Lawn elimination & drought tolerant planting project - Ventura CA

Description

My “Do It Yourself” Lawn Removal & Front Yard Makeover Project
May 2013 through January 2014
Dorie Zabriskie

Photos of the Entire Process are in my Facebook Album “My front yard makeover—Accomplished~”

GOAL: To reduce water use by eliminating the lawn and replacing it with “ocean friendly” plants and systems which allow water and rain to stay on the property instead of flowing into the street.

VISION: I want less lawn, more drought tolerant plants, and a feeling of walking up a streambed.

OBJECTIVES:
1) To reduce water use
2) To eliminate the lawn and replace it with drought tolerant plants, rocks, pebbles and mulch
3) To create an insect and bird-friendly garden with beautiful things and views
4) To spend as little money as possible
5) To find and reuse free materials such as cardboard, rocks, pebbles, stones, mulch, succulents and plants

TIMELINE AND ACTION STEPS
May 2013: I created a vision of the feeling and look I wanted for my front yard and I started researching how to kill lawns and create drought-tolerant gardens. I did several sketches of the design of the yard.
May through October: I walked many neighborhoods and studied what people had done with their yard design, plants and ground covers, and the overall impact. I took pictures and posted them on my Facebook page. I educated myself about plants and the various heights and attributes. I researched what it would cost to hire a garden designer and labor and decided to do it myself to save money (and have the satisfaction of doing it myself).

June through September: These months were spent killing the lawn. Ventura didn’t have any rain and there were many hot days. The first step was to mow the lawn, lightly water, and then cover with clear plastic sheets. The heat builds under the plastic and eventually kills the lawn, grass seeds and weeds). The most successful method for me was to lay down clear plastic sheets (anchored by lumber or rocks).

I did sections at a time, but you could do the whole area at once. See Resource section for good articles about this. I didn’t want to use Roundup and I didn’t want to rototill the area because I read that probably wouldn’t actually kill the grass. Killing the grass was the hardest part of this project!

September through December: As each section of the lawn was killed, I dug up the dead grass layer (about 4-5”) and put that material in the garbage. I didn’t want to keep it because I didn’t want the grass to come back. In one area I used that dirt and dead grass to create a mound. I dug up at least 4-5” of dirt along the sidewalks and curb areas so that when I replaced the grass/dirt with either mulch or rocks it wouldn’t spill over onto the sidewalk.

My first zone was beneath my Jacaranda tree, near the house where water usually pooled from the drain spouts from the house. I created my dry stream bed using repurposed rocks and pebbles I already had on the property. First I dug up the dead grass, then put down layers of cardboard (overlapping at least 6 inches), then added the pebbles and rocks. I used the Jacaranda’s roots as edges of the river. I also paid a gardener to radically trim the Jacaranda.

September through January: Because I did each section at a time (instead of doing the whole project in a few days), I was able to adjust my design as I went, and as I learned more about the process.

After digging out the dead grass and smoothing out the dirt, I laid down large sheets of cardboard (kind of like doing a carpeting job). I used large sheets of cardboard (recycled from a local furniture store) to cover the dirt, and was sure to overlap each section by 6 inches. (In the areas that have small gaps in the cardboard or newspaper which has allowed tree shoots and weeds to crop up, I can dig into the area and add more cardboard or newspaper.)
Once the cardboard was down, I added either mulch or pebbles. In one area that I planted a ground cover I also added some fresh dirt (about 2”) on top of the cardboard. I outlined each area in rocks or pavers. And I made sure to extend the cardboard (or newspaper) to the edge of the sidewalk (or wall) and have it go up about 2” to try and keep the weeds from growing underneath.

I only used landscape fabric in one spot (the parkway) because the Surfrider Group told me how the plastic breaks down eventually and gets into the water. In the parkway I put a layer of cardboard down first, then the landscape fabric, then the gravel.

MATERIALS
Mulch: I was able to obtain free mulch for the whole project from our local community garden, Cornucopia in Ventura (on Telephone near Kimball). I loaded my van with trash cans, buckets, garden containers and anything else that I could put the material in. This way I was able to lift the buckets without hurting my back. You could have a load delivered by truck if you have a friend who is willing to help. But I preferred just getting smaller loads and spreading them out myself.

Rocks & Pebbles & Concrete: Several neighborhoods had pebbles and rocks that they wanted to get rid of so I was able to re-purpose them in my yard. One neighbor had hundreds of big, beautiful river rocks and her donation saved me much money and labor. I used some of the re-purposed concrete pieces in my back yard for the garden. The only gravel I purchased came from Lowes for the parkway (I decided to not use mulch since the cats in the neighborhood are using my mulch areas for their litter box).

Succulents & clippings: All of the succulents and some of the drought-tolerant plants are clippings from neighborhood yards, and I rooted them either in pots or directly into the soil.

When I planted the plants I simply cut out a circle in the cardboard layer, put in some good dirt, and stuck the plant in the hole.

Clippings included Rock Purslane and many succulents, which once established rarely need water.

Drought-Tolerant plants: I purchased just a few plants from Green Thumb (many plants I already had in my yard).

A flat of Dymondia (or Silver Carpet) a nice sturdy low ground cover with yellow flower $16.
A six-pack of Mexican Feather Grass (Blue Fescue) $3
A 2-3 foot yellow Kangaroo Paw $16
One Hot Lips (salvia) $9
One Sun drop (low yellow flowers) $9

COSTS:
Tools (rake, saw, etc) $37
Dymondia & 3 bags soil $40
12 bags dirt $40
Rake & Plants $60
Landscape Fabric $27 (300 square feet)
4 bags gravel & delivery $220 (Lowes) 1/3 cubic yard $35 each x 4 to cover 5’ x 40’ x 2” deep
75 landscape pins $11
Jacaranda Tree Trimming $116
TOTAL Cash COST $551

Labor: Free (many days of my time)
Cardboard/newspapers: Free from furniture store
Mulch: Free from Cornucopia Garden
River Rocks: Free from neighbor, and pebbles I already had

OUTCOMES
My water bill will be less (I am only watering once a week, and will shift to twice a month, spot watering). I have gotten to know my neighbors better and they have supported me in the process and shared things like pavers and plants. I gave away excess free dirt to neighbors. I helped my elderly neighbor do a similar project in her backyard and introduced her to the free mulch and cardboard sources. The birds, bees and butterflies are enjoying the flowers. I enjoy puttering around and looking for any grass that pops up, and adding more cardboard or mulch as needed.

Resources: most valuable sites included:
www.watersmartgardening.com
www.venturawater.org
www.SustainableVentura.tv
www.Gardensoft. Com
(shows hundreds of designs of all kinds of gardens, and the botanical name of plants; sites include many states in California and the West, and regions/cities.)
www.ventura.watersavingplants.com
https://www.surfrider.org/programs/entry/ocean-friendly-gardens

(shows how to create bioswales, eliminate lawns, plant drought tolerant plants). There are videos on the Surfrider Foundation site showing how to do this. Their CPR program is about Conservation, Permeability and Retention ©—Apply to your garden to revive our watersheds and ocean.

Lawn Removal Articles (many are on the internet) include:
Four ways to remove your lawn, by Joe Robinson, 9/6/2008 LA Times
Removing a Lawn Without Herbicides, by Phillip Dickey, Washington Toxics Coalition
Grass Removal Methods, by Sonoma County Master Gardeners
How to Dry Out the Lawn On Purpose, by Billy Goodnick, www. 805living.com, July 2010