Mimosa is great, it's green, it flowers, and the bees love it. Covers well and survives with no watering. Dune sunflower rocks, but grows really fast. Look into hardwood chip mulch. It lasts way longer then the shredded mulch in bags, that stuff usually turns to dust in days. Hardwood chips cover well and any weed that grows roots in the chip, not the soil and pulls out easy. Once you get rid of your mower, weed-wacker, gas, oil, irrigation pump, sprinkler heads, fertilizer, weed killer, etc..... you will have more time and room in your garage. PM me and I can meet you and show you what has worked really well for me beachside.