Low Water, Low Maintenance Plants with High Impact

“Oh my gosh,” as my five year old would say, we are drying up here in Southern California! We recently vacationed in Palm Springs, a place that already knows it’s a desert, and I was really inspired by how their plants give the place a calm and serene feel. I have been noticing more and more artificial grass in our area, but for me I feel like if we have to reduce our lawn size, why not use low water plants to match our low water lifestyle?

Since I do not have a green thumb or any patience/skill for gardening, I enlisted the help of my long-time friend and avid gardener, Lisa. Lisa has already embraced the succulent and fountain grass approach to gardening and was more than happy to give some tips on how to replace my grass with a stylish look that’s still low maintenance.

Mind Over Messy: Why did you choose to use low water plants when you love to garden and could have chosen more flowery plants instead?

Lisa: I try to do my part to preserve our natural resources by recycling, buying local produce at my farmer’s market, and cutting down on my shower time. When we moved into our home last year, I knew right from the start that I would design a front landscape that would minimize water usage and be low maintenance as well. So I researched low water plants and devised a plan to eliminate some of my lawn.

I decided these plants would be the major focus for the new look:

Mind Over Messy: How did you go about planting them?

Lisa: My husband and I dug grass out of the corner of our front yard and continued digging all along the front creating a four foot wide planter running almost the entire perimeter. This not only eliminated a good portion of the lawn, it created a nice separation from our neighbor’s front yard. I decided on a combination of succulents such as, flap jacks and native grasses including zebra grass and fountain grass. I softened the look by adding rosemary and lavender. I have just an island of grass in the middle that I may eventually get rid of all together but for now I am happy with the new look.

PERIMETER:

FRONT CORNER:

Mind Over Messy: The turquoise rock also adds a spot of color. I love how she used Aeonium succulents and flap jacks to be the “flowers” in the garden. 

Lisa: Salad Bowl Aeoniums are another nice choice:

Mind Over Messy: Any last tips for those wanting to try this type of gardening?

Lisa: For more inspiration, think about carving shapes into your landscape with decomposed granite or river rock to add texture and color separation.

Or, replace your lawn with an array of gorgeous low water plants such as New Zealand flax, Mexican feather grass and kangaroo paw.

A great way to get inspired is to walk around different neighborhoods. Some cities even have open garden tours giving you the opportunity to see what your neighbors have done with their yards.

Mind Over Messy: I love Lisa’s tips and cannot wait to replant my some, or all of my grass, with some pretty succulents, rocks, and zebra grass. I would love to hear if you have added low maintenance and low water plants to your yard and how it turned out if you did.