Aims <p>Dryland ecology recognizes the importance of biocrust and vascular plant interactions to maintain ecosystem functionality. However, most restoration practices have focused on recovering one or the other of these main ground cover. We evaluated their joint reintroduction for the recovery of the structural and functional integrity of dryland ecosystems.</p> Methods <p>We set up an experiment combining biocrust and vascular plant cultivation in the greenhouse, field reintroduced them as islands of restoration, and monitored their composition, survival, and functional recovery during 22 months. We measured functional indicators related to primary productivity, propagule availability, erosion protection, nutrient fertility, and soil-moisture retention.</p> Results <p>Biocrust communities developed into a continuous cover under greenhouse seminatural conditions (three-and-a-half-fold growth in 7 months), with minimal community structure drifts compared to the natural inocula. Spontaneous colonization was extremely low (0.3% ± 0.0% cover) evidencing propagule limitation. Biocrusts retained a stable species composition, persisted in a physiological active state, and maintained their cohesive structure once transplanted to field conditions. Biocrusts grown with vascular plants exhibited a significantly higher proportion of green to brown tissues than those grown alone, suggesting potential positive effects of plants on biocrusts, despite that no plants survived to the final experimental time. Cultivated biocrust patches significantly increased soil productivity, surface stability, and propagule availability in the field.</p> Conclusions <p>We conclude that biocrusts cultivated under seminatural conditions can survive and be established in the field, rapidly providing key ecosystem functions. Restoring biocrust islands represents a promising strategy to improve soil cover and function.</p>