Growing roses

Water-wise lawn replacements 

Imagine your front yard  entirely filled with blooming color for most of the year. This variegated Lantana could be your answer for a drought-tolerant, easy care lawn substitute.

Smart Replacements for Your Lawn

If you have finally decided that the big, green sponge in front of your home, also known as your lawn, has to go, we applaud you. We have a number of suggestions of lawn substitutes for you. If you are not sure you want to take this big step consider these figures.

Lawn grass type                        Weekly water usage

After you have looked at these numbers and before you hire a couple of guys to rip out the lawn, consider your choices of what to do with the space when it becomes bare earth again.  The bare earth, by the way, should be in fairly good condition because the lawn grass roots have loosened the soil and you have probably put lots of fertilizer and water on the space.  So keep as much topsoil as you can when removing your current lawn.

Now let's start with three things that could create other big problems after you remove that water-thirsty lawn.

1. Do not let Mother Nature replant the space for you.  Unless you live in a rural area, this usually results in a mix of unattractive natives taking over and your home may begin to look semi-abandoned.  Moreover, your neighbors and the home owners association may come knocking at your door with complaints.  If you want a native plant garden, pick the natives that look best and plant them before nature chooses for you.

2. Think twice about simply spreading a truckload of rock mulch where your lawn used to be and calling that "desert landscaping".  In direct sunlight rock mulch can quickly heat up to 150 degrees F.  The result is that your house will be sitting in the middle of a furnace.  Imagine what that will do to your air conditioning bill!

3.  And before you roll out a carpet of artificial grass you should know that it, too, can heat up to 150 degrees F. in direct summer sun.  Artificial lawn has come a long ways and can look quite realistic, but also creates the furnace effect.  What you save on your water bill will show up on your electric bill.

Now for some positive choices for lawn substitutes...

Replacing your lawn with ground cover shrubs

One beautiful replacement for your lawn is low-growing, drought-tolerant Lantana (Lantana montevidensis  L. selowiana).  It grows very fast and blooms almost year 'round.  Your local nursery should have young plants in a rainbow of floral colors so you can pick one color that complements the color of your home.  For example, a home painted a white... [more]

Replacing your lawn with pavers

If a front garden of Rosemary or yellow Lantana sounds a bit over the top for you, consider using pavers to replace your lawn and space them widely enough to allow planting in between.  Depending on the size and shape of the space, set pavers between 6 and 18 inches apart.  If they are set close together, it ends up... [more]

Replacing your lawn with ornamental grasses

We are all familiar with the attempts at replacing lawn areas with red Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum') planted in red sandstone rock mulch.  All too often we have been disappointed with... [more]

Replacing your lawn with a knot garden or maze

We have now seen several small front yards where knot gardens and mazes have been created from carefully trimmed boxwood.  This formal design complements...[more]