Lawnless and Loving It Manual

1. Lawnless and Loving it!
by Chris Lewis, CNPS Sac Valley Gardening Committee
Western Redbud, Snowberry, California Fuchsia

2. Why go Lawnless?
Water is a scarce natural resource
but 60 %+ of summer water in the
Sacramento area goes to maintaining
LAWNS. (Audubon)
The average gardener applies 20 times
more pesticides than farmers do. (EPA)
Most commonly used mowers emit 11 times
the air pollution of a new car for each hour
of operation. (EPA)

3. What is a lawn anyway?
A lawn is a monoculture.

4. How to get rid of lawn?
There’re probably 50 ways to loose the lawn!
Here are just a few ideas: California Aster
Shade it out
Allow leaves to pile up with leaves or newspapers and smother it.
Organic herbicides
Herbicides work well but be sure that no chemicals run off into
waterways.
Dig it out
Like hand-weeding but harder!
Go slowly. Take out only the amount of lawn that you have
a plan for.

9. What can you do now?
Children’s Garden
Water Garden
Habitat Garden
Edible Garden
Vineyard
Rain Garden
Meadow!
Rock Garden
California Poppy

10. Children’s Garden
Miner’s lettuce lines the path
under the Live Oaks.
Investigate the pollinators attracted to Showy Milkweed!

11. Water Garden
Water is often good for our souls… and it’s
necessary for wildlife like these Cedar Waxwings!

12. Habitat Garden
‘Blues’ feeding on Buckbrush nectar
photo by Arvind Kumar
Mourning dove family in Valley
Oak 5’ from my front door

13. Edible Garden
Western Blackberry! California Grape!
Miner’s Lettuce!

14. Vineyard
Lady Bug on Fiddleneck Pipevine Swallowtail
Butterfly on Poppy
Wildflowers between the rows will bring in pollinators for your vines!

15. Rain Garden
“A Rain Garden is a
planted depression that
allows rainwater runoff
from roofs, driveways,
walkways, and
compacted lawn areas
the opportunity to be
absorbed.”
This house is below street
level and this ‘rain garden’
absorbs all runoff.
Valley Oak, Silver Bush Lupine, Miner’s lettuce

16. Meadows
2 views of wildflowers at Table Mountain
Carex praegracilis ‘lawn’
Cornflower Farms Nursery, Elk Grove

17. Rock Garden
Dudleya cymosa Dudleya cymosa flower
Saxifraga Californica
Photos by Randy Smith
Goldback Fern

18. The Native Plant Advantage
Go native. But which ones you ask?
Plants indigenous to your area. The
more local the plant, the more likely Pipevine swallowtail
you’ll provide habitat for critters. and Blue Dick
Nature has grouped plants in plant communities. So if
you think about what grows together in nature, those
plants can grow together in similar conditions in your
garden.

19. Native Plants
Save Water:
Once established, many native plants need
minimal irrigation beyond normal rainfall.
Black Phoebe
Low Maintenance:
If you remove the weed seed bank before planting and plant
according to watering needs, you’ll have a low maintenance
garden.
Pesticide Freedom:
Native Plants have developed their own defenses
against many pests and diseases.
Wildlife Viewing:
Research shows that native wildlife prefers native Native Bee
plants.
Support Local Ecology:
As development replaces natural habitats, planting gardens,
parks, and roadsides with California natives can provide a
“bridge” to nearby remaining wildlands.

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Design, installation, photography by Jeff Cox & Julie Evens

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Design, installation, photography by Jeff Cox & Julie Evens

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Taking lawn out can be inspiring! Design & labor by Lil Ordaz

29. Take any ‘Waterwise’ Garden Plan
‘Corner of Shrubs’
Better Homes & Gardens

30. Simple Replacements
A. Pink Spires Flowering Crabapple Pink blooms are followed by small purple-
red fruits; leaves are bronzy green. 15’-20’ tall.
B. Kelsey Dwarf Dogwood Compact, mounded shape, red stems. 2’-3’ tall.
C. Blue Mist Fothergilla Honey-scented white blooms, bluish foliage. 4’ tall.
D. Bird’s Nest Spruce Gray-green, globe-shaped evergreen. 3’ tall.
E. Periwinkle (Vinca minor) evergreen leaves, blue flowers, creeping stems.
6"-12" tall. (This is actually INVASIVE!)
Local Native Alternatives (little to no water needed once established)
A. Western Redbud (Cercis occidentalis) Magenta flowers in spring, fall color varies,
informal look. 20’ tall.
B. Redtwig Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) White flower in spring, red stems in winter.
C. Buck brush (Ceanothus cuneatus) fragrant evergreen shrub, flowers vary from blue to
white, in late spring 6’-8’
D. Coyote Brush (Baccharis pilularis) White flowering in winter, evergreen 3’-6’
E. Yerba Buena (Satureja douglasii) evergreen groundcover with white flowers; then
add California fuschia (Epilobium canum) fall flowering 12”; and Wooly sunflower
(Eriophyllum lanatum) summer flowering 8”, (use Sonoma Sage if full sun)
Above: Yerba Buena flower and Monarch butterfly caterpillar

31. City of Santa Monica’s
GardenGarden Project
Native Landscaping Traditional Landscaping
6,000 250 pounds 15 hours 57,000 670 pounds 60 hours
Gallons Yard waste Maintenance Gallons Yard waste Maintenance

32. Playing with Oak galls under
a Christmas Berry Bush.
Create a place to explore, learn, and play among trees and the natural world.