I am hearing so much diffuseness in what you need--mostly putting out fires here and there--whereas you need a set of goals and a plan for addressing them. For example, now you have bare spots under trees and are talking grass one minute and then groundcover. Perhaps you have not really defined what needs to be under trees and where and how much based on what you want to do there and what you want it to look like. In other words, don't define what you do based on the size and shape of the bare spots left by fallen leaves you just removed. I like to pay attention to what falls out of my trees and where, because as you mentioned, someone has to remove some or all of that in the fall. Different leaves (or other tree stuff) is handled or tolerated differently by different plantings underneath. Some groundcovers "absorb" leaf fall well and some do not. Some shrubs tolerate drifts of leaves and others are messy and misshapen as a result. The life cycles of some perennials works better under some types of trees than others. Grass could be your best friend if the type of tree, light conditions etc allow a shade-tolerant grass. Mass plantings of hostas can be effective when you need to remove leaves in fall, because then you can rake when bare in winter but have very effective weed-blocking growth throughout the warm seasons. All these are things you might need to read about, research, discuss with a professional. Of course it is easy to feel overwhelmed when trying to get a large lot "under control" so deep breaths are in order! You will likely have to mow weeds, mulch areas, use some Roundup here and there, as you won't wrestle this property back from nature overnight, or maybe never, meaning, there may be large areas you need to think of as how to do as " woodland natural" or leave sort of bare and weedy, letting the trees outcompete the weeds, to some extent, and enjoy smaller cultivated areas that give you pleasure. Read some of the threads about lawn vs. garden--what I mean is, it is not realistic to expect to make a very large (meaning like the size of a yard, not a garden bed) shady area under trees look like a manicured landscape without lots of mulch and maintenance.Further, it won't look like the magazine pictures of a "woodland garden" either without a lot of maintence, usually, or very judicious choice of mass plantings. OTOH with a plan, you might be able to determine where to create some civilized areas and what to let go as "natural" and what can be in between. I just think it may be too much to expect to get your solutions by asking, what to do about this? then what about that? That is not a criticism, but trying to be realistic. For example, if you decide on what you want to achieve in the front yard, and let's say you chose a certain area to put to groundcover, then you want to identify the area, make sure the soil is amended, identify the ideal groudcover for the conditions, plant on adequate centers, then water/mulch/weed/maintain until established. You don't want to plop a few things here and there and scatter your efforts all over the yard. Here's another to-do to think about--if you are likely to stay there awhile and be an avid gardener, identify an area to start your compost pile. You can make something elaborate, but until you have a plan for what goes where, you can outline a big 3-sided rectangle with a few landscape timbers to fill with leaves. This can always be moved later. This is if you think that will give you the sense of control and satisfaction known to compost-whackos, to have a ready supply of a bushel of partly decomposed leaves for mulching around a newly planted shrub or of compost to dig in when randomly planting something--it's not for everyone.

I like Magnolias for two reasons - the big leaves are easier to clean up than mini leaves and their appearance is refreshing on a 99 degree day. The negative - surface roots. The right cultivar shape would have to be researched. Hope you post the after pics.

If you don't mind paying a lot of money and you find yourself in the South Bay, Yamagami's in Cupertino still has figs as of a week ago: roughly one gallon size for $30 and 5 gallon for $50. At least some of them come from Monrovia (wholesaler). I believe I saw a couple at Summer Winds (a chain) as well. Did you check Berkeley Horticultural Nursery? Yamagami's: http://www.yamagamisnursery.com/ 1361 S. De Anza Blvd. ⢠Cupertino, CA 95014 ⢠Telephone 408-252-3347 Summer Winds: 6 locations in the South Bay: http://www.summerwindsca.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=locations.main If you go for one in the South Bay I would recommend patronizing Yamagami's, a great nursery which is one of the last family owned ones in the area--rising property values in Silicon Valley have eliminated almost all. But they are not cheap. And of course everyone seems to have good things to say about Encanto Farms mentioned above. I put in an order myself a couple days ago. Since there are so many cultivars of figs and so many do well in containers, your best bet is probably to probably ask here or Encanto Farms which of a limited list of available cultivars might be suitable for containers.

When you say "epoxy" coating do you mean a solid product that looks like paint? Or does that come in a transparent or translucent stain? We live in a small town and our materials pretty much come from Lowe's or Home Depot. I can't answer your question but am also hoping you get answers to it. Good luck with your project.