Ground covers are widely thought of as utilitarian, but these plants also offer a diverse range of beautiful and intriguing options with a variety of colors, textures, and forms. They can unify a landscape, knit together plantings and hardscape, and add extra layers of beauty, dynamism, and surprise. As a replacement for lawns, they can reduce our use of water, fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, carbon-based fuels, and help transform a yard into a diverse landscape of habitat and food for native insects, birds, and other wildlife. In this companion talk for professional audiences to Gary’s encyclopedia The Complete Book of Ground Covers published by Timber Press in fall 2022, Gary will discuss how the moment has arrived for ground covers, a group of plants that simultaneously addresses our customers' desires to make their gardens easier and less expensive to care for, more sustainable and connected to the natural world, and more creative and beautiful. As an added bonus, Gary will illustrate all these benefits and uses of ground covers with beautiful photos taken from his travels to gardens around the world!