned and consider planting a drought resistant ground cover or creating a mulched bed planted with drought resistant plants. Basically, grass needs sun to thrive. Of the turf grasses that are recommended for our area, only St. Augustine has cultivars that tolerate some shade. Bitterblue and Seville, a semi-dwarf cultivar, have very good shade tolerance while Raleigh and Floratine have good tolerance.
Turf grass is the best ground-cover choice for areas with heavy foot traffic.
Whiffen also states that considerable amounts of energy and water can be saved by planting only one-fourth of the landscape in turf and the rest with ground covers, shrubs and trees in mulched areas. A ground cover is defined as any low-growing plant that can be used to cover a landscape area. Plus, both Mondo grass and Lily turf have dark green foliage. Lily turf has spikes of purple or white flowers in the spring followed by black berries in the fall. The Day lilies and Wedelia also grace us with lovely flowers to brighten our landscaped areas.