>> at the moment is hard summer so it's very hot most of the time and the area is very sunny. Hard time to start anything without copious amounts of water. Heck, itâÂÂs a hard time. Period. I would strongly suggest an airy mulch such as straw instead of a flat mulch such as bark or wood chips. Both can work well, but in your high temperatures you need insulation on the soil. >> should i use those small water sprinklers or drippers at the beginning? If you can, itâÂÂs easier to control the watering with slow drip emitters and you control the amount with time. Most plants do not need to have their leaves watered, so the less water that gets sprayed, the better. Sprays can be helpful when seeding, but I use lines of drip tubing (with the holes all along its length) covered with lots of airy-type mulch to keep the surface, and thus the small seeds, from drying out. It seems to work well. I do hit it with a hose occasionally. However, end emitter drip in the desert carries the possibility of a hidden problem. With very stingy drip and good drainage, such as with "sandy compost" ground, you can have underwatering in a way. You can drip water for an entire day and although the water has gone down quite a bit there might be no trace of moisture in the soil just one foot away. Be sure to check often for what is NOT getting watered. >> how long to water each session depending on what method will be used to watering. Your times depend on your results. HowâÂÂs THAT for a wimpy answer! We have had less than an inch/25mm of rain in the entire year so far, so the drip system is everything. At times I watered cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers every single day. Now itâÂÂs every three days at 100+F/39C+. The tomato roots are huge and the plants wilt at about four days in the full sun. Most everything else gets watered along with them since the drip system has only two circuits.

As for ones I have, I like the Purple Verbena... I think you might look under Desert Verbena??? There is a CA Native I think. I also think Mex. Evening Primrose would do well... and would compliment the Verbena although a ahrubbly plant...spreads fast and the Lighter Pink Blooms really look good with a variety of plants. Mine has been blooming like crazy for the last month with hardly any water. Both of the above are easy to transplant and spread quickly. You may also want to check into some Ceonothus...there are lots of vatieties to suit dif situations and need no summer water. You could also try http://bewaterwise.com/Gardensoft/browser02.aspx?SearchType=Characteristic&SearchSpecific=2F10VXAO Not sure if I did the link right but if not try www/bewaterwise.com and go to the Garden spot and search plants by characteristic... There are some great suggestions and good pictures... I saw some nice ones meeting your criteria. Hope you find this helpful...be careful on the Bewaterwise site... you can get carried away!

Vinca is a thug here. Impossible to curtail once it takes hold. Since you want a stunning garden, I would talk to several nursery people to avoid future headaches. I would also double check on any recommendations from them!! Remember that fast growers can need more maintenance after they establish. You want to check mature size. Erosian cloth is often used with new plantings. It helps control weeds too. Ajuga, Asarun caudatum - needs water, Alchemilla, Epimedium, Galium odoratum - can become a pest, hardy Geranium, Gaultheria procumbens, Lamium, Pachysandra terminalis 'Green Carpet', Phlox divaricata, Ranunculus repens 'Pleniflorus' - can be invasive, Sarcococca hookerana humilis, Vaccinium vitis-idaea ~~~~ these are some suggestions from Sunset's garden book. You might consider ferns. For a very mat surface, I use Baby Tears. Poor stuff needs more water than I allot. Some Ajugas have good bronze tones and will take some sun. The ones I use send out runners to establish new plants. About 8" high.

brigite22 No photo possible? Are the large rocks attractively arranged? If not, hiring some one with a large crowbar or a Bobcat to shift some of them might help. Here are a couple of photos showing a sloped part of Thyme2dig's (one of this forum's members) garden. The large boulders were a byproduct of construction and/or road building and are placed in an attractive and functional way to help hold the slope as well as looking tidy and natural. She has a few plants in front of the rocks and some spill over from above to soften the rocks and make them look a part of the garden. These beds get a good amount of sun, so the specific plants might not work, but it gives you a good idea of how beautiful a hill (or mound) can be. This one has rock steps going up to the top, while the front has brick and wood steps. You might want to consider adding a path or steps up onto your mound with a path or stepping stones on top to help it look like a deliberate garden rather than leftover rock and soil. I like the way T2D uses a mix of shrubs and perennials, densely planted and mulched to help reduce weeds, to keep the area beautiful year-round. With a bit of planning and some care, this area can most likely look like a planned garden, not a leftover heap. I would start with planning whatever hardscape you want to add like steps, paths, garden art, etc. If you add paths, I'd put in edging to keep the groundcovers out of the pathways, but with stepping stones, just be sure to plant low growing plants in the walking areas. Leave the accumulated leaves there (though you can move them off your rocks), but pull any weeds and do any hardscaping. Over the leaves, put down a layer of corrugated cardboard or a thick layer of newspaper (wet it as you go to keep it in place) and then a good layer of hardwood mulch, again leaving the rocks exposed. This type of mulching is key to making the area low maintenance as it will keep down weeds and hold in moisture in a way that groundcovers alone won't. You will probably need to spend a couple of hours late spring and fall weeding, but not more than that. 15 minutes a day for two weeks a year is doable for most folks. Every few years you will need to add mulch until the ground cover has completely filled in. Consider adding plants with a variety of heights, leaf size, color and texture. Low maintenance, lower shrubs that are fine in somewhat dry afternoon shade: Microbiota decussata (AKA Russian arborvitae) evergreen Any of the smaller Hydrangea paniculata varieties such as 'Little Quickfire', 'Little Lime', etc. (none of the other Hydrangeas are tolerant of dryness, but H. paniculatas are.) Low bush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) smaller rhododendrons such as the various R. yakushimanum such as 'Ken Janik', 'Yaku Prince', 'Yaku Princess', etc but you may need to water if it is really dry for really long Diervilla (bush honeysuckle) Perennials that would work with your light: Anemone sylvestris - spreads Partridge berry- (Mitchella repens) very low some of the smaller gold-leafed hostas which tend to be more sun tolerant Heuchera (coral bells) and Tiarella (foamy bells) and Heucherella (a cross between the two previous) Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra) ‘Aureola’ gold foliage Carex 'Ice Dance' or C. 'Banana Boat' (along with many other Carex which often like part sun and tolerate dryness) - spreads Lamium maculatum (deadnettle) - spreads Ground cover Epimediums- spreads smaller daylilies like 'Happy Returns' Hellbores will spread via seed, but not aggressively Smilacina racemosa (false Solomon's seal) may be listed as Maianthemum racemosum - will spread via seed, but not aggressively Assarum spp (wild ginger, but not the edible kind) slowly spreading Polygonatum spp. (Solomon's seal) will slowly expand clumps Iris cristata (crested iris) will slowly expand clumps and is only about 6" high with light blue or white spring flowers. Some of the hardier Alstroemeria such as 'Sweet Laura' Geranium Bevan's Variety or G. macrorrhizum or G. biokovo Campanula poscharskyana Pulmonaria (lungwort) will spread via seed, but not aggressively Phlox divericata - (woodland phlox) Dicentra eximia - (fern-leaf bleeding heart) Pachysandra (kind of boring, but would be OK as part of a mix) - spreads You might want to put in some smaller daffodils and species tulips in the sunniest spots for early flowers.