Yes
@Leftwood, we do get heat, but the altitude is the more significant factor. I store pots and supplies along the south side of my house and sometimes the cheaper black plastic nursery pots melt. Many plants touted as "full sun" need part shade here. I'm a California transplant, and even after 9 years in this climate I still underestimate the intensity of this sun.
I use all types of mulches in various beds (amended, veggie, semi-amended, lean)—leaves, compost, shredded bark, wood chips, chopped native grass, and pecan shells—the latter are quite effective in my lean beds (yarrow, lavender, salvia, etc) even though they are dark. Anything that adds even the slightest bit of organic matter to this deprived alkaline soil is beneficial. But all of those are level beds and my planned rock garden will be mounded, so I want something that will stay put. I am leaning toward small rock, but not gravel, which tends to disappear.
