I had one for about 5 years before it died. The property was rented and no one was paying attention. It grew straight up without any real branching to about 20 feet, before dying. The leaf structure was interesting. The site was largely shaded on the edge of the woods. Al

Thanks, Al. I am looking for something no fuss but looks good. The pictures I've seen of the ironwood are rather underwhelming...your response seems the same.

Ugh. Maybe I'll go back to the luma apiculata idea, grown as small trees.

I love the Luma apiculata I have and it has been a very carefree plant for me. The gophers here are horrible, but it has managed to survive and prosper. Mine is a big shrub, but has reached about 6'.

What about one of the various lavatera (tree mallow) species?

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The Catalina Ironwood can be quite attractive if grown in full sun, and the large summer flowers are attractive in their own right. It does tend to send up a thicket of smaller trunks from the base, so if you are a stickler for single trunks, don't use it. Also, it is a somewhat messy tree with a lot of litter from constant foliage drop and the peeling stringy bark. Perhaps one of the Eriogonum species also native to the Channel Islands as an understory, or combined with summer blooming natives such as Salvia clevelandii and Zauschneria californica and grasses such as Leymus condensatus 'Canyon Prince'.

A superficial resemblance of foliage to marijuana, Rubus lineatus looks more like pot to me than the Lyonothamnus.

Beautiful pictures! I always enjoy the feedback on GW as it nudges me out of my stale thinking.

The area being planned has no real access, and currently doesn't have a use, so I am thinking I'll try to make it bird friendly with trees/shrubs with a few grasses planted. We ripped out some huge old hedges, so perhaps I can make amends.

Re: Ironwood The multi-trunk thing doesn't bother me much. The mess, I'm not so sure. I am surprised as they look so tall and skinny in the photos! I figure there is space for one medium tree or a group of small tree/shrubs.

I am a convert to grasses! I was so wrong to think they were boring and plain.

Even as a multi-trunk tree, it does tend to be more vertical than wide spreading in habit. They do tend to drop a lot of leaf and shedding bark as litter upon whatever is growing beneath them.

Any other suggestions that are less messy? Although, I actually was thinking of not putting much other than mulch directly under them.

I was hoping for evergreen trees of some sort.

I like the native Rhus. For a more vertical evergreen to about 20 feet requiring no water in most soils, I like the Rhus integrifolia. For a more broad shrub to about 10 feet by 10 feet with quite attractive foliage equally as durable, Rhus ovata. If either of these outgrow their space, they can be cut down to one foot, and regrow as attractive as before. Al