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Here is a link that might be useful: School timetable software

Hi applebuilder,

We're on the East Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region, so can't make any recommendations from personal experience, but I know that Calflora has a database where you can look up native plants based on your county and habitat.

I gave the database a try and checked the options for "Coastal Sage Scrub community" and "Orange County". Many native grasses, and, not surprisingly, different varieties of sage came up. There were also some nice-looking flowering plant options, some of which may be low-growing, creeping ground cover types of plants.

Native grasses might work better than traditional lawn grasses in your area, and require less watering, fertilizing, etc.

Check it out at the link below:

Here is a link that might be useful: Calflora Native Plant Database

great link, thanks

It really depends on what your tastes are in ground cover.
Very low growing: Sedums such as S. spathulifolium or S. oregana may work well with proper care.
Taller plants such as thymus may prove to be your preference.
Here is one I have and am experimenting with in my garden. It is a very fast grower and spreader with proper watering. while it originally came from Oso Flaco some 50 years ago and was found growing along the edge of the lake and spreading out into the water it has done great replacing my front lawn and has literally taken over my vegetable garden. It grows like a strawberry. It will die back for a few weeks in winter. The rootstocks are perennial and transplant great in fall and spring. If you find it of interest let me know and I can send you a box as I will be pulling alot out as I dig out my vegetable patch. I believe that there is a similar but smaller species available as a ground cover with blue flowers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Argentina egedii (Wormsk.) Rydb. ssp. egedii

Have you checked out Las Pilitas Nursery? Very helpful to my siblings-in-law in CA, who got rid of their lawn. They might also help out with your drainage/soil amendment question. Generally, the advice is not to disturb the soil, but learn to live with what you got.

Here is a link that might be useful: Las Pilitas Nursery

I live in California in the Monterey Bay area. We live close enough to the ocean to get the marine influence. We are surrounded by native manzanita, ceanothus,and black sage. How tall a ground cover to you want? Manzanita and ceanothus both have some very low growers which are evergreen and look tidy all year. The ceanothus has beatiful flowers in the spring time. I have also used ornamental strawberry which is a very low grower, but it has a tendency to send out runners every where. I bought some California fushia that was described as a groundcover, but it is reaches at least 3 feet by the end of the summer. I have bought many plants from Las Palitas both at the nursery and by UPS. I have had good results with all the plants. There website is a good mine of information.