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I want to put in a small hedge, between 2 & 3 feet high. I live in a mild area of SoCal, clay soil, full sun, and not poisonous. What ideas might you have?

I always try to plant native species. They are very low maintenance, since they are adapted to the conditions, and they provide beneficial habitat. Some that might work for you:

desert holly: A 2-3 ft., compactly branching plant from thickened, gnarly, woody bases. The roundish leaves are covered with a silvery-white scurf. Compactly branched, silvery white, covered with numerous hollylike leaves. Greenish flowers are in panicled spikes and are followed by flattened fruit.

The hollylike leaves of this extremely attractive shrub are often used in household decorations. Evergreen, 1-3 feet tall, extremely drought tolerant.

coyote bush: A leafy, much-branched, erect or rounded shrub, 4-8 ft. high and wide. Leaves are oval to rounded and shiny, bright green. Axillary and terminal flower clusters are numerous, made up of small, whitish-yellow flowers. Coyotebrush is perhaps the most common and widespread shrub in coastal brush communities in northern and central California, becoming gradually less common southward. In the south, it tends to be smaller. Evergreen, has conspicuous flowers and interesting leaves Seems to be deer proof. Drought-tolerant. Very fast growing; can mature in 1-2 years.

bush anemone: An evergreen shrub, 4-8 ft. by 5 ft., with narrow, dark-green, glossy leaves. The showy, single, 2-3 in. wide, anemone-like flowers are fragrant and glistening white. Do not overwater or overfeed this plant as it will grow rank with too much care. Deer generally ignore bush anemone. Drought tolerant. [A little bigger than you suggested, but slow growing and can be kept pruned]

mountain whitethorn: Mountain whitethorn or snow bush is an intricately branched, spiny, spreading shrub, 3-6 ft. tall , with smooth, whitish bark and velvety, blue-green leaves. Fragrant, white flowers occur in dense clusters. Drought tolerant, beneficial to native bees and butterflies.

desert ceanothus: In the same genus as the snow bush above. Desert ceanothus is an erect, rigidly branched, half-evergreen shrub from 3-6 ft. tall. Leaves are small and leathery – grayish-green above, gray beneath. The showy flower clusters are composed of small, creamy-white to bluish flowers. Drought tolerant. [and several other ceanothus species.]

Potentilla: Cinquefoil or potentilla is a low, rounded shrub, 3-4 ft. high and equally as wide, with dainty, grayish-green, pinnately compound leaves and long-blooming, showy, yellow flowers. Fall color is insignificant and leaves may or may not be evergreen depending on locality. Potentilla provides good erosion control and is pest and maintenance free. Just ignore it. Has conspicuous flowers and is beneficial to native bees and butterflies.

Fremont indigo bush: Fremont indigo bush is an intricately branched, 2-6 ft. shrub with pinnate leaves, whitish stems, and dark purple-blue, pea-like flowers. Drought tolerant.

Golden currant: Golden currant is a 3-6 ft., deciduous shrub with light-green, three-lobed leaves and spicy-scented racemes of yellow flowers, turning orange with age, on long, wand-like stems. Berries are either yellow, red or black when ripe. It is a very adaptable plant, tolerating standing water to drought. Flowers provide nectar to hummingbirds, butterflies and bees. Birds, bears and rodents eat the fruit. Has conspicuous, fragrant flowers. [and other ribes species, wax currant, black currant, redflower currant]

Romero: A much-branched, 3-4 ft. evergreen shrub with narrow, aromatic leaves and royal-blue flowers in 12 in., fuzzy spikes. Deer may browse this plant in bad years. Drought tolerant, likes poor soils, no fertilization.

Mountain huckleberry: A spreading shrub, 1 1/2 - 6 ft. tall, with small oval leaves and single, pale yellowish-pink flowers hanging on short pedicels from leaf axils. The tubular flowers are followed by edible, purple or purplish-red berries. This is an important and nutritious food source for Black and Grizzly Bears, which consume not only the berries but also other plant parts, as well as deer, Elk, Moose, and Ruffed Grouse. Conspicuous flowers, beneficial to birds and native bees. [and other vaccinum species, red huckleberry, evergreen huckleberry]

information from native plant database: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/

All these are listed as commercially available, but would not be in big box stores. You would need to look for native plant nurseries.

https://www.laspilitas.com/stores/escondido

https://www.bewaterwise.com/retailers.html

any good native plant nursery can give you better help than I can of what would be most appropriate for your needs.

Sounds like good choices. California's long drought makes using natives and drought tolerant plants a good idea.

I like Indian Hawthorne, rhapsiolepsis indica, the only thing is that you will need to put in large plants since they grow very slowly. Once they fill in, they are a fairly low maintenance hedge with few pests that bother them and do not need heavy pruning to keep its shape.

Whatever you choose, it is still a good idea to give them the best start you can by improving the soil with organic matter and water and fertilize them regularly until they are established, then you can back off the watering, but you should still fertilize, compost and mulch regularly.