I'm in the same camp as WG and Mentha. I think it's a GOOD thing when you need to water frequently. The more you're required to water, the healthier your plants will generally be. The need to water frequently assures that air is returning to the soil quickly enough between waterings to prevent suffocating fine hair roots. This helps to prevent the energy drain on plants caused by the cyclic death and regeneration of fine rootage associated with over-watering and extended conditions/intervals of saturated soil. Frequent watering is also beneficial because it regularly forces old gasses from the root zone and draws fresh air in to replace it as the water moves through the soil. When a high level of CO2 builds up in soggy, saturated soils, it becomes toxic to roots. So - anything that inhibits evaporation from soils and extends the interval between waterings probably inhibits plants from reaching their potential vigor and affects vitality to varying degrees. The heavier the soil you're using (the more water it retains) the greater the negative impact will be. In some cases, the effect will be marginal, and in others, severe. Al

sounds rather nice (I had imperata but have it no longer). Have been down the roses and grasses route myself, only getting fed up after grovelling underneath procumbent roses pulling out creeping grass....and blood grass certainly creeps, if not actually races to total ground domination. a neat little hook sedge, uncinia rubra, mught fit the bill more than the imperata but you'll never know till you try.

Ah...I've done a lot of gardening in NE Ohio. I used to live in the snow belt, just east of Chagrin Falls. That's where I developed my addiction for ornamental grasses. How about some of the dwarf Pennisetums? There are at least a few which are the same size or smaller than I. cylindrica, and their habits and foliage colors are different but complimentary. My favorite is P.a. 'Little Honey,' although I'm just trying some P. macrourum 'White Lancer' and I love its blooms. It might be too tall at 18" in the foliage and up to 3' for the flowers, but the flowers are so slim, it might just work.

Rocks will eventually be a weedy mess. Using dense ground cover plants and making the bed in a smooth curve from the corner of the stairs to the corner of the house will be much easier to mow. It could go around the corner to allow a shrub to block the view of the meters without blocking access to reading them.The other side bed needs to be extended to the front edge of the patio for easy mowing if the patio cannot be extended. The basement door could be painted the same color as the foundation to make it disappear.