Screening with California Natives?

Hi All:

I would like to put a living screen just outside the chainlink (yuck) fence
at the back of our property. It should block our view of rather enormous
(about 9000 square foot) house being built there. The area is infested with
mule deer refugees from the terribly overgrazed pasture lands extending for
100's of miles to the immediate southeast of our location. We also are
visted by hordes of Thomomys - pocket gophers. I probably need to plant in
large galvanized wire  screen pits. We receive perhaps 25 inches of rain a
year, a little more than the official figure for San Jose proper. Of course
I would need to irrigate for the first year or two, but ideally I'd like
plants that would eventually need no irrigation. - A wild bitter almond,
sorry Prunus amygdalus, grows quite nicely in the same general area. The
site is at the top of a steep embankment and thus has perfect drainage, the
soil is poor but friable. The site is quite windy.

I would like to use California, or more precisely, endemic, species. I've
given up on Chrysolepis chrysophylla; it's just too touchy and I suspect the
deer would enjoy it just too much. I'll be happy to keep my three surviving
saplings alive in pots. Thumbing through my trusty Sunset Western Garden
book (which always seems to know more than I do, no matter how much I study)
I've settled on perhaps Myrica californica, Pacific Wax Myrtle or
Arctostaphylos manzanita, Common manzanita. Some list member kindly pointed
out to another inquirer than Ceratonia siliqua makes an excellent hedge -
this might work too, but I think the Arctostaphylos would be much more
chique. I think Umbellularia californica might need more water than
available at this site.

So my questions are:

Are these reasonable choices, are there better ones?
How far apart should the plants be?
Would it be best to use all the same species or
use two or three different ones?
Are 10 - 15 gallon size plants a good choice for this sort
of application?
Any ideas about suppliers?

P.S. I really enjoy reading this list and hope that someday I can contribute
better insights.

---------------------------------
Karl Hoover
Berryessa Foothills
San Jose, California, USA
USDA Zone approximately 9b
UC/Sunset Zone 16
Minimum temp winter 1999  -3 C
Minimum temp winter 2000  +3 C
Dry Summers, usually wet winters.
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