Holmes Landscape Company

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When choosing plants for a specific location or function, we need to be careful to consider many factors, including size at maturity, water requirements, hardiness, and color. We've organized the plants on this page into two main categories based on water requirements, because for those of us living in San Diego's North County, this should usually be our number one concern. We've also included recommendations for selecting plants within each category based on the predominant color themes. If you have questions about our recommendations, send them to me at holmes@holmeslandscape.com.

Plants With Low Water Requirements
[Trees] [Shrubs] [Accent Plants] [Ground Covers] [Red/Orange Plants] [Blue/Green Plants]

Trees

Agonis flexuosa, "peppermint tree"
Fast growing to 25-35 feet; a tree which tolerates poor soils.

Callistemon, "bottlebrush"
Tolerant of heat, cold and adverse soils; 'citrinus' 10 to 15 ft shrub or 20 to 25 ft tree; 'viminalis' 20 to 30 ft with 15 ft spread.

Cercis occidentalis or Canadeensis mexicana, "Redbud"
Small deciduous tree 10 to 18 feet, excellent tree for dry slopes.

Geijera parviflora, "Australian Willow"
Tough, non-invasive tree grows 25 to 30 feet.

Koelreuteria bipinnata, "chinese flame tree" or Koelreuteria paniculata, "goldenrain tree"
Deciduous trees 20 to 30 feet with a wide crown; very colorful trees that take cold, heat and poor soils.

Melaleuca, "NCN (no common name)"
Excellent group of trees that do well in all types of growing conditions; 'nesophilia' 15 to 20 ft., and 'quinquenervia' 20 to 40 ft, are drought tolerant varieties.

Pinus, "pine"
Several varieties are drought tolerant and do well in poor soil conditions; 'halepensis' allepo pine, moderate growth 30 to 40 ft high; 'thunbergiana' Japanese black pine, slow to 20 ft high; 'torreyana' Torrey pine, fast, 40 to 60 ft, native to area.

Psidium cattleianum, "strawberry guava"
Can be shaped into a beautiful small (8 foot) multi-trunk tree.

Schinus, "pepper"
Attractive, compact tree 20 to 25 ft high.

Shrubs

Cistus, "rockrose"
Colorful, fire-resistant plant that does well in poor soils.

Nerium, "oleander"
This hardy shrub does well in poor soils and comes in a variety of colors; varieties from 3 to 12 feet tall.

Eriogonum, "wild buckwheat"
California native that does well in harsh conditions; small white flower.

Cotoneaster, "NCN"
This family has varieties from 6" to 10 feet tall; excellent plant if allowed to grow in it's natural form.

Tecomeria, "Cape Honeysuckle"
This plant does very well in this area; has a bright orange flower.

Accent Plants

Lavandula, "Lavender"
This plant has bright purple flower clusters that bloom most of the year.

Lantana camara, "NCN"
The variety of Lantana grows upright to 6 feet; fast growing and prolific bloomer with a variety of colors; excellent on slopes.

Teucrium, "germander"
Blue flowering plant that does well in poor, rocky soils.

Oenothera missourensis or Oenothera stubbei, "evening primrose"
Showy, yellow flowering plant that does well in dry areas.

Ground Covers

Cotoneaster horizontalis, "rock cotoneaster"
This plant must be allowed growing space and then it does well; attractive, clean and pest free plant.

Helianthemum, "sunrose"
Blooms heavily for three to four months with bright colorful flowers; low water user.

Lantana montevidensis, "trailing lantana"
This is the ground cover variety of Lantana; a fast growing and prolific blooming plant that is excellent on slopes; comes in purple, yellow and white flower colors.

Pelargonium, "Ivy geranium"
Semi-drought tolerant, excellent colors.

Santolina nana, "lavender cotton"
Good as a bank color and accent ground cover.

Thymus praecox, "creeping thyme"
This scented plant can be used in small areas with other ground covers; new plants can be started from clippings.

Verbena tenera, "NCN"
A low growing, creeping ground cover with bright pink flowers that does well in dry, poor soils.

Red/Orange Color Theme Recommendations
For a red or orange color theme, the following combination of plants work well together:

Blue/Green Color Theme Recommendations
For a green or blue color theme, the following combination of plants work well together:

Note that red and blue tones can be used on the same slope, and also do well together.

Plants With Moderate Water Requirements
[Trees] [Shrubs] [Accent Plants] [Ground Covers] [Red/Orange Plants] [Blue/Green Plants]

Trees

Bauhinia, "orchid tree"
20 foot tall deciduous tree with spectacular purple orchid-shaped flower.

Jacaranda, "NCN"
Deciduous tree 25 to 40 ft high by 15 to 30 ft wide; best in sandy soil; good tree to look down on for houses above slopes.

Liquidambar, "Sweet gum"
Beautiful 40to 60 feet high by 25 feet wide tree that needs slightly acid soil to do well; 'Burgundy' leaves turn deep purple-red; 'Palo Alto' leaves turn yellow - orange; 'Festival' leaves turn yellow, orange and red.

Melaleuca nesophila, "pink melaleuca"
Large shrub or small tree that can be shaped to a spectacular form; does well in all soils and has a showy pink flower all year long.

Tabebuia chrysotricha and Tabebuia impetiginosa, "trumpet tree"
25 to 30 feet tall tree which tolerates poor soils and has a beautiful yellow or pink flower.

Tristiana conferta, "Brisbane box"
30 to 60 feet, tolerates poor soil.

Shrubs

Pyracantha, "firethorn"
Excellent shrub and ground cover with bright white flowers, and later, bright red berries; remains colorful almost all year long.

Abelia, "NCN"
A beautiful, graceful flowering plant that must not be clipped for it's full beauty; red to pink trumpet flowers most of the year.

Rosa banksiae, "bank rose"
Does well when given enough space; has yellow or white rose flowers and can get up to 10 feet wide if allowed.

Accent Plants

Erigeron, "Santa Barbara Daisy"
Execellent flowering accent plant for rocky, poor soils.

Felicia, "blue marguerite"
A prolific continuous bloomer that does well in poor soil.

Ground Covers

Coprosma Kirkii, "NCN"
Evergreen ground cover with tightly spaced shiny leaves, excellent when used with flowering plants.

Hedera, "Ivy"
Excellent ground cover for slopes, deep rooted, good color.

Lonicera halliana, "Hall's honeysuckle"
An excellent ground cover for large areas; has a fragrant yellow flower throughout most of the year; must be cut back annually to be kept as a ground cover.

Myporium, "pacificum"
Excellent slope ground cover, deep rooted, good rich green color.

Potentilla, "NCN"
A tough, fast growing ground cover with a small, bright yellow flower.

Trachelospermum, "star jasmine"
Clean, deep green leaves with a white sweet smelling flower; jasmine can be trained as a ground cover or allowed to grow into a shrub form.

Red/Orange Color Theme Recommendations
For a red or orange color theme, the following combination of plants work well together:

Blue/Green Color Theme Recommendations
For a green or blue color theme, the following combination of plants work well together:

Note that red and blue tones can be used on the same slope, and also do well together.

Holmes Landscape Company 934 La Rueda Road, Vista, CA 92084-6518 760.732.3379760.598.3500 Fax holmes@holmeslandscape.com "Always looking to improve ourselves, our workers, and the quality of our work." ©1996-2008 Holmes Landscape Company. All rights reserved. Web site by JE Web Design.