9 Budget-Friendly DIY Fixes for a Bare Xeriscape Front Yard That Solved What a $5,000 Landscaper Couldn’t

6. Filling Massive Blank Canvas Gaps with Fast-Spreading Groundcovers

I remember looking at a massive, completely empty 200-square-foot patch of bare dirt in my front yard and feeling totally paralyzed by the cost of filling it. I actually went out and bought twenty large, expensive trailing rosemary pots, thinking they’d cover the ground instantly, but they just sat there looking like sad, isolated little green mounds.

It was a total rookie mistake that completely drained my wallet and taught me that hardy ground cover plugs are the ultimate secret to filling massive spaces on a tiny budget.

Choosing the Right Low-Water Carpet

When you need to blanket a huge area, skip the pricey five-gallon pots at the commercial nursery. Instead, look for flat trays of drought-tolerant creepers like Dymondia margaretae (silver carpet) or creeping woolly thyme.

These low-profile beauties thrive on absolute neglect, handle light foot traffic, and require a fraction of the water a normal lawn would consume. Plus, buying them as small plugs in bulk saves you an absolute fortune while building a gorgeous low maintenance front yard.

The Grid Method for Rapid Coverage

To get a solid living carpet without waiting years, you need to plant your plugs using a staggered diamond grid pattern. Space each tiny starter plant exactly six to eight inches apart in every direction.

This clever layout tricks the plants into growing toward each other much faster, quickly knitting together to choke out nasty weeds. Make sure to keep the soil lightly damp for just the first two weeks until their roots lock in, and then you can practically forget about them.

Once your ground is covered in a lush green carpet, you’ll want to add some serious height and movement to break up the flat look. Hit that next button below because I’m going to show you how to multiply your taller plants for absolutely zero extra dollars!