One to two foot California native plants that can be used as ground covers.

To view lower plants that can be used as ground covers, click here, for two feet or higher click here or check out Slopes.

These native plants should work as low ground covers in most California gardens.>

Some of these ground covers are drought tolerant, some shade tolerant, you'll have to click on the clicks to read more. This list is meant to help you filter out which ground cover looks the best for your garden. You can also go to here, mynativeplants.com or here and filter by height.

Arctostaphylos John Dourley as a mounding ground cover. shown here at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. - grid24_12

Arctostaphylos John Dourley, a one foot high ground cover for small gardens. Part-shade inland, full sun near coast.

Arctostaphylos purissima, Petite Margarita - grid24_12

Arctostaphylos purissima, Petite Margarite.

Artemisia californica, Canyon Gray Canyon, Grey Trailing Sagebrush - grid24_12

Artemisia californica, Canyon Gray is excellent in heavy adobe soils near the coast.

Ceanothus maritimus in foreground, Salvia Pt. Sal in background, and Baccharis Pigeon Point in the rest of the picture. This ground cover has been in place for 30 years. It gets mowed to the ground about every 10 years and has had no water except at planting. - grid24_12

Baccharis pilularis pilularis, Pigeon Point is a low green ground cover that looks like a moundy lawn.

Baccharis pilularis pilularis, Santa Ana Dwarf Bachharis - grid24_12

Baccharis pilularis pilularis Santa Ana is another lawn replacement,that is green but drought tolerant.

Leymus triticoides - creeping wild rye, Valley Wild rye, alkali rye down at the end of our road in Santa Margarita - grid24_12

Elymus triticoides a creeping lawn that loves areas that are wet in spring, dry in summer.

Cliff Buckwheat in coastal sage scrub south of Los Osos. Often you can find a trail a few miles from your home full of native plants. - grid24_12

In large areas buckwheat can be used as a huge ground cover.

Eriogonum parvifolium a creeping buckwheat that grows on coastal bluffs and back into some of the inland valleys. Where the salt spray gets to it Cliff buckwheat can be less than a foot tall.

Carex praegracilis (clustered field sedge) - grid24_12

Ceanothus thrsiflorus repens makes a great ground cover in part shade or on coastal bluffs. - grid24_12

Ceanothus thyrsiflorus repens is a prostrate Ceanothus with lots of attractive sky blue flowers.

Carex praegracilis is a green lawn-like ground cover. Carex commonly grows in seasonally wet spots that go dry in summer.

California Poppies are covering a slope in in Central California. Plant a poppy into a native garden and you can make it come alive with small wildlife. - grid24_12

Eschscholzia californica, California poppy makes a great fill in for a ground cover providing dramatic color in spring and summer for a green slope or expanse.

Hazardia squarrosus ssp. grindelioides is also know as a Saw toothed goldenbush. This one has a Behl or Mormon Metalmark Butterfly enjoying it. - grid24_12

Haplopappus squarrosus a small bushy plant covered with clusters of yellow flowers that takes lots of heat and drought in inland areas.

Heuchera maxima, Island Alum root. These plants are about 20 years old. - grid24_12

Heuchera maxima, Island alum root is a good plant in a shady garden. In Los Angeles these are very drought tolerant in full shade.

This pink alum root came from the bottom end of it's elevation and looks like it has some Heuchera micrantha in it. - grid24_12

A delightful little ground cover for a small spot of moist shade.

Heuchera micrantha This Alum Root is a 1' perennial with a 2' spike of very dainty white flowers, a hundred or so spikes at a time on a happy plant.

Iva hayesiana, Hayes iva is native along the coast from Ventura, through Los Angeles, Orange and Into San Diego.. And then it skips and grows in seasonally moist alkaline places along the desert from Lucerne south. Grows as a green ground cover in the San Joaquin Valley with minimal water and tolerates drip. - grid24_12

Iva hayesiana is an evergreen ground cover in warm winter areas, deciduous in colder areas.

Mahonia repens, Creeping Mahonia - grid24_12

Mahonia repens is a pretty showy ground cover for inland gardens, and looks best with afternoon or full shade.

Mimulus guttatus, Seep Monkey Flower, growing on a hillside. - grid24_12

Mimulus guttatus, Seep monkey flower can fill in a wet spot in a garden.

Salvia Daras Choice has blue flowers - grid24_12

Salvia Daras Choice makes a green ground cover with blue flowered spikes.

Salvia Pt. Sal on a coastal bluff by Cambria. This is an excellent ground cover for those areas with salt spray from the ocean. But it also grows fine inland. - grid24_12

Salvia leucophylla, Pt. Sal. Got a coastal bluff with heavy clay and no water?

Salvia munzii is a delightful little sage from San Diego that is very effective on small sun covered slopes.

Flowers of Salvia Powerline Pink - grid24_12

Salvia spathacea Powerline Pink makes an interesting ground cover that throws up a a stunning flower spike in part shade.

Topanga Salvia spathacea came from Los Angeles.area where it was a ground cover in Topanga Canyon. - grid24_12

Salvia spathacea Topanga is another ground cover for the shade.

Solanum xanti, Purple Nightshade has bright purple flowers - grid24_12

Solanum xanti, purple nightshade can work as a great ground cover additive for extra color.

California Goldenrod is native on the Santa Margarita nursery site. It grows on a north slope in red clay and in most gravel. - grid24_12

Solidago californica, California Goldenrod will sucker along the ground making a ground cover. Flower spikes are one or two feet or so high.

Vitis californica, California Grape showing some fall color. - grid24_12

Vitis californica, California grape makes a great ground cover on the grapevine, (I-5)

California fuchsia, aka, Zauschneria californica mexicana, AKA Epilobium canum mexicanum flowers growing on a foot high suckering ground cover. California fuchsia likes to be mowed to the ground in January. - grid24_12

Zauschneria californica mexicana grows throughout much of California, making a ground cover in rock outcroppings.