Easy Summer Plants

TURF SUBSTITUTES

(plant 3-6’ apart for full coverage in 9-12 months)

MEDIUM SHRUBS (4-6’+)

• Abutilon palmeri, Indian Mallow
• Hyptis emoryi, Desert Lavender

LOW SHRUBS (2-4’) 

• Salvia clevelandii, Cleveland Sage (many varieties)         
• Salvia mellifera, Black Sage 
• Sphaeralcea sulphurea, Guadalupe Island Globe Mallow
• Ribes viburnifolium, Evergreen currant 

GROUND COVERS (less than 2’) 

• Salvia ‘Bee’s Bliss’, Bee’s Bliss Sage
• Eriogonum fasciculatum ‘Bruce Dickinson’, Prostrate Buckwheat
• Baccharis ‘Pigeon Point’, Prostrate Coyote Bush

ACCENTS AND GRASSES (1-3’)

• Heuchera species, Coral Bells (shade)
• Muhlenbergia rigens, Deergrass

SHRUBS AND TREES

(plant 10-20’ apart, as desired, among plants from above list)

TALL SHRUBS (6-12’) 

• Heteromeles arbutifolia, Toyon
• Prunus ilicifolia, Hollyleaf Cherry

SMALL TREES (15-25’) 

• Lysiloma watsonii, Fern of the Desert
• Caesalpinia californica, Palo Prieto
• Cupressus forbesii, Tecate Cypress

TALL TREES (height in the landscape 25’ +)

• Pinus torreyana, Torrey Pine (coastal) 
• Prosopis pubescens, Mesquite (inland)