“Will this groundcover work?”
The Trial of Creeping Sedum

This is Part Umpteen in my series about Getting Rid of My Lawn in which I ponder the question of what plant(s) to grow instead.  As much as I enjoyed the book Covering Ground, it didn’t – and couldn’t – answer every question about every site, so experimentation is needed. 

Now there are lots of plants being tried (or "trialed," to use my new favorite hort term) as replacements for turfgrass and they have to meet these requirements:

• Short enough to drag a garden hose across them
• Drought-tolerant
• Less labor-intensive than the lawn was, or at least more enjoyable tasks than lawn care, so you see I’m setting a low bar.
• Happy in this sunny, sloping site with really nice soil.

Here’s the plant I have the most of, since it grows as a weed here.  I call it creeping sedum but if you know the Latin name, please tell me.  I did notice that that groundcover book cautioned about this group of plants doing a poor job of preventing erosion on hillsides because their roots are so short.  It’s always something, to quote the beloved Rosanne Rosannadanna.  But I ain’t giving it up without a fight.

Then there’s my own question/doubt about this plant:  Will it be evergreen enough to look decent all winter in the center of the whole backyard?  Here you see it photographed in January, so whadaya think?