I've never planted a lawn of it, but I've planted a clump of Carex praegracilis in heavy clay soil with two young 60-pound dogs trampling on it regularly, and I found that it didn't at all mind the long, dry, summers that get much hotter here in the Sacramento Valley than for you in the Bay Area. I've been extremely pleased with it; the only problem I've had with it is that Bermuda grass came up in the middle of it and I had a very difficult time separating them. The sedge wasn't entirely thrilled about having me tear up its roots to extract the Bermuda grass. But after sulking limply for a few months, the sedge did recover and survive.

Don't know where you are getting your info but I do not know of any California native grass species that grows THREE INCHES OR LESS TALL! At least any that I have seen commercially available. Most California grasses are bunch grasses and these are the species that occur in meadows in the state. The meadows are an assortment of mixed annuals, biennials, and perennials with varying degrees of preponderance of two to three bunch grass species thrown into the view. Carex pansa-California Meadow Sedge Click here to read short info bit This sedge species according to Munz, A California Flora, can grow from 6 inches to 12 inches tall. It is found naturally along the coast in what Munz describes as Coastal Strand communities. What this means is that the species is found in areas that are cool and subject to coastal fog year round and may never experience any freezing weather though may reach the upper 30sF. This plant IS NOT A MEADOW PLANT. California meadows are summer dryland plants and can be exposed to broad ranges in temps each day from lows in the 50sF during summer with highs commonly in the 80sF to 90sF. Sedges are not really lawn type plants as they tend to spread rather than form a tight bedding of stems, though they can be forced to mat out by restricting the area in which they can spread. My personal experience with Carex species is that they spread out and in so doing the older stems die out as the rhizomes spread out. This link California grasslands passed off as meadows by the CNPS has an image of the Carex species and recommendations on planting etc. This site defines meadows that I define are grasslands, more akin to prairies,and not meadows which is a more open stand of plants with a preponderance of grass species. But that is just my bent on the definition. Here is a link that might be useful: Larner Seeds

For low-cut, formal lawns I don't think there are a whole lot of native grass choices. Buffalo grass is the only one I am aware of, and I am not sure just how easy it is to grow or how it looks - I have never grown Buffalo Grass. A different idea might be to have some of the high traffic areas of the lawn planted in a typical lawn grass, then use native grasses in other areas and cut them a little higher and less often. Lots of grasses such as Little Bluestem and Sideoats Grama will do fine if mown at maybe four to 6 inches height. They would look pretty normal - something like the rough on a golf course. The whole thing could look very manicured if you keep the edges groomed.

"Bp, when you're out there spreading huge bags of coffee grounds all over the lawn, do you notice that the neighbors start calling in their children and pulling the shades?" One neighbor came over and asked what I was spreading and when I told him, he said something like that was what he thought, but didn't believe it until he asked. Then he told me about some fertilizer he uses that makes it grow so fast in the summer that he can hardly keep up with mowing and watering. I didn't bother pointing out that I thought that was counterproductive. Another neighbor said he might try it after I told him they give the grounds free even if you don't buy coffee. But so far, I haven't seen him actually do it. Many of my neighbors think I'm nuts anyway, since I compost, I don't bag my clippings, I mow my leaves into the lawn and I didn't get the unmetered water. My water bills are already lower than they would be with the unmetered water, and I don't have nearly as many problems with weeds as I'd have with that water (it's not filtered very well and is full of weed seeds). I was walking around this morning and it looks like I'm finally getting sheep fescue and/or red fescue germination. Still not a lot, but at least some of it is germinating.