Lawnbusters: turf alternatives

September 6, 2008

TRENDS

Landscape rules on how much lawn is enough differ by city

KEEPING that thick, verdant blanket of grass watered in these dog days of summer is about as economical and conservation-minded an enterprise as gassing up the family SUV for the weekly commute or a long-distance vacation. It costs a bundle, and pretty soon you have to do it all over again.

Public Enemy No. 1? The great grass debate

It's just grass, but don't tell Sheldon Lodmer, for whom the sight of a well-kept lawn borders on the transcendental. "It's very peaceful. It reminds me of openness and cleanness," says Lodmer, whose home in the hills above Malibu's Zuma Beach is fronted by an expanse of fescue roomy enough to field an NFL scrimmage. "There's just something about the look. It's very calming," says his wife Emily, gazing out from a second-floor window framing patches of brown rolling hills that lie beyond.

Ornamental grasses: Meadows for the masses

"I keep saying it and saying it and saying it," says John Greenlee, "brown is a color too." As autumn turns the dozens of grasses, sedges and rushes in his Pomona nursery various shades of gold, silver and brown, the leader of the Western meadow movement seems exhausted by a two-decade fight against the perpetual green of the suburban lawn.

Lawn? Yawn. Along the sidewalk, think different

Landscape designer Robert Cornell just wanted to save water. When he planted drought-tolerant shrubs instead of turf grass on a little belt of land between the sidewalk and the street, he hardly expected the brouhaha that followed.

Two gardens, one idea: Drought-tolerant doesn't have to mean dull

At first glance, the two homes have nothing in common. One's an urban update of a rustic log cabin. The other, a 1920s Mediterranean casa. What links them is their imaginative drought-resistant gardens -- drastic departures from the lush carpets of grass that used to surround each one and that still front almost all the other houses in their neighborhoods.

Family-friendly solutions in Rancho Palos Verdes

When David and Shelly Roth purchased their Rancho Palos Verdes home, the landscaping was so ill-conceived, visitors had trouble finding the front door. The backyard was overgrown with citrus trees and laden with what can best be described as earthy housewarming presents left by its previous resident, a potbellied pig.

Ways to lighten up on watering

Style of turf. The first place to start is with the type of turf. Tall fescue is the most drought-tolerant of the main types of popular lawn grasses. Bahia, centipede or buffalo grasses also require less water.

Sedum: covering lots of ground

Despite all the attention that succulents have received during this record-breaking dry spell, an eco-conscious gardener could shout "Sedum!" with all his might and still be met with a collective shrug.