There are many kinds of lantana that will survive in those harsh conditions. Use upright forms where you want height, for example along a fence or wall, trailing forms for lower height. They come in many colors and color combinations and the only maintenance is an occasional trimming and shaping. They will drop fine leaf and flower litter, but shouldn't be excessively messy.

For larger leaves, potted canna, ensete, and musa could be attractive. Is your mother anti-palm or just anti-queen palm? Other types of palms could give a neater or softer look.

Can drainage holes be drilled in the ceramic pots? Trailing succulents would be attractive.

Thank you, catkim. She is not anti-palm at all... in fact (I forgot) she mentioned a dwarf palm for the narrow border. That might allow for shade plants beneath when the palms are mature. Myself, I'd rather see lots of color ---- Agastache, Salvia, Penstemon, etc --- using plants that love her sandy soil.

She loves Lantana and that's another one to consider.

We talked about drainage holes in the pots, and I also envision trailing succulents in them.

Hi Jenn,

I think that's a good back yard for a woman in her 80s- except for the Queen Palms. I'm with you- get them out of there. They will begin to drop litter soon and the pool will be a mess.

Your idea of raising the narrow bed with bricks- it would look much better. I also like the idea of a few large pots to give some height, especially over in the corner by the pool equiptment, but also on the patio.

The short step along the garage looks too narrow to me to put planter boxes in. Would the water drain into the pool from the planters? If you could put a wider raised planter box in front of the step between the two windows that might look nice. Or another huge pot- since that space needs some height too.

Plant choices- I'd avoid anything that requires trimming back every season. I also think the space needs as much green as possible. I would plant tall nandinas in the bed at the back, and pygmy date palms in the huge pots, with some sort of trailing iceplant or sedum that flowers. Maybe even ivy geraniums, since they flower almost all year and require so little care.

Depending on how much sun those wall pots get, I don't know how well most trailing succulents would do. Mine get sunburned in those conditions. I would plant either Sprenger Asparagus ferns or a deep green ivy, so there's some green on that wall.

Finally, I'd have something tall and skinny in that little patio bed- Mother-in-law tongue, if it's not too hot. Canna lilies would look good for most of the year, but they might not bloom in that much shade. The bed is so small I would probably just have one kind of plant in it.

I realize that these are all ho-hum plants, but there are very good reasons that some plants are ubiquitous. Your mom seems to like a tropical look, and these are low-care and except for the cannas, relatively water-wise choices. They will live in the reflected glare of concrete and water.

Have fun with your project!
Renee

If your mom is willing to try other palms, I suggest any kind of Coccothrinax you can get your hands on -- no vicious thorns like a pygmy date, no big fat trunks like a queen, never blink at the cold, and they don't grow really fast, so you can have a personal relationship with their pretty fan leaves, rather than a telephone pole. Coccothrinax argentea, argentata, fragrans, excelsa -- look for them at palm specialty nurseries.

Coccothrinax argentea:

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3-4x per week is NOTNOTNOT low water. The ONLY time I ever used more is to establish grass seed and to ESTABLISH plants in the sun in the high desert. Once it's established, nothing gets watered more than once a week except for pots.

catkim: Nice! I'll add that to the list and see what she thinks.

reyesuela: I didn't mean that 3-4x/week is low water... I know it's not. I meant that the plants must not require a lot of water because of her city's water restriction to allow irrigation only a few times a week; therefore, water requirements must be below that, which may include potted plants. Potted plants tend to require more water, so we will keep that in mind as well.

I know of no plants that, if watered and placed properly, require water more that twice a week in the ground or three times a week in decent-sized pots with water-conservation potting soil.