Drought landscaping: 5 inspiring lawn-free yards

Living art Creating a serene space topped the list when landscape designer Beth Mullins created this backyard retreat near San Francisco's Glen Park. The owners use their garden mainly to relax and unwind, and dreamed of having their own labyrinth. So Mullins created a living labyrinth outlined with Carex divulsa, an extremely tough and versatile grass-like sedge that can handle sun or shade and take drought once it's established after a couple years of growth. Now mature, the sedge needs very little care or irrigation, and Mullins says, "Instead of a water or fire feature, this becomes the focal point. It's like having a piece of art in the garden that's functional, and when people gather, you don't have to move it out of the way." less Living art Creating a serene space topped the list when landscape designer Beth Mullins created this backyard retreat near San Francisco's Glen Park. The owners use their garden mainly to relax and unwind, and ... more Photo: Beth Mullins Growsgreen, Growsgreen.com Photo: Beth Mullins Growsgreen, Growsgreen.com Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Drought landscaping: 5 inspiring lawn-free yards 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

Water-guzzling gardens aren't the only ones that look good. Many that rely on little irrigation are just as lush, colorful and captivating as their thirstier counterparts. And since quenching your garden can account for as much as half of your household water bill, it makes sense to conserve not only in drought years but all the time. Fortunately, Bay Area gardeners have access to an abundance of gorgeous, drought-tolerant plants that thrive in our climate, along with innovative ways to grow them. Here we show a spectrum of design ideas - that range from using few plants to carpeting a plot with greenery - to inspire your own low-water landscape.

Living art

Creating a serene space topped the list when landscape designer Beth Mullins ( www.growsgreen.com) created this backyard retreat near San Francisco's Glen Park. The owners use their garden mainly to relax and unwind, and dreamed of having their own labyrinth. So Mullins created a living labyrinth outlined with Carex divulsa, an extremely tough and versatile grass-like sedge that can handle sun or shade and take drought once it's established after a couple years of growth. Now mature, the sedge needs very little care or irrigation, and Mullins says, "Instead of a water or fire feature, this becomes the focal point. It's like having a piece of art in the garden that's functional, and when people gather, you don't have to move it out of the way."

Confined plantings

Having a drought-tolerant garden doesn't mean you'll be stuck with hardscape alone. You can still surround yourself with greenery, while minimizing your water needs, by limiting and confining what you grow. Because the owners of this Potrero Hill backyard often look down on their plot from above, Mullins created a highly visual space and used low-water plants to fill narrow beds along the plot's periphery. Grouping growers in defined areas has the added effect of putting them on display and giving them elevated status. The plants need little irrigation and survive mainly on rainwater that's captured in the owners' rain barrels.

Low-water tapestry

High up in Los Altos Hills where summer temperatures can soar into the 100s, and facing southwest with no shade, this garden required plants that were ultra-tough and unthirsty. Because the homeowners view this space from large picture windows, it had to look good, so landscape designer Rebecca Sweet ( www.harmonyinthegarden.com) created a colorful bed filled with mounding plants to mimic the contours of the surrounding Santa Cruz Mountains. Pink-flowered teucrium, orangey Stipa arundinacea, 'Moonshine' yarrow, silver artemisia, Cleveland sage and 'Provence' lavender in the foreground give way to phlomis, miscanthus 'Morning Light' and calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' in the rear; all looked lush with little irrigation after their first year of growth.

Lawn substitute

Once planted with thirsty turf, this dymondia "lawn" in Los Altos offers the same utility - a visually soothing expanse of greenery that can handle foot traffic - for a fraction of the resources: The owner's water bill dropped a whopping 40 percent once the traditional grass was removed. To temper dymondia's silver hue, Sweet dotted it with swaths of 'Dragon's Blood' sedum and thin-bladed Carex divulsa. Bordering the lawn are catmint, 'Blue Springs' penstemon, 'Sunset Gold' coleonema, 'Happy Returns' daylily, and dark-pink centranthus that draw hummingbirds and insects, creating a wildlife haven for the owner's grandkids to explore.

Mini meadow

Once a steep slope with limited access, this Cow Hollow backyard in San Francisco now has three tiers of useful space. Landscape architect Roderick Wyllie ( www.sdisf.com) designed a house-level deck at the top, a mid-level gravel gathering area with a fire pit and a plant-filled meadow below. Because the rest of the garden's elements - including built-in benches, low concrete walls and peekaboo fencing - are so graphic, the meadow was intended to have a wild look, and overflows with unthirsty plants, including Cleveland sage, perovskia, echinacea, carex and muhlebergia. "It's a nice contrast to the architectural design of the spaces you occupy," Wyllie says.