by Glory Lennon

Created on: May 17, 2009   Last Updated: May 26, 2009

If you are a gardener with abundant sun then you must know you are the envy of all others who don't feel they are as blessed as you. Of course, there is such a thing as too much sun or at least too much of a brutally hot sun. This kind of sun can be tough on plants. Only the gardener living in a hot region knows that.

To improve things for your garden, therefore, you have decided to add a ground cover to help retain moisture in the soil, to cool it and to eliminate all that weeding we all have to do but which you particularly don't like because of that blazing sun beating down your back. You can only have plants, however, which can survive this harsh sun. It is for you for which this list has been assembled of the best ground cover plants for full sun.

Carpet Rose.

This is a shrub rose with none of the usual fussiness of other more stately Roses. The flowers are much smaller but it more than makes up for it by giving you thousands of them all summer long and even in the blazing hot weather that usually turns every normal plant into dry sticks. A bit taller than your usual ground cover but who cares when it's this hardy and that lovely?

Blue Rug Juniper (Juniperus Horizontalis).

An ultra hardy evergreen shrub with a bluish tinge to its pointy foliage, barely gets over 6 inches off the ground. It creeps along rooting itself as it goes and it goes a long way. One plant can cover up to 5 square feet. Takes full sun and part shade and likes regular watering. Has tiny dark blue berries too. Very attractive and virtually carefree.

Daylily (Hemerocallis).

Loves the sun and tolerates any soil, takes extremes both ways and there are endless colors, styles, sizes and cultivars from which to choose. Foliage dies down in winter acting like a mulch to prevent any invading weeds so you never have to even do that. Considerate of it, don't you think?

Creeping Jenny.

Not even an inch off the ground this little perennial cutie with round bright green leaves and sunshine yellow star shaped flowers is simply adorable and hardy as can be. Invasive where water is plentiful but isn't that what makes a ground cover great? Loves the sun but can take part sun too. Looks great in hanging baskets and cascading over rock walls.

Blue Festuca (Festuca Ovina Gluaca).

Gray blue powder puff-like grassy clumps make a nice tough and hardy perennial ground cover for sandy, poor soil where the sun is brutal. Very unique and eager to spread and be useful.

Yellow Stonecrop "Ellacomeanum" (Sedum Kamtschaticum).

A pretty perennial ground cover which forms dense mat of bright green fleshy leaves 2-4 inches high. In summer star shaped yellow flowers cover it entirely. Spreads quickly even in poor soil, loves sun and defies drought.

So you have sun, perhaps too much of a good thing but you need despair no longer. With these lovely ground covers you can breath easy knowing your yard will be a much cooler haven for you, your family and even the neighbors. They'll want to hang out where it looks especially nice and that will be your yard. Lucky you!

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