Hi, I just had some grading done up against the house to keep water away from the foundation. I understand it would be best to plant grass or another groundcover upon the dirt to keep that pesky rain moving along!! The dirt is nice topsoil, it's about 8 inches up on the foundation and it goes out about 4 feet till it hits well established grass. On one side of the house (the short side) I have a super nice spot to establish something that drinks up water and fills in nicely. It gets good sun. It should be drought resistant because I don't want to have to water it, since this is to keep things dry. Suggestions? I want it low growing, to keep the sun on the house. I was thinking sedums, but I am, alas, not too creative. Herbs would rock. Flowers would rock. Bit praticality is the name of the game -- keep the house dry and let the sun shine in! Thanks for any thoughts! -janice

Sure. Normally, I like to keep the paint specific posts over here on the Paint Forum because it would not be out of the ordinary for someone over there to post and say "hey, ya know there's a Paint Forum". It's a brilliant observation but what those well-meaning fellow posters don't always understand is the lo traffic factor on the Paint Forum. :~D Just to be clear, on your house I'm including the windows and door trim, gutters, and porch railing as part of the "trim". The other helpful poster on the Dec Forum probably doesn't understand that one part I mentioned about not paying any attention to the paint color names that those DIY, home visualizer programs provide. The alternative to using *the color name color*, however, kind of sucks because you have to look at the real-life paint color chip you're trying to mimic and be able to spot its additive color (monitor color) undertones and nuances and then try to translate that *into* your monitor using only the list of colors provided. When using *pro* software, you can build your own colors and profiles and whatnot. Altho you never know the quality and calibration of the monitor on the other end of your virtuals, experience with color, humans, and computers can bring you a sense of what will interpret well on the other end. But that's only for participation on forums. In real life I print the pictures to go with the paint chips and they "match" in the terms of what a "match" can possibly mean given the fact that monitor color and paint chip color have different modes of appearance or in other words are spaces of color that are relative but will always be unequal.

Cool! I'm in Fresno, just north of you. The problem I always have with growing tropicalesque plants in our hot climate is that most tropical plants need a lot of water to look good. I have had success on the north side of the house with white Bird of Paradise and Camellia. The Bird of Paradise does tend to reach out as it's growing in mostly shade so it would likely outgrow the 3x3 space you have there. If you don't mind hitting the leaves on your way through that gate, this would be a cool tropical accent. You might also try brugmansia (if you're willing to give it all the water it needs to look good). I have mine on the north side of the house and it does ok, as I don't always water it enough. During the summer, it will abort most of it's flowers because of the heat, but as soon as fall comes around (about this time of year), it flowers like crazy.

I’m hearing you guys on this discussion as i had started a post for a tiny bathroom layout, but as things turned, we moved the stairs to create a closet because we will demo a closet to make bathroom then i gained new fun space in living room bc the stairs were re directed. I thought several times to create new post but I value everything here on houzz and every pro and non pros help and time and visits for sure. Made some friends along the way, which is cool. I follow a lot of posts and am thankful for everyone here. I imagine the time spent here helping the OP’s is not for not! And, lol, i’ll get to that bathroom one day, hopefully soon, and very thankfully i’ll have the pros and non pros come on and come back to help me, and never will take advantage or disregard any one. I had said many times in the past that it would be nice to be able to ‘pay back’ for the help and fun and enjoyment i receive for being able to be here!