In time, when things get built up around you, your dust problems will be much better. We used to live in the low dessert in Southern California and endured some pretty stiff dust storms. A drip system is great! We had one, and we grew wine grapes in our side yard. There are varieties that crave heat and wind. Touriga National is one. They do go dormant in winter. I was going to suggest a tree for you. Moringa Stenopetala. It's an edible tree but can grow very tall. It has a bulb like trunk that stores water, so it's drought resistant. Moringa Oleifera is in the same family and is more cold tolerant, but it grows fast and can be treated as an annual where it gets too cold. We no longer live in the low desert. We are close to the high desert, but in a micro-climate, and it rarely freezes here. We planted Moringa Oliefera last September, and the cold set them back a lot, but in March, they popped right back and one is over 7 feet tall now, loaded with blossoms and edible pods. Here is a link to the difference in the two. I find it a little conflicting, but it's really hot here and 2 of our trees are thriving. I got seeds on Ebay. We planted 6, but one part of the garden plot dirt is just bad, and we are finding nothing will grow there. Could be contaminated by a previous owner. We lost 2 trees, but they grow so fast, we don't really need six. It's just fun to go out and clip the leaves for a delicious, healthy salad. Plus they are pretty! I wish I had suggestions for your front yard. Olive and Fig trees grow well in the low desert, but probably not the high one. We had river rock down our side yards put in by the developer. You could lose your life on that stuff! We finally installed stepping flagstones to help. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: Moringa Trees Compared

I'm sure your neighbors were happy to see veggies, even bolting crops, over the weedy yard, Spaghetina. Here's a couple of suggestions I have from my time growing organically up in SF and Marin. 1) Most of those flowers of the bolted veggies are edible and tasty. While the leaf flavor has turned bitter through the winter and the taste change that comes with bolting, the blossoms often gain a very interesting taste that is great topping salads or lightly fried in certain dishes. 2) If like germinating your own crops from seed, remember which of your crops are heirloom (their seeds will usually produce true) and which are F1 or other hybrids -- it's seed is typically still viable, but may have very different characteristics than the parent. The GW seed exchange forum is a great way to get those exotic seeds you mentioned w/o having to pay catalog prices or drive all over the Bay area, but you need your own seeds to reciprocate. Some of the best plants & veggies in my yard are from trades I've made with other GW members. 3) To my way of thinking, your soil mix seems too heavily focused on decomposed organic matter and doesn't take advantage of the alkaline SF clay topsoil and it's associated soil flora. The compost/purchased soil is great for nitrogen and drainage and you can artificially pump up the P/K/Fe to grow good veggies & plants in it, but organic amendments like blood & bone meal, fish emulsion, seaweed and others need bacteria & fungi to free the nutrients for your crop's roots. That's generally not true for soluble inorganic amendments, which is why they are popular. There's definitely a risk of adding weed seeds by using your yard's topsoil in the garden beds, but that soil food web is necessary for growing good organic crops, IMO. For plants that need lots of N and like great drainage, I go 2/3 purchased soil/fully composted organic matter and 1/3 native topsoil. For tomatoes, peppers and others that suffer in N-rich soils, I use 2/3 native, 1/3 organic matter.

Ken: Thanks. The terrace surrounds the birch tree. It is made from castlewall blocks (5" x 12"). I am backfilling with shovel and wheelbarrow. The ground slopes and is three feet deep at the bottom, and at grade at the top. A small pond will be in the bottom area. The size of the terrace is 25 feet by 30 feet, with the birch in the middle at 1.5 feet deep. So, approximately one-half the root mass will be buried to 3 feet and one-half to about a foot sloping to ground level. How deep can the soil be before it damages the tree? If a foot is OK, then about one-half the root mass will be damaged. And, I can place a 3-foot wide well around the trunk. What do you think? Dave

I have a hard time getting rid of any plants. I have ambitious plans this fall to redo and expand my main sunny garden bed, so I have been thinking about potential SP candidates though. Red Hot Poker lily. Started from seed. Very short bloom period and the rest of the year has long, floppy, unattractive leaves. I might just move to a less visible spot though. Kind of my solution for every under performing plant. Sweet Intoxication Roses (two!). Boy , these things are just pitiful. But even their piddly, disease ridden, japanese beetle infested flowers smell great. I am going to give them one more year. Considering NOT growing annual snapdragon, cleome or nasturtiums anymore. I love these flowers, but they all have problems here. Snapdragons are apparently favored by four lined plant bug which does horrendous foliar damage in the spring. Cleomes and flea beetles, ugh! And my nasturtiums...I think my soil is just too high in clay for them. I have a tradescantia with bright pink flowers that gets red spider mites every year. Tradscantia Sweet kate doesn't have this same problem. I already SP one clump of the pink flowering one and the second clump will probably go soon too. A clump of orange/marooon asiatic lilies. These are prolific multipliers, but they fade quickly and aren't all that attractive. My biggest SP candidate is a crab apple tree planted by the previous owners far too close to the foundation. Beautiful spring display...but has to be cut back every year to avoid scraping our roof plus this year is has started to grow in front of our living room window. With all the cutting back needed on it, a painful to look at contorted silhouette has developed. Also the japanese beeltes love it. The front yard needs a big redo IMO anyways as it relies heavily on spirea which are currently covered in crispy brown flower heads. But, I probably won't actually tackle this project until spring or next fall.