Lawn Alternatives Using California Native Plants
Garden Guides | Garden Design ServiceLawns may be green and "beautiful," but in our water conscious and eco-friendly world they are wasteful of water and heavy polluters from fertilizer and herbicide runoff. If you are ready to remove your lawn and turn it into a sanctuary for birds, bees and butterflies, here are some design ideas.
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Planting a broad area with one or two varieties of groundcover Manzanita or Wild Lilac will look great year round with minimal watering and maintenance. CA - Ceanothus gloriosus 'Anchor Bay' MR - Muhlenbergia rigens |
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One of the most popular options is choosing to transform a water hungry, relatively sterile lawn into a native meadow garden. Plant a low area of grasses, with annual and perennial flowers mixed in. A - Achillea millefolium E - Epilobium canum (grass) - Festuca 'Siskiyou Blue' I - Iris douglasiana P - Penstemon heterophyllus 'Margarita BOP' SS - Solidago sp. |
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A small area of grasse and wildflowers is surrounded by groundcover with some larger shrubs near the border. This hybrid approach increases the diversity of plants and habitat niches, so if gardening for wildlife is a priority for you, this is probably the best approach. AH - Arctostaphylos densiflora 'Howard McMinn' CA - Ceanothus gloriosus 'Anchor Bay' CD - Ceanothus 'Dark Star' CO - Cercis occidentalis (grass) - Festuca 'Siskiyou Blue' FK - Fremontodendron 'Ken Taylor' MA - Mimulus aurantiacus MR - Muhlenbergia rigens SA - Salvia apiana SB - Salvia 'Bee's Bliss' SC - Salvia clevelandii |
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