Style : Gardens : MIDDAY AT THE OASIS : A Drought-Resistant Alternative to the Suburban Lawn

Landscaping for tract houses is usually the undisputed domain of instant sod and cement. Not so with this new home in Riverside.

Owner Bob Reed, a partner in the development, wanted nothing to do with the standard patch of thirsty grass bisected by a concrete path. Besides an innovative design, he wanted a garden that would conserve water as well as provide privacy. His house sits on a wedge-shaped corner lot, with the narrow end at the street, so neighboring houses seemed too close for comfort and headlights streamed through his living-room windows at night.

Riverside landscape designer John DeForest’s solution was to specify drought-resistant plants for the garden, then create a walled entry lined with silver dollar eucalyptus, pine and crape myrtle trees. Shielded from neighbors and traffic are a patio and a path made of pieces of broken concrete set in sand and soil. Scotch moss ( Sagina subulata ‘Aurea’ isn’t a real moss and needs full sun) grows in the cracks. It is set off by the reddish leaves of a weedy oxalis, which is actually cultivated in this garden.

Along the short walk is an interesting variety of plants that need little water. Blue and gray foliage dominates. “It’s hot out here, and the gray leaves have a cooling effect,” DeForest says. Some of the designer’s imaginative combinations--opuntia cactus next to blue fescue and society garlic, for instance--are experimental. A number of spring-blooming bulbs and annuals, used as temporary fillers, were planted the previous fall to provide color only until more permanent plants take hold.

A raised fish pond that runs the length of the patio seems almost like a mirage. Built out of concrete block, it makes the perfect place to sit and view the garden. From the living-room windows, the pond offers visual respite from the entry’s long stretch of stucco. Says DeForest: “It gives the place a sense of refuge.”