How to Completely Change a Weedy Lawn

This weedy lawn had been bothering the homeowners for a long time.  It was a nice lawn when it was first put in, but needed to be maintained often.   As busy professionals, they really did not have the time.  On the other hand, they wanted to be friendly for the environment and have a small footprint.  The lawn, they felt, used too much water.  When they heard of Santa Clara Water District’s Landscape Conversion Program, that after a turf was converted to water efficient landscaping a rebate would be given to them, they felt the program was just for them.  They could ditch the lawn that took too much work  and used too much water, have brand new landscaping that would use much less, and receive money for doing all this.  They happily got on board.

Outdoor Lawn Watering: Heavy Water Use

Lawns use a lot of water. According to Ben Erickson,  “While the amount of water needed will vary depending on your climate, the weather, and the time of year; the general rule of thumb is to make sure your lawn receives 1″ of water to your lawn per week during dry conditions.”  So, for a 1000 square feet of lawn, in every week of dry conditions it needs 623 gallons of water, or, 89 gallons a day! Imagine 89 gallon water jugs, that is how much water the lawns needs to drink every day.  According to USGS, “Each Californian uses an average of 181 GALLONS of water each day. ”  If we use the number (89 gallons) from the example above, outdoor water use accounts for almost 50% of the overall use.  That is very close to the actual case.  Per “STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD RESOLUTION NO. 2015-0032″, “In many areas, 50 percent or more of daily water use is for lawns and outdoor landscaping.”  In other words, half or more of our water (in the city) is used on outdoor landscaping.  That is a lot of water when you think about it.

Two California Water Bills – SB 606, AB 1668

On May 31,2018, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into effect two water use efficiency bills, SB 606 and AB 1668.   “In preparation for the next drought and our changing environment, we must use our precious resources wisely. We have efficiency goals for energy and cars – and now we have them for water”.

In the bill, a goal is set for indoor use   “Establishing an indoor, per person water use goal of 55 gallons per day until 2025, 52.5 gallons from 2025 to 2030 and 50 gallons beginning in 2030.”  If we use 90 gallons as the baseline for today, by 2030, we need to use 44.4% less water than today to meet the goal. A goal for outdoor will be announced in the near future.  Though we don’t know the actual number yet, we can guess it won’t be  just 1% or 2%.  To achieve that kind of water saving, one of the most effective ways is to replace the lawn with landscaping of drought tolerant plants, which usually can save water by 30-60%. In addition to the big water saving benefit, there are two advantages that come with it.  After the lawn is gone, the need for mowing is gone too.  While the water wise landscaping still needs to be maintained, the effort required is generally much less than that for lawns.  For busy professionals like the homeowners of this house, it definitely is a great plus. Another big benefit is the choice of the plants.  Instead of the mono color of green, the drought tolerant plants come in many shapes, colors and textures.  You can choose the ones that sport blossom of red, pink, yellow, purple, white or others of your favorite colors.  That is exactly what the homeowners did for this garden.  They loved flowers and wanted to fill the garden with many of them.

Apply for the Landscape Conversion Rebate

Before the project started, an application was submitted to Santa Clara Water District’s Landscape Conversion Program.  After they received the application, the water district did an on-site inspection and measured the sizes of the lawns that qualify for conversion and the rebate.  After the visit, they sent out the “Notice to Proceed”, which indicated that project could kick off.

Install the Water Efficient Garden

The project started!  First, all the grasses were removed. Then, a small rain garden was built.

Take full use of rain

Rain water is a valuable source of water.  When it rains, water that falls on the roof and flows from downspouts onto impermeable surfaces like driveways will just run off.  This is a waste of water. A better use is to let it soak into the ground and recharge the ground water.  In the process,  harmful particles can be filtered out before the water go back to the ground water, versus being discharged directly into waterways, harming birds and other aquatic animals there. This downspout comes directly into the garden, which provides a good opportunity to catch the rain and let it soak down in the garden. A small ditch and depression was dug.   When it rains, rain water from the downspout  will flow to this small depression, and soak into the soil.  The plants in the depresson were picked to stand both wet and dry conditions. One key component for drought tolerant garden is the drip irrigation.  Compared with overhead spray, it can save water by 15 gallon each time you water.  Since water slowly drips down, there will be much less runoff, and thus, much less water waste. To save water, another important equipment to install is the rain sensor.  When it rains, it can detect and send the signal to a smart controller, which will delay the scheduled watering.  In many cities, it is now the law that “no watering 48 hours after measurable rainfall (1/8”)” .  With the rain sensor, this can be done automatically, saving so much time and effort.

Keep the “good old” plants

When an old garden was to be cleared up, not all the old plants need to go.  The ones that still look good, especially if they are drought tolerant, can possibly be keepers. This flower bed was full of lavender.  The lavenders were lovely bushes, just that they  were obstructed by the weeds.  Lavender are wonderful low water use plants, bloom for a long time, and attract pollinators like bees.  It was decided to be kept as part of the new garden. Once the weeds were removed, the flower bed looked beautiful: Bees love to visit and feed on the blossom:

Receive Landscape Conversion Rebate

The garden is done!  This was before The new garden The water district conducted a post inspection.  The lawn was converted successfully, and qualified for the rebate.  A couple weeks later, the rebate check was received. With the transformation of the lawn, a significant amount of water will be saved.  Instead of a weedy pad that would need so much care, the owner got this beautiful front yard with her favorite flowers, greeting her every day when she leaves for and comes back from work.  When it rains, the rain water from the roof will flow out to feed the plants and go back to nature.  On top of all these, she received a check.  Why wait?  Start today and plan for a water efficient garden.