Check out the TESTIMONY in these forums of the power of organic materials to tame/ammend clay soils. I don't recall what water source that the Olivenhein German/Swiss settlers had when they planted olive trees ... but do recall that dry-farming [beans] was used for years. You didn't mention what water source you have [well?] and that will make a difference in what kinds of trees/shrubs will thrive. So, may I suggest that you start with truck loads of [FREE]tree trimmings to create compost piles and to mulch? Ditto for FREE horse manure [lots of horse owners in RSF will be happy to contribute.] Check out the drainage patterns on your lot ... including whatever elevation/terrain changes you plan on. Also the prevailing wind patterns will help in tree placement. Also, check for fire safety in placing your trees. My insurance carrier canceled me because I wouldn't trim my Deodar 30 ft up from the ground. With a history of wild fires, insurance companies are getting antsy. As for what trees to select .... why not check out QUAIL GARDENS .. they will have both exotics and natives to see how large they grow and under what conditions they thrive. My mother has a huge 50 year old Torrey Pine tree in her yard. [Encinitas] It is drought tolerant .. to a point. Certainly striking. I had 50 ft. Cherimoya trees in my Vista yard and have one of equal size in my Escondido yard. Very attractive trees and I think will fit into your zone. Though not that large, I hope you will find space for Ceanothis Here is a link that might be useful: San Diego Native Plant Society

I had a good laugh cuz I coveted someones plants once myself many years ago in my old neighborhorhood. In answer to #10, I don't know Polish, so can't help there. But I was wondering if this lady is out in her front yard every evening when you run by. If so, I would cultivate her by start waving, smiling, and saying something like "Hi", "Good evening!" or "I love your gardens", "Nice weather today", etc. And keep it up every time you see her. After you've done that enough stop for a rest in front of her house when she's outside and start talking to her. Even pointing at a brug and telling her how beautiful it (or all) is. She may understand nothing you say or understand more than you or others realize. If she's a really elderly lady, could she be living with one of her childen? Maybe you could stop by there on a weekend afternoon, knock on the door, and see. All you have to say when someone opens the door is that you stopped to tell them that they have lovely garden. I have yet to meet a gardener who didn't love talking about their gardens, and only two who didn't want to share even their weeds. If someone who speaks English is also living in the home, somewhere during the conversation ask if when they prune their brugs if they would be willing to part with some of the cuttings instead of putting them into the trash can. Offer a plant/plants/cuttings in trade. There was one older gentlemen (many moons ago) who never talked to anyone in the neighborhood, but had one of the loveliest front gardens I've ever seen. After many years of watching this absolutely beautiful front yard develope, change, and grow, I couldn't stand it any more. I took some home made cookies over and met him and his wife (didn't even know he had a wife all those years) and thanked him for 'sharing' his garden with me, even if he didn't know it and I only did it from the sidewalk. I could never describe their back gardens in a million words. There are very few things that have ever taken my breath away, and that was one of them. I can't tell you how many wonderful hours I spent in their back yard after that and how many times he would walk to my house and spend hours giving me tips and helping me with garden related stuff. As far as the brugs by your hot tub, how close would they be? Brugs can be incredibly messy plants. They can also become quite large so will the plant itself be in full sun all day? They would do best with morning sun and afternoon shade or dapple shade down there. I'm guessing at that as I live in a Zone 9 climate (up by Sacramento) and I have some brugs that get full sun and seem to do ok (Charles Grimadli and Frosty Pink). However, I do water 'em heavily twice each day during the hottest part of the summer. I got several brugs to add to my gardens from the link below. Due to the summer heat, I don't know if she ships right now. But the brugs and hibiscus that I've gotten from here (Seed Sprout) have all been in excellent health and huge sizes and the prices are very good. Hopefully someone from your area can give you a better idea about planting them down there. Jenna Here is a link that might be useful: Seed Sprout

I like High Country Gardens catalog but it isn't really suitable for our climate here. I live in the Oakland hills and found very few of their plants worked here. It's much better to stay local since we have such great nurseries here. Even the big box stores and some of the drugstores (like Long's) have fabulous nursery sections. Get a copy of the Sunset Western Garden Book; it's the Bible of Western gardeners and has all kinds of useful info in it. Remember you are going to have water in all plants, even xeric ones, until they become established, for at least the first year. Also, the better your soil, the better they will do. Then mulch, mulch, mulch. Soaker hoses work great in mixed plantings and waste so much less water. Use quick couplers to make it easier to switch your hoses around. A groundcover I'm surprised more people don't use is Convolvulus mauritanicus, a morning glory relative. It's amazingly xeric. Not the prettiest groundcover, but very tough and pest-free. Another groundcover that is xeric but won't look good during the winter, is lambs ear (Stacchys byzantia). 'Helen Von Stein' doesn't have the spikey flowers that some folks object to, but the color is a darker green than the standard variety. Any creeping groundcover will need some periodic maintenance to keep them from running over neighboring plants. It's just a fact of life here in the relatively frost-free zones we live in. I'm always fighting my evergreen vines because they keep trying to swallow their neighboring plants! Any vine that grows to 15' in other regions becomes a 30+' monster around here. Lavenders will be very happy with little summer water, as will tagetes lemmonii (bush marigold), hunnemania, dwarf Indian hawthorn, tibouchina urvilleana, any of the new pelargonium hybrids (people call them geraniums, which is botanically incorrect; true geraniums are less showy and thirstier), salvias, cistus (rockrose), roses (once established), artemisia, leptospermum (tea tree) Again, my soil is quite good - we replaced the first 8" of adobe clay with top-quality compost from the Davis St. Recycling Center - and I mulch every year. We like a cottage garden look, not to everyone's taste. I water every 10-14 days, depending on how hot it gets. This photo is from May, when the lavenders, nasturtiums and poppies put on the best show. But I have flowers all year long, actually.

Thank you Olychick and Molewacker for your sentiments, which I wholeheartedly share. Trees are hugely beneficial but definitely need to be positioned well, inspected periodically and maintained. I cannot think of her handle right off-hand, but there used to be a very knowledgeable (excelling in trees & palms) contributor from San Diego, posting here on a regular basis, who we haven't heard from in quite some time. Wish she was here now to give a good tree recommendation or two.