Thanks for your input. A picket fence definitely is not our style and would not blend well with the neighborhood. We will be putting a few skinny trees in at the uphill corner of the lot towards the street. They will be set back several feet so the line of sight isn't destroyed for our neighbors backing out of their driveway. Underplanted will be various drought-tolerant perennials. I'm not a huge fan of annuals. I'm not sure why I need to "frame the grass" with bricks? At some point we may put in a mowing strip of natural stones, but that is not a priority at this point. I'm considering putting in a dry stream bed leading to something of a rain garden to help deal with some of the water issues that we are currently experiencing and that I expect to compound with removal of the junipers.

Some photos would help. There are many plants that I could recommend, but much depends upon how they are going to be used. Will these plants be on slopes, road strips or in front yards, for example. Who is going to remove what is there now for the renovation, and what is going to be left in place? Is it going to be done all at once, or in phases? Is anyone qualified to develop a thorough landscape design? What is your current irrigation system(s) and is it going to be changed? Even low water plants need to be allowed to get established first. These are just a few of the many questions that really should be answered before you proceed. Many drought tollerant plants are not "desert-type brown". Honest. Especially for the Orange County climate. This post was edited by Gyr_Falcon on Fri, Jun 7, 13 at 17:03

FYI, while I love the Emerald Carpet, I found it to be difficult to establish in the San Jose (sunset z16/17) area and others I've talked to have had similar experience. I planted around 30 or so to get 7 that lived and of those 7, only 3 are thriving while the remainder just sit there and survive (they are around 5-6 years old. You may have better luck in your microclimate and they do beautifully in the Santa Cruz mountains and along the coast. You will also have better luck if you plant them between Oct. and Jan. rather than planting now. Most natives prefer to be planted between late fall-early winter. There are also some low growing Ceanothus varieties that you might want to consider. My favorite is 'Centennial', but it also likes a bit of afternoon shade to do well inland. wanda

I agree that the dog and son will create more than just light traffic. Some parts of the yard will get little or no traffic, but other areas will be trampled bare. The best plant for a situation like yours is grass. Why not plan for grass with some compatible native plants in the grass? Lots of smaller wildflowers will grow well with grass, and you can add some non-natives as well to create a nice woodland meadow sort of effect. Natives that grow well with grass include violets of several species (violets also serve as larval food plants for several types of butterflies), spring beauties, perhaps trout lilies if you have a moist area, and many others. I am sure that the members of the list could add many plants to this list. I an thinking mainly of plants that are low enough that a mower won't damage them too much. For ideas you need only look in the grass at places like state parks, larger city or county parks, church camps, and similar places where there is grass under trees that is mowed but never treated with chemicals. You could also also add smaller bulbs like crocus, snowdrops, grape hyacinth, etc., as well as english daisies. These aren't native but won't spread outside your yard. With the spring bulbs and wildflowers you should delay cutting in the spring, or cut with a mower set as high as possible, to give the plants time to grow and store food for next year before they are cut down.