Yip-yip-yeah, my big ol' envy full of seeds arrived yesterday!! Bit like a 2nd Christmas! Holy Katz,...what a wonderful, varied bounty! Willy, good sir, once again my hat's off to you and your hosting prowess! And of course, thank you everyone who participated! :)

Take a look at travertine in a light ivory. It seems to go with everything. I have travertine on my bathroom floor, shower, and tub deck, then used crema marfil marble for an accent. It looks serene and beautiful! If you use the 18" travertine tiles, cut to 9 x 18 for the tub surround, there won't be that many grout lines. Get the installer to use "butt joints" in the tile so the grout lines are just teeny. Another alternative would be to go with a black and white theme.

Good morning! Good luck with your new project. For LOADS of information and really great people who DO respond, you might check out the SFG forum at http://squarefoot.creatingforum.com/. These are really friendly people who do not consider any question 'dumb'. Everyone is there to teach and learn. First disclosure: The Administrators will first direct you to the latest edition of Mel Bartholomew's book. As far as spacing, there are many charts on the web. Here is one: http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net/plant-spacing/ . Good luck! This is great that you are doing it with your children. Grow what you eat and you know your food supply is safe for them.

I'm not familiar enough with long term growth of pencil holly to know how long it would take for them to achieve a size that is meaningful for your house. At least they're skinny and could fit in the tight space in the side yard. But really ... grass and mowing in a narrow area that is all slope? It seems so impractical! I am sure if mine, it would be groundcover only.