Thanks so much for everyone's time in posting. I think my response is going to be longer than my initial post! The lemon treemaybe I should take a picture from the sidewalk. The picture I posted was taken from my neighbors deck as the "before" of our roof. I think the tree looks taller from the sidewalk. And we like it covering the window. We can see out, but people on the sidewalk cant see in. All the yellow lemons are really very pretty from the inside, almost like Christmas ornaments! We dont spend much time out front because we have a large, gorgeous backyard. We get shade from several other trees. Matter of fact, I am always concerned about having too much shade to grow some of the plants I want. I really do feel very strongly about the natives. I volunteer on an annual native plant tour. I raise butterflies in the backyard. The front garden needs to be drought tolerant, deer resistant and butterfly friendly. I could probably accomplish that with Mediterranean, but the natives are important to me. Mediterranean plants are in very heavy use in our microclimate. Maybe Im having a Mediterranean backlash like I had a purple backlash several years ago. I guess part of wanting a "strong design element" in front is based on the fact that with natives, the front yard isnt going to be in bloom all year. I want it to be interesting to look at. Also, I spend a lot of time maintaining our backyard and really cant come up with a whole lot more time to spend on the front every week. I have driven around looking at front yards and I like the ones that look like the owners spent some time on the design rather than just an accidental collection of plants. But I dont want a highly formal design. I tend to be a plant collector in the backyard, so I want to have something a little more restrained in the front. I have seen dry streambeds done well and not so well. So I understand your concerns. I'll put that in the "don't do that" file. I should probably explore berms, but I dont know if they look any more natural than dry streambeds. One of the main plants I know I want is the vine maple and I want it to be well planted and integrated into the design. With our backyard, we could divide it into sections and work on it a little at the time. The front yard seems to need a cohesive plan. I will have to have some dirt hauled in, so if I am going to add any dirt, I probably want to do that before putting down the new flagstones. I'm not really seeing this as increasing the hardscape unless you are talking about the streambed as hardscape. We are basically going to redo the existing front walk and then where it going from the front walk to the driveway. Yes, the fence would go all the way to the drive. I was almost embarrassed to post that picture. The fence has been taken down in sections as weve had the work done on the driveway and the roof. Weve got to get rid of a ton of red rock and black plastic. Im under no illusions that this is going to be easy, but I want to make sure I dont get to a step and realize that Ive done something out of order or something that created another problem. Later, I am going to bust up the concrete between the sidewalk and street to get rid of those diamond shaped planters that have been so hard to deal with, but that is further down the road and I can easily separate that from the main project. Ill give more consideration to a post and rail fence painted white rather than a split rail left natural. My partner found a round stone patio with a bench in one of the library books I brought home. If I could find a bench that really spoke to me, I may go in that direction. Oh no! Now I'm feeling unfocused again and that makes me afraid that this project is going to keep stretching out... Yes, the chimney is quite the focal point! There are several like it in our neighborhood.

Thanks for all your replies! Yes, duh, of course that's what it is. I try to avoid planting this, so I'm not all that familiar with it. I guess I had high hopes that it was something more interesting.

I used to run a landscaping business in NorCal and I planted a lot of CA native gardens. In general you wouldn't amend the soil for native plants, but that's assuming you're planting locally native plants in the same kind of soil and habitat they would normally be growing in. And that your soil is relatively healthy. Stripped, graded, compacted soil from recent construction will need some kind of work before you could plant anything except stuff that likes those conditions. California is a political designation, plants don't care. There are multiple ecoregions within that political boundary. Plants native to one, won't necessarily grow that well in others. I had a real issue with that in my landscaping. Most of the 'CA Native' plants available from nurseries were from particular ecoregions, like the Channel Islands. They did ok most of the time but they weren't frost tolerant at all. Bush monkey flowers (Diplacus) were a popular native plant when I was working there, but they barely made it through most SF Bay Area winters and were all wiped out in one bad winter. Native to CA, but not locally native to the SF area. Then even within a particular ecoregion you have different habitats. Big-leaf maple is a CA native but it's a riparian tree, needs water and drainage. Plant it in the central valley or the desert and it's not gonna make it on its own. Up here in Washington it's a weed, grows anywhere and everywhere. Even the driest soils are wet enough for it. Down in CA you need a wetter soil for it to thrive. But not a wetland soil. I would plant stuff in unamended soil usually, with drip irrigation for the first couple years or so, to get them established. Then depending on the species and the weather they ideally wouldn't need irrigation after that. Or fertilizer. But that's assuming you're choosing locally adapted native plants. Woodland plants would like mulching, but desert or alpine plants probably not. I don't believe I mulched chaparral plants, like the manzanitas and ceanothus. Chaparral soils tend to be dry and lean and that's what the plants native there need. Rott: pepper trees are not native to CA. They're from South America, even though they're called CA Pepper Tree. And I'd be careful with Matillija poppy. they're a garden thug. Unbelievably aggressive rhizomes. I wouldn't give them any compost or fertilizer or water, that's for sure!

1) To show people that native plants are beautiful, excellent choices for landscaping, to help stop foreign invasive plants from being used. True, but often natives just do not respond the same way to cultivation as they tend to be soil specific, requiring more aeration of the general clayey type soils that constitute the fill that is used in lots homes are built upon. And as people tend to have lawns the way the lawn is handled is generally how the rest of the yard is handled, and that is as easily as possible. 2) To support native plants and animals. These plants were selected because a number of native California butterflies, birds, moths, etc. feed on them. We are also trying to expand the territory of the lonely little grey fox that lives near the conservancy. While many of the plants you list may be attracted to butterflies and moths as well as hummingbirds, you need plants that produce seeds that birds will eat and in your list only the Ribes appears to be so. Plants that are annuals or biennials that produce small seeds for finches or larger seeds for the larger birds of your area, which you need to research. Also butterflies need plants such as milkweed for their caterpillars to feed on. "Lonely little gray fox"??? Grey foxes are solitary hunters! And they can climb trees which is one of their escape routes from dogs. You need large trees with cavities in them for the fox to hide in. Also you will need debris piles, such as piled up branches etc for rodents to live in that the fox can feed on. 3) the bushier plants are meant to discourage trespassing. There is a real issue of homeless people basically invading sections of the river and destroying it. We want to use these plants as a barrier to save the last pristine section of land, which is only maybe a fourth of a mile long, less wide. None of the plants you list can create a suitable barrier apart from the Cornus and even it is not enough to dispell intruders. You need plants like THISTLES fronted by NETTLES to form a wall at least 5 feet deep to discourage intruders but once these idiots learn you are growing Datura then forget it as they will simply find a way to destroy your barriers to get to this plant that is used as a drug. I could not believe that you would list such a dangerous plant like this. It should not be encouraged to be grown. 4) open the door for more native planting projects. If this one is successful, we would do greater habitat restoration projects, where we would actually plant more things that would naturally occur in the area. I really think you people should contact the California Native Plant Society in your area and really talk this over with them. They have the knowledge and resources that can assist you. Check the link. Here is a link that might be useful: CNPS Santa Clara Valley