Jeri:

1. Where exactly do you live?
2. Creeping phlox does not work for us in California.
3. "No maintenance" is a dream but not realistic. You should expect to at least water for the beginning months and clean up/renovation once or twice a year thereafter.
4. How big (small?) is "not very big"?
5. How tall is the retaining wall and is there some way you can improve access?
6. Does "lots of sun" mean sun from sun-up to sun down or?
7. What are your favorite colors?

Joe

Hi Joe!

I live in Newbury Park  91320.

I do have sprinklers on the hill that will be on a timer.

The wall runs apx 60 ft from the front of the house to the back of the house  it is a side wall. Half of the wall is only 3.5 feet tall and the hill runs apx 10 feet deep (sloped up from the wall). The other half has a 6 ft high wall and the hill runs about 5 feet deep (sloped up from the wall). I hope that makes sense.

The hill is south-west facing, so most of the day it is in the sun.

Colors  I tend to like the pink and purple flower colors, but the color is not as important as the other considerations.

If there was something that would cascade over the wall, I think that would look nice. Perhaps I could plant something different right behind the wall for that effect?

What about red apple for the ground cover? It seems to be popular around here, though it looks like it does better in shade from what I see.

--Prostrate rosemary has lovely blue flowers & will cascade.
--Santolina
--lower growing Ceonothus
--Succulents such as aloe, small agaves, senecio. The Aloe flowers are very colorful and attract a lot of hummingbirds.

On my slopes I made simple paths with concrete blocks so I can get up there once or twice a year for maintenance. Made life so very much easier. The blocks are mostly hidden in the foliage so they don't show from below.

My default would be lantana, then rosemary. Iceplant-types have nice fls. Ceanothus too, but it is generally short-lived. All these require little water.

Dan

I love the combination of prostate rosemary with lavender lantana.

I've also seen vinca used when there's no nearby bed or lawn for it to invade.

I like the ice plant with the teeny leaves. It cascades so nicely over walls, and looks stunning for one month every year when it blooms. I have seen it interplanted with prostrate myoporum and its grayish foliage with the bright green myoporum is very pretty.

I am in Simi Valley, I have Myoporum and it does well and gets very woody, but you can plant cuttings of the plants when sections decide to die. Lantana works well, plant in Spring so it will grow enough to make it through a frost, I lost 5 small plants I planted during Summer. Vinca does a bit better in partial sun, I have had some do well on my hill and so has ice plants with the teeny leaves are the best, what is the real name of it? I think the ground cover Rosemary will do really well, I tested them in a small section and it has done very well.

why not dutch white clover ?

i have it planted and water it once a month (at most)

Hi I am looking for a ground cover wall for my retaining wall but I'd like one that does not have flowers. Do you have any suggestions?

I am surprised no one mentioned Aptenia cordifolia, about the easiest to grow virtually no-maintenance ground cover for sun there is. Another one is the Myoporum parvifolium 'Dwarf Pink' form, which is smaller scaled foliage and more refined looking. While it does bloom occasionally, it is not all that showy, and would probably serve the purpose for Stephanie or the original poster. Both of these fill in densely enough to suppress weeds, need little water once established, and don't require much in the way of pruning except to cut them back where you don't want them growing into, once or twice a year. Neither is hardy where it gets too cold in winter, but work well in most of urban California.

Can anyone recommend a colorful (pink, red, purple, lavender, etc.) low growing, drought and rabbit resistant ground cover for inland San Diego County? I thought I saw a lot of creeping phlox last Spring, but I guess I'm mistaken according to gardenguru's post, above.