Please help our HOA and neighbors by picking non-invasive plant species for your yard. Some garden plants don't stay in your yard -- they spread onto our slopes and kill our slope plants.

DON'T PLANT - GROUND COVER

African Daisy, Periwinkle, Honeysuckle

English, Irish, Algerian, Cape, or Germany Ivy

DON'T PLANT - SHRUBS & GRASSES

Mexican, Fountain, or Pampas Grass

Bridal, French, Portuguese, Scotch, or Spanish Broom

Coastal Wattle, Myoporum

DON'T PLANT - TREES

Mexican Fan Palm, Canary Island Date Palm

Brazilian, Peruvian, or California Pepper

Iceplant was introduced to California in the early 1900s as an erosion stabilization tool used on railroad tracks. It was later used extensively by Caltrans on roadsides. It has been used as an ornamental for many years, and is still sold in nurseries. About half of the less-visible slopes and a lower percentage of the visible slopes in our community have this ground cover. This is not to be confused with the “Rosea Iceplant” which covers many of the visible slopes and is vividly pink in March and April.

Pros: Iceplant is extremely drought resistant and weed resistant. It thrives in poor, sandy soils, harsh coastal winds, and high-salinity environments where most other plants fail. It is moderately fire resistant, due to the high water content of the plants. When planted strategically around structures, its high-moisture succulent foliage can help create a low-fuel, fire-resistant perimeter. It spreads easily, filling in adjacent areas and can live for decades.

Cons: When Iceplant establishes in a location, it forms a large, thick mat that chokes out native plants and alters the soil composition of the environment. Because it is a coastal invader, it competes with many endangered, threatened, and rare plants. Although widely planted to stabilize slopes, the interlocking mat that normally holds the slope in place can get wet and heavy, potentially sliding down a slope if it is very steep. There have been no slope failures attributable to Iceplant in our community.