Sturdy plants?

I'm thinking of running a line of garden along the front part of my lawn. The difficulty is there is no sidewalk. I've run a couple of lines of pavers that create a walk about 3' deep, but it still quaifies as a high traffic area ... especially given the elementary school across the street. Anything I put there can't have thorns and has to be big and sturdy enough to withstand being smacked with car doors, trampled under little feet, and similar hazards. Right now I'm thinking rosemary, but I'm open to suggestions. (I'm in Zone 11)

I have erigeron karvinskianus as a ground cover (Mexican Daisy, Santa Barbara Daisy, ...) http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1648/index.html and http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/images/thumbnails/html/erigeron_karvinskianus.htm and it is very sturdy. I mow it a couple of times a year just to keep it a bit lower. It mats up to about 12". It was a replacement for rosemary, which got rather woody.

Can you put up a fence at the front of the property? That ought to discourage the car doors and little feet, then you can plant anything you'd like. Around here a lot of people fence off their front yards with decorative wrought-iron look fences which look very nice.

According to City of La Mirada http://www.cityoflamirada.org/planning_build_faq.htm

hmmm. A fence is an excellent idea. I'll have to look into that.

Thanks!