Los Angeles HOT - Looking for ground cover, lawn replacement

[grumperella]

I live in the SF Valley in North L.A. - unlike Santa Monica, the Valley gets HOT, 90s-100s in the summer, 60s-70s in the winter. According to USDA map, I'm in Hardiness Zone 10b.


Our backyard is huge and all lawn - we want to replace it completely to save on watering & maintenance costs.


We want a ground cover that will do well with light traffic (no kids running around on it daily, but it will get use), FULL SUN, and should be drought-resistant. I would like it to be hardy, evergreen (as much as possible) and WALKABLE - it should be pleasant to walk on with bare feet.


I've been doing lots of research, but cannot seem to find anything that meets all of these criteria. Can someone help me who knows more about this?


So far these options seem to fit some, but not all of the criteria. Am I on the right track?

- Dwarf Mondo Grass

- Micro-clovers or Dutch clover

- Green Carpet Rupturewort (Herniaria glabra)

- Creeping Wire Vine

- Scotch Moss

- Irish moss

 

[Beth_B]

Not quite the same climate but when I lived in Colorado I had a clover front lawn and it fulfilled all your criteria. I had kids and dogs all over it, never watered and it stayed green.

Only downside was it had to be mowed regularly, unless you're ok with bees. Once the clover flowered I had bees all over. But varieties that grow where you live might be different. Now here in Michigan I have abundant clover in my yard but it doesn't flower until it gets 6-8 inches tall.