Groundcover gardening help please

I am trying to find a good groundcover to plant in my fairly large backyard? I am doing this partly because I hate mowing. I need something fairly hardy because my two rather large dogs spend a lot of time outdoors.

I live in Northern California.

If anyone has any insight or hints or recommendations please enlighten me? I have a brown thumb! ( and no, not from that, get your mind out of the gutter…sheesh)

I have two recommendations, “ground cover northern california” not turning up much.

  1. Go down to the library and ask the librarian for a book on gardening in Northern California. Your Tax Dollars At Work.

  2. Your Tax Dollars At Work, Part 2: There’s a nifty program called the Cooperative Extension Service in (AFAIK) each and every county in this fine land of ours. And they frequently have what’s called a Master Gardener service. Give Judy a call.

http://cesacramento.ucdavis.edu/Master_Gardener/