Instead of lawn in a front garden

13 years ago

Since the movement towards less water intensive gardens in California continues to gather steam, and lawns are losing favor, I thought I would link to some photos of a lawn redo here in northern California that shows some of the possibilities. I tend to rely on gardens full of succulents and South African/Mexican plants in combination with some California natives when designing lower water use gardens, but have also done others with more Mediterranean basin plants.

In my opinion, replacing a lawn with plantings is a no-brainer, win-win situation all the way around, but it does require attention to periodic pruning and continual vigilance about weeding to keep them looking as good as they do in these photos. On the other hand, such maintenance can be accomplished with just a half day of labor once a month, rather than weekly mowing, and only a few of these plants require any fertilizer, rather than the entire lawn as previously.

Here's a link to one photo, there are more in the set, and several other sets showing no-lawn gardens under the "Delaware St. Neighbors" and "Thomason Garden" if you are looking for a variety of ideas to get you started. In general I prefer to drip irrigate such plantings, but the first Alameda garden, the Domingo residence, simply converted the existing lawn pop-up spray system to taller 12 inch pop-ups, and is working fine as long as things are kept pruned to keep full coverage. That also means matching mature heights of plants to irrigation head locations, which is more maintenance intensive in my opinion than it would have been to convert to drip, but we were on a tight budget, and the irrigation system was already in place.

here's the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20217462@N02/5595413359/in/set-72157626442938528/

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Comments (13)

tressa
13 years ago
I would so love to look at the pictures on your sites - but I can't access the links???
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
13 years ago
Well done, especially in making that period tract home stand out. Problem is, the Realtors don't think about that kind of thing and generally don't know enough to be able to sell it. Some segments of the Realtor class are changing though - finally - and hopefully this will catch on.

Dan
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wcgypsy
13 years ago
Such as the small house here locally that had a front yard of echium fastuosums / Pride of Madeira and caesalpinia pulcherrima / Pride of Barbados...house painted a pink / tan color with a front door of reddish burgundy. Small, but rather charming. Just sold to become a rental and they painted the trim and door white, took out the shrubs, leaving just dirt, and put up a chain link fence. These things break my heart...lol..
bahia
Original Author
13 years ago
Gardens are always ephemeral, and I've had past clients' gardens that I had landscaped ripped out in their entirety as well. No point in lamenting it, but I've learned to take photos frequently, because there is no going back once you missed a good shot...

I've even been the one doing the ripping out on one occasion, and it felt very satisfying to do it, but I would rather see a garden get better with time, than be wiped out.
jakkom
13 years ago
I like a well-tended lawn once in a while, but there are so many more interesting things to do with one's landscaping. Especially here in our Mediterranean climate and with super-talented people like bahia and michelle-the-deviant-designer around.

I use soaker hoses with quick-coupler connects. Water usage in the summer, with uphill-pumping charge from EBMUD, 2100+ sq.ft. of fifteen heavily planted cottage garden beds, runs about $23/month. I water every 3-4 weeks, depending on temps - we're on the edge of the fog belt, so sometimes I can go extra long between soaks. But if we get those extreme heat spells, then I'll give the garden an extra soaking once it breaks.

Mulch is my best friend, LOL!

This is from early March this year, so not much color yet:
{{gwi:526108}}
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
13 years ago
Here's the clickable link:

Here is a link that might be useful: here's the clickable link
calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
13 years ago
As tracts that were originally occupied by the home owners is converted to rentals the value of all the homes declines, principally as the garden declines. This property as rental property, shows that such is not inevitable, a wonderful example. Al
loribee2
13 years ago
Wow, those are beautiful gardens! We just bought our house 2 1/2 years ago. A small 1,300 sq ft home on an 8,000 sq ft lot. Every square inch outside the back patio is lawn, surrounded by a formal hedge, and my first comment when I saw the yard was, "Oh, this is all gonna go."

I've broken it up into four sections. The first was the vegetable garden I put in last summer. I've got three sections to go, and boy, Bahia, if I could afford to hire you I'd be asking for your number right now! This is exactly the type of thing I'm hoping to achieve.

Thanks much for the inspiration!

Here is a link that might be useful: my blog
tressa
13 years ago
Thank you, hoovb, I appreciate that...
elvie z9CA
13 years ago
Bahia, great designs!

And thanks hoovb for the link on this one and the CA dreaming thread.(and p.s. I always enjoy your blog)
homey_bird
13 years ago
Loved the makeover of the front yard! Colorful yet economical! Thanks for sharing.
napapen
13 years ago
I give talks about non lawns and they are out of style. And lawns don't take much creativity or thought! These look great.

Penny
jakkom
13 years ago
I love the way bahia uses succulents in big groupings. Those succulents are not only colorful, they have a strong presence that really complements the long, low rectangular architecture of the house.

My nephew has a MCM tract house in El Cerrito with the most boring front yard lawn and standard shrub plantings. The previous HO loved that water-guzzling suburban landscaping and it just doesn't do anything for integrating the house to the site.

They're occupied with work and kids right now, but maybe someday they'll have the time to think about hiring someone like bahia to transform their property. Gorgeous job well done!