Landscaping SOS

[Ferrino]

We're looking to convert our small (dying) SoCal grass front yard to some sort of drought-resistant landscape and are struggling to find any company interested in working on such a small project. So we are wondering if this is a DIY job and, if so, what the basic procedure is, please?

As you can see, it's a quarter-circle shape and it's on an incline, with the edges flush with the driveway/sidewalk and then (in the shade) there is some mulch with plants etc.

What would be an easy DIY replacement? Some sort of gravel with a few plants? How do we remove the turf and prepare the base?

Sorry about the dumb questions, but we're complete landscaping novices here... Alternatively, if you know of any contractors in the San Diego area who could tackle this, please PM me!

[masraum]

I would think that was pretty easily DIY. You have to decide what you want to go with. Rock/gravel, cactii, etc.... Drive around and find a yard that's been converted that you like and copy it.

[Noah930]

I DIY'd a similar small project. I dug up the plants with a shovel, and went down into the ground about 2 inches. Borrowed a wheelbarrow from a neighbor. Laid down a roll of weedblocker (purchased from HD/Lowes), picked out some succulents from a nursery and planted them, then covered the whole bit with about 3000 lbs of decorative gravel. Knowing I needed a lot of the rock, I skipped purchasing it from HD/Lowes and instead got it from a builders supply lot. They charge $335/ton, plus $75 for delivery (unless you've got a way to bring home a palleted bag of gravel). Far cheaper (HD/Lowes sells stuff by 40-lb bags or by bags of a certain cubic foot, but not in bulk quantities) and a much, much better selection of rock to be had at a builders supply lot. The hardest part for a novice like me was guesstimating how much rock I needed. I looked at some online calculators, but in the end had to wing it a bit.

[john70t]

I'd second the driving around and looking at Cali pics online.
San Diego had some nice gardens when we drove around some of the neighborhoods.
Succulents and native plants made for deserts will work best.

You might want to dig that sandy soil out and put in a mix with perilight/vermiculite which will store water. Mulch the top.
Best time to plant/move is in the spring, wet, cold, and when plants are most dormant.

There are a lot of different design ideas.
For an entry I like a focal point such as a nice shrub statue or birdbath and groundcover next to the walkway.

[masraum]

wasn't there a thread here a while back talking about the Cali drought that said that local water companies or local govt was offering subsidies or free drought resistant plants to folks that wanted to replace their grass with something that didn't care about rain so much.

[Baz]

Ferrino,

Just so I understand - you want to replace both existing turf and plants?

Your plants are probably established and if your goal is to reduce irrigation needs, you might be better off leaving the existing plants, remove existing turf area, and replace with drought resistant ground cover.

Design-wise - this looks like it's at the very front of your property so you don't want anything tall - so a low growing (ground cover) would be the ticket. And I would plant just one species/variety in the entire area to provide uniformity and simplicity, which is always more visually pleasing.

To remove the existing turf, spray it with Roundup, wait a week, re-spray a second time, then rent a sod cutter and remove the top layer so you're down to bare ground. Grade it by hand and then you can re-plant as desired.

Do you have any type of irrigation right now? If so you can convert it to micro-irrigation aka low volume irrigation...which uses drippers, drip tubing, and/or emitters.

Plant selection could include a number of different choices.

Let me know if any of this makes sense to you and we'll go from there.

PS - If you can find a local landscape contractor, that might be the way to go. Go only by referrals and without question visit the work they have done in the area before committing. Just because someone is a landscaper doesn't mean they are good at it.

[Baz]

Also - without seeing a photo showing the entire front it's harder to provide best options on the design.

The goal of a good designer is that everything on a property ties together and is cohesive and that includes plant and mulch choices.

I have used washed shell as a substitute for mulch and rock and it's much nicer than rock and sometimes more practical than mulch. Not sure if you have washed shell there or not.

[campbellcj]

Subscribed. I'm in the middle of similar projects in a few spots of our yard but I don't feel like I completely know what I'm doing either. I already did quite a bit in past years with rock, mulch and tolerant plants. Part of the issue here is it gets below freezing and over 100F, super dry mostly but then El Nino. So finding plants that can handle that is key.

Adding to the above advice, also pay attention to spacing and read how large each plant will grow when mature. It can be a "doh" moment to see that cute little 4in seedling turn into an 8ft bush.

[john70t]

The back of the pic looks pitch-black. Well established trees.
Nice.
I assume the rest of the yard is the same.

Assuming the marked 11' section is the front entrance, not driveway, there are two ways to go:
1). Hide the entrance:
Continue the arborvite line along the sidewalk, and install a trellis with a swing gate.
Fill with medium or large plants.
There might even be enough room for a seating area with a two seat swing in there with lights etc.
Tighten the area. Expand your personal space.
Present a blocked off wall to the street.

2). Accentuate and expand the entrance:
Colorful red plants on both sides of the walkway in a 24" bed of peastone(small), riverrock(larger), or other bed. There are a lot of choices.
Border is low to the ground to widen the space to the eye, or slightly raised which could become a trip hazard.
Ground cover with something fancy in the left corner to catch the eye, like a 6' variegated shrub.

[cashflyer]

11x18 is a 'yard' ??

[Don Ro]

If you have or have had any Bermuda grass in that patch here's the protocol.
Water the area for a few days, fertilize it, get the Bermuda to grow tall - you'll need the Bermuda to be green, healthy, and tall - several inches.
Then stop watering, spray with Round-up.
Bermuda will translocate the Round-up down to its roots which are a good 6 - 8" deep, or more.
The best time to do this is right now when Bermuda is going dormant and will take the Round-up down to its roots.
Otherwise, you'll only have a "top kill" on the Bermuda and it will return.
Good luck.
.
Oh, and I agree w/others...cruise around and find what you like.
Will you need a drip system? Easy peasy.

[campbellcj]

Originally Posted by cashflyer

11x18 is a 'yard' ??

LOL, welcome to So Cal, where a 7,000sf lot is "generously sized". Ya work with what ya got.

The main strip I'm working on is 11x100'. Still not huge but mine is also steeply sloped with a fence up top and retaining wall down below, which just adds to the fun. It's got established trees but the ground level has been totally cleared to dirt.

[tabs]

Leave existing shrubbery alone and use dripper heads and maybe some drip lines off those heads instead of spray heads. As far as the grass area, dig it out down about 2 inches and put in a small size gravel over a weed block material that requires no maintenance nor water. Keep it simple, clean looking and low maintenance.

[Scott Douglas]

Here's what my son did when faced with that very same situation. His yard is basically on top of a rock pile so he couldn't get any grass to grow. Couple of walls and some bark later, he's got himself a nice looking yard.



The Agave plants were all cuttings from a neighbors plant.

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by tabs

Leave existing shrubbery alone and use dripper heads and maybe some drip lines off those heads instead of spray heads. As far as the grass area, dig it out down about 2 inches and put in a small size gravel over a weed block material that requires no maintenance nor water. Keep it simple, clean looking and low maintenance.

+1

I have similar lawn areas on my property and will be doing the exact same thing. There are rebates available paid per sq/ft - link Home | San Diego County Water Authority Turf Replacement Program. There was a thread here about a company that did all the work and claimed the rebate with no out of pocket fee's to the homeowner. I checked into that but they did not service North County SD - you might have better luck.

Note - drip lines are high maintenance to keep running. I have resorted to bubblers with buried (about 2" deep) feed lines. When exposed to sun and elements the lines go hard and brittle pretty quickly.

[atcjorg]

I am currently in the middle of redoing my front yard if you want to swing by and talk about it, I live in rancho pen send me a pm for addy

[campbellcj]

I'll be converting my side slope to drip or bubblers as well. Then the other side and back fence line as well. Reducing spray irrigation is one of the main reasons for doing the work of course. Also in our case the previous thick ground cover fostered allergies, bugs, rodents and snakes all along the side of our property. Good riddance to that.

[Ferrino]

Thanks so much for all the replies and inspiration!

• I did check for any subsidies, but they appear to have all expired in my specific region.

[Ferrino]

Thanks so much for all the replies and inspiration!

• I did check for any subsidies, but they appear to have all expired in my specific region.

• Sorry for the bad pic, but yes I just want to replace the lawn - the surrounding vegetation is all good.

[Ferrino]

Thanks so much for all the replies and inspiration!

• I did check for any subsidies, but they appear to have all expired in my specific region.

• Sorry for the bad pic, but yes I just want to replace the lawn/turf - the surrounding vegetation is all good.

• Yes there is currently irrigation buried within the lawn, so I would think conversion to drips would be the best way to handle those?