I have established Clivia in a grove of three mature Deodora Cedar. They are on a drip system but do not have a problem with the root competition of the cedars. Deer have never eaten them and they bloom fine. As they were started from seed they took five years to the first bloom. For bloom from the first year I would start with five gallon size. However I would try the boxwood, also starting with five gallon size and after the first year in most soils they will get by with the winter rain. If the shade is too dense they will tend to not be as compact and as thick as you might like. Al

Don't know where you are getting your info but I do not know of any California native grass species that grows THREE INCHES OR LESS TALL! At least any that I have seen commercially available. Most California grasses are bunch grasses and these are the species that occur in meadows in the state. The meadows are an assortment of mixed annuals, biennials, and perennials with varying degrees of preponderance of two to three bunch grass species thrown into the view. Carex pansa-California Meadow Sedge Click here to read short info bit This sedge species according to Munz, A California Flora, can grow from 6 inches to 12 inches tall. It is found naturally along the coast in what Munz describes as Coastal Strand communities. What this means is that the species is found in areas that are cool and subject to coastal fog year round and may never experience any freezing weather though may reach the upper 30sF. This plant IS NOT A MEADOW PLANT. California meadows are summer dryland plants and can be exposed to broad ranges in temps each day from lows in the 50sF during summer with highs commonly in the 80sF to 90sF. Sedges are not really lawn type plants as they tend to spread rather than form a tight bedding of stems, though they can be forced to mat out by restricting the area in which they can spread. My personal experience with Carex species is that they spread out and in so doing the older stems die out as the rhizomes spread out. This link California grasslands passed off as meadows by the CNPS has an image of the Carex species and recommendations on planting etc. This site defines meadows that I define are grasslands, more akin to prairies,and not meadows which is a more open stand of plants with a preponderance of grass species. But that is just my bent on the definition. Here is a link that might be useful: Larner Seeds

first, anything but ANYTHING except crown vetch. that stuff sux bigtime. and as much as i like to think that plants can do anything and everything, some times machines and men need to clean up the mess that machines and men did. what im saying is that there may be some serious soil issues now and maybe some terracing and/or other solutions in addition to the planting that needs to be done. if i read this correctly, u are living under this 'slope' that 'used' to have trees on. that = easy movement. there are some solutions that ive used and seen. cheapest and maybe best solution is to put down a landscaping errosion matt and seed w/ a very hardy fast growing native mix. im not going to offer a mix cuz im here and u are there, ask the local conservation people. my down the road neighbor put in chain link fence and has seeded it and planted it over the years and the area has remained stable for 20 years +. tho not sure i like this idea, it gets to the solution of non-movement so one can plant into. jute cloth is a neat idea that incorporates errosion matting with the seeds. i know they do it for shoreland resortation, maybe some locals in ur area use it with the local natives. one last comment is about seeding hills. ive seeded many a hill and ALL of them end up having much more seed @ the bottom and much less @ the top and mostly devoid in the middle. and this is after concentrating on the middle and top. this is always the case unless there is something holding the seed inplace long enough to germinate. i find that multi seedings can help but be aware of this fact. typically i kill a serious slope only once with round up and seed the $#!+ out of it and hope for the best. i dont till or touch the after roundup dead thatch and leave everthing there to act as a mulch/soil matt. froggy Here is a link that might be useful: jute cloth

Hmmm. That dwarf sweet myrtle looks nice. I will have to go by the nursery and see it in person. Thanks! Holleygarden, thanks for the design suggestions. I didn't mention it before, but I designed the front bed around the existing boxwoods and crape myrtles. I have lantana and wax-leaf begonias, which is a strange combo, but it works well. (I put pansies in when I cut the lantana back in the winter.) So I'd like to not start over, but just replace the boxwoods with something somewhat similar. The problem is that most evergreen shrubs are a lot bigger than 18"x24".