Gray pine might work but favors certain soils in Sierra & Coast Range foothills. I used to have a landscape design/const business in Sacto, so here's my bias and WAG, due to not knowing where you are or what Sunset Zone or whether you are watering or aspect or soil or not that much to go on: You'll want to look at the natives - coast live oak, valley oak - because when you look around at the open space, that's what you see, with a bay or three like you see in Coast Range. You can do crape myrtles if you water them at least ~once a month in that place. Light shade and fls you may want to look at acacias (but not A. baileyana, esp as a good zero water groundcover is Acacia redolens, lots of good acacias on the UCD campus in the arboretum (as are other xeric choices). Other trees include sweet bay, African sumac Rhus lancea, maybe CA laurel Umbellularia californica. Messy but fast is CA pepper Schinus molle until the others grow in and it dies off. A good understory in the meantime and afterward is essential and consider California buckeye, Aesculus californica and CA flannel bush, Fremontodendron californicum with western redbud Cercis occidentalis and that will make your guests and family happy. More floriferous and no water but more sun include Chilopsis linearis and X chitalpa tashkentensis and perhaps with a splash of water Xanthoceras sorbifolium, no water along the Bay Area freeways is the spring red fls of Leptospermum scoparium and a good native Carpenteria californica. Dan

Depends on how sunny it is, how fast the underlying material drains and how frequently you need/wish to water. Both Irish and Scotch mosses like rich soil and plenty of water. Thyme likes it hot, lean and on the dry side. I am not very familiar with sun tolerant mosses although I'd suspect they'd be both hard to find and moisture lovers. Weeds will grow up through anything - you just need to be prepared to weed from time to time to keep things tidy. If using only the permeable sand then much easier to use some sort of herbicide to keep weeds in check.

Well, it's fall, and 3 of the 4 Miracle Heuchera have now been dead for a while. The remaining one looks fantastic. Strange. That one is sort of protected around its base with a geranium and a small leaved ivy ground cover. That must make a difference somehow. Maybe the one that lived is the real "Miracle?" Though these were just the right color and form for this spot, it looks like next year I will have to rethink my choices for replacements.

I would have given you the link but it seems to be a broken link. I am lucky I copied the whole list. I am not sure who made it but the person who had originally made it had made other list but those are all gone too. So here it is the sun tolerant list(not sure when it was updated last I copied it last fall) 'Abba Dabba Do' # 'Abiqua Recluse' # 'Allan P. McConnell # 'Aphrodite' # 'Arctic Rim' # 'Aspen Gold' # 'August Moon' # 'Avocado' # 'Birchwood Parky's Gold' # 'Blue Angel' # 'Blue Mammoth' # 'Blue Umbrellas' # 'Bright Lights' # 'Brother Stefan' # 'Captain Kirk' # 'Carolina Sunshine' # 'Cathedral Windows' # 'Cheatin Heart' # 'Chingbanyuzan' # 'Christmas Gold' # 'Circle of Light' # 'City Lights' # 'Color Glory' # 'Crown Prince' # 'Dawn's Early Light' # 'Daybreak' # 'Dee's Golden Jewel' # 'Devon Green' # 'Dixie Chick' # 'Don Stevens' # 'Dust Devil' # 'Eagle's Nest' # 'Emerald Tiara' # 'Eternal Flame' # 'Fantasy Island' # 'Fire and Ice' # 'Fireworks' # 'Fortunei Aureomarginata' # 'Fragrant Bouquet' # 'Fragrant Dream' # 'Fragrant Fire' # 'Fragrant Flame' # 'Fragrant King' # 'Fragrant Star' # 'Francee' # 'Fried Bananas' # 'Fried Green Tomatoes' # 'Fringe Benefit' # 'Fujibotan' # 'Garden Party' # 'Geisha' # 'Gentle Giant' # 'George Smith' # 'Glory' # 'Gold Glory' # 'Gold Regal' # 'Gold Standard' # 'Golden Bullion' # 'Golden Delight' # 'Golden Fascination' # 'Golden Friendship' # 'Golden Galleon' # 'Golden Prayers' # 'Golden Sculpture' # 'Golden Waffles' # 'Golden Years' # 'Gosan Sunproof' # 'Guacamole' # 'Grand Master' # 'Grand Tiara' # 'Green Acres' # 'Green Fountain' # 'Green Wedge' # 'Guacamole' # 'Hadspen Blue' # 'Halcyon' # 'Hanky Panky' # 'Heart and Soul' # 'Heartache' # 'High Noon' # 'High Society' # 'Hole Mole' # 'Honeybells' # 'Ice Cream' # 'Independence' # 'Inniswood' # 'Invincible' # 'Joshua's Banner' # 'Julia' # 'June Fever' # 'Just So' # 'Katie Q' # 'King Tut' # 'Korean Snow' # 'Krossa Regal' # 'Lancifolia' # 'Last Dance' # 'Leather Sheen' # 'Lemon Delight' # 'Lemon Frost' # 'Lemon Lime' # 'Lime Piecrust' # 'Little Aurora' # 'Little Sunspot' # 'Little Wonder' # 'Maekawa' # 'Marilyn' # 'Maui Buttercups' # 'Midas Touch' # 'Millie's Memoirs' # 'Ming Treasure' # 'Minuteman' # 'Miss Saigon' # 'Mister Watson' # 'Morning Light' # nigrescens # 'Old Faithful' # 'Old Glory' # 'Olive Bailey Langdon' # 'Olympic Sunrise' # 'On Stage' # 'Orange Marmalade' # 'Paradigm' # 'Paradise Joyce' # 'Paradise On Fire' # 'Patriot' # 'Paul's Glory' # 'Pearl Lake' # 'Piedmont Gold' # plantaginea # 'Punky' # 'Queen Josephine' # 'Quill' # 'Radiant Edger' # 'Raleigh Rememberance' # 'Rascal' # 'Regal Splendor' # 'Remember Me' # 'Reptillian' # 'Revolution' # 'Rhino Hide' # 'Rising Sun' # 'Rosedale Genevieve' # 'Roxsanne' # 'Royal Standard' # 'Ryan's Big One' # 'Savannah' # 'Second Wind' # 'September Sun' # 'Shade Fanfare' # 'Sherborne Swan' # 'Shining Tot' # sieboldiana 'Elegans' # 'So Sweet' # 'Spritzer' # 'Squash Casserole' # 'Stained Glass' # 'Sugar and Cream' # 'Sugar and Spice' # 'Sun Glow' # 'Sundance' # 'Sum and Substance' # 'Summer Breeze' # 'Summer Fragrance' # 'Summer Lovin' # 'Sun Glow' # 'Sun Power' # 'Sun's Glory' # 'Sundance' # 'Super Bowl' # 'Sweet Bo Peep' # 'Sweet Tator Pie' # 'Tattoo' # 'Tears of Joy' # 'Tenryu' # 'Tick Tock' # 'Tijuana Brass' # 'Touch of Class' # 'Treasure' # 'Twenty Four Carat Gold' # 'Twilight' # 'Twist of Lime' # 'Undulata' # 'Undulata Albomarginata' # 'Valerie's Vanity' # 'Vanilla Cream' # 'Venus' # 'Vera Verde' # 'Wheaton Blue' # 'Whirling Dervish' # 'Whirlwind' # 'Winfield Gold' # 'Wylde Green Cream' # 'Zippity Do Dah' # 'Zounds'