I also live in northern California. Picture above shows my ever-shrinking lawn (to the left in picture). The planting beds used to be grass. I sprayed the grass with Roundup, 2-3 times and until no grass (mostly Bermuda) was coming up. I then weed-whipped the dead grass right down to the dirt. In the foreground bed I made a mound of planter mix (bought in bulk), planted and put in a drip system. In the background, I left it level and covered with mulch. I did this all myself (70+ y.o. woman) using a wheelbarrow to move the delivered material to the planting area. Took quite a while, but I am happy with the results. I continued to make inroads to the grass by spraying and replacing with beds.

I'll look up the Sun King Aralia ... does it stay low? I know of some very tall aralias but am not familiar with Sun King. We are certainly in deer country out here in rural Connecticut, but I doubt they visit the town greens regularly (though why not?! ;) Coral bells do beautifully here so that's a thought, perhaps a mix of the unusually colored new ones. It is quite dark back there (this photo was taken at noon) so things with chartreuse or otherwise bright foliage would look nice (one reason we were thinking of variegated hostas -- with white to pick up the painted gazebo). Thanks!

I didn't name it an XL20i Trane did. It suggests a 20 SEER rating does it not?, but the 20 SEER rating is likely for a 2 ton or 3 ton AC with variations of indoor equipment. So as the tonnages go larger you will lose a SEER or two of that rating for larger equipment sizes, this is common among all brands it's nothing new. Trane doesn't publish the actual numbers, you have to get this information from a dealer that sells a lot of Trane equipment. You could call me a dealer, but not in the sense that I sell a lot of Trane equipment (I work on them and repair them so only in that sense am I a dealer for Trane). I really think the only reason Trane does this is to limit comparisons to the competition as in someone using performance and SEER rating statistics to compare from. With that said the new XL18i suggests an 18 SEER does it not? Again same scenario as above. For larger sizes the equipment will not hit 18 SEER as the model suggests. So from 20 SEER (theoretical based on model indicator) to 18 SEER (theoretical based on model.) The higher the SEER rating the more efficient the equipment. The higher the SEER rating the less the operational costs will be. Do the math: Pay $8k and higher utility costs for new XL18i. OR Pay $2900 to repair existing system and likely have lower utility costs for current XL20i If I had to guess the XL20i could be around 18 SEER and the XL18i is probably around 16 SEER. So would you honestly replace a highly probable more energy efficient system for a newer less energy efficient system? That is really the argument. If this current system is just over 10 years old, theoretically replacing the indoor coil to fix the refrigerant leak may get another 10 years out of it. Certainly there are risks that it may not work out this way, but Trane is billed as really GOOD equipment is it not? If Trane is not really GOOD equipment, why is it often recommended on this board? Sounds kind of scammy if you ask me. R22 Freon is expected to be available until 2030 for servicing existing equipment. So while you will pay more for it especially after 2020 when it's no longer produced and imports are banned, there should be more and more reclaimed as commercial entities convert systems to newer refrigerants to escape the high R22 costs, this is where the bulk of reclaimed refrigerant comes from, because these systems hold a lot of refrigerant. If you have a 'leak free' system (void of refrigerant leaks), the system could run forever without needing any more refrigerant added, regardless of the refrigerant used. I service the Katy, Texas area.

Here's my 2 cents: Any repotting should be in pots with holes in the bottom. I like terracotta, but plastic is good too. The potting mix needs to be fast draining, and most often recommended here is commercial cactus & succulent mix combined with perlite or pumice in a 50/50 mix or even higher on the perlite or pumice content. These plants don't like wet feet. I rinse the perlite/pumice through a strainer to remove the small dusty bits. Not good to breathe so if you just sift, wear a mask. Keep the repotted plants in bright light for a week then you can move to full sun for the aloe and cactus, but the echie won't like that much. Aloe definitely needs to be potted up into a larger pot. If the "pups" fall off, you can repot them in much smaller pots or double them up in a pot, don't water until they start to root or at least a couple weeks. The echie has not had enough light for quite some time. Needs to be repotted with the potting mix described above. Or you can behead it and re-root it in the same mix, smaller pot. You can ask here about beheading if you are going to do that. The cactus need to be potted in a better mix. That tall, skinny leaved one might be a sanseveria. At any rate, I'm not sure if they are compatible in a larger pot or if it would be best to do them separately. That's it from me....I'm sure others can add more to these thoughts. Nice plants. Have fun with them.