meadow

Herbal Lawns
Although an herbal lawn made of Yarrow (for sun) or Yerba Buena (for shade) has the same down-sides as any monoculture, it is more drought tolerant than a turfgrass lawn, and doesn’t require weekly mowing. You can occasionally walk on these plants, but regular foot traffic should be diverted to a path or stepping stones. Yarrow should be cut back after blooming. Armeria maritima (Sea Pink, photo at left) can be a showy and unusual “lawn”, as well.

Low growing, spreading ground covers
Here’s a way to cover a large expanse without a large expense, I think this is the least expensive strategy. Fast growing plants like Ceanothus ‘Yankee Point’ or Salvia ‘Bee’s Bliss’ can cover an 8 foot wide area within two years! This chokes out weeds and creates a large uniform planted area, that can contrast beautifully with taller accent plants.

Hardscape
Hardscape is the landscaping term for all the areas that aren’t soil and plants – the patios, decks, paths, walls, etc. May I put in a pitch for permeable hardscaping? Your drought tolerant garden will benefit if you can keep all of the water that falls on your property on-site. Instead of concrete, consider pervious concrete and pavers, decomposed granite, gravel and mulch.

Meadows
A meadow conjures images of a grassy field filled with wildflowers, and you can create that at home. Meadows require a different mind-set than a lawn, as they don’t look the same all year long. The seed heads sway in the breeze, flowers come and go, and there may be a dormant period. To get a meadow established you must control the competing weeds, including invasive European annuals like foxtail and wild oats and perennials like oxalis and Bermuda Grass. You should start by pre-germinating and then killing the weed sprouts, and then controlling them as they come back. Decide whether you want a bunch grass like Calamagrostis foliosa (Leafy Reed Grass) or Festuca californica (California Fescue), which would allow some flowers to be interplanted, or a mildly running grass like Festuca rubra (Red Fescue) or Carex pansa (Dune Sedge), which eventually chokes out the flowers and creates a more uniform appearance. Some grasses are available to plant from seed and others are only available by plugs or larger plants. Just recently, several mixtures of native meadow grasses have become available in sod form. Many of the valleys we currently inhabit were once meadows of deep-rooted perennial grasses, and it takes a bit of time to bring them back, so be patient and persistant!

Once you have decided to make the environmental switch to a lawn alternative, you are ready to think about how to remove that lawn. . .and that’s the subject of another article.

Deva Luna works for a sustainable landscape contractor, EarthCare Landscaping, in Cupertino, California, and loves to replace lawns with native plants.