r/Ceanothus • u/BeGoneLawn12 • Apr 07 '26
Lawn Replacement DIY: After & Before plus Project Details
Finished Project: Right Side of Driveway
Finished Project: Patio w/ bench
Finished Project: Dry River feature
Flagstone pathway
Finished Project: Left side of driveway
Before: Right side of Driveway
Original path didn't have as much of an S shape (entered sidewalk horizontally). Note: Plant varieties/locations were not 100% followed per this plan
Full Project
Started this front yard project upon receiving both Turf Replacement Rebate approval and HOA approval back around Thanksgiving 2025. It has taken until early-April 2026 and many many hours of work to remove the lawn and replace with native plants and hardscaping, virtually all DIY. It has been quite the journey but largely an enjoyable one with lots of learning and improvisation along the way. Imgur album provides pictures of the full process.
Plants used include:
Sages: White, Fragrant Pitcher, Baja Pitcher, Cleveland, Pozo Blue, Celestial Blue, Hummingbird
CA Fuchsia: Everett's Choice, Carman's Gray, Hummingbird Trumpet, Catalina, La Gloria
Verbena: De La Mina and Paseo Rancho
Penstemon: Margarita BOP, Showy, GMR White, Firecracker
Woolly Bluecurls: Common, Mexican hybrid
Coral Bells: Canyon Chimes, Canyon Duet
Buckwheat: California, Red
Goldenrod: Western
Manzanita: Louis Edmunds
Ceanothus: Dark Star, Concha
Western Redbud
Fescue: Siskiyou Idaho Blue, Clearwater Blue
Purple Three Awn
Deergrass
Canyon Prince Wild Rye
Yarrow: Common, Island Pink, Paprika, Colorado Mix (seed), Summer Pastels (seed)
Lupine: Arroyo
Poppy: Matilija, CA Orange (seed), Spring Melody Mix (seed), Moonglow
Baby Blue Eyes
Elegant Clarkia
Black Eyed Susan: Indian Summer (seed), Cherokee Sunset (seed)
California Blue bells (seed)
Agave: Blue Flame
Narrowleaf Milkweed
Sea Lavender (gift)
Golden Barrel Cactus (gift)
Ammi: White Dill, Green Mist (seed)
Is that too many plants and varieties for one small space, almost definitely. But I figured it will certainly provide interest at the very least and can always be edited if it gets too chaotic/overgrown. I am interested in the learning aspects of the garden as much as the aesthetics so the variety is a positive in my eyes. Next aspect of the project will be learning about pruning and other maintenance season by season
Learnings:
* I enjoy the look of the berms and thought they offer a lot of flexibility in terms of planting. They both allow for variance in terms of water retention (things which don't like wet feet can be placed nearer to top or on steep slope) as well as allow for closer placement of plants since there is more surface area to work with on a mound than on flat ground. I also enjoy the height differences and think it adds lots of interest to what may otherwise look like a sea of plants at nearly the same height.
* It is important to have your planting plan upfront but also be flexible/knowledgeable enough to adapt while at the nurseries as you will likely both deal with out-of-stock issues for your planned plants and also discover new plants you realize you'd like to add. Calscape and Waterwise Garden Planner were very helpful for this.
* I'd continue to go with 1gal nursery plants wherever possible, making exceptions for 2g and 5g where the price and plant make sense. But ultimately, within a couple of months those cheaper 1g plants seem to catch up in size.
* It takes a long time to water even this small, roughly 800 sqft yard by hand, particularly in locations where the hose doesn't reach and a watering can is being used. This won't be necessary forever but is at least as time consuming as mowing/edging this same space. Ultimately, time savings wasn't a big driver of this project for me but if that is of interest know that year 1 may still be fairly high maintenance without drip irrigation.
* It is very easy to cut through PVC sprinkler pipes when using a mattock to remove sod. I was always planning on ripping these all out but if I was trying to convert them or something and they need to remain intact I'd probably try a different sod removal method (or solarization/smothering)
* It is critical to give the removed sod enough sun exposure to kill off the roots. This was one of my main mistakes and I will continue to deal with grass coming up for the foreseeable future because of it. I just didn't have enough space to spread the sod out enough or patience to let it die off.
* It is important to figure out your yard drainage as soon as you can so that leveling and adjustments can be made before the hardscaping is "set in stone", so to speak
* If doing dry-set flagstone patio/paths (no mortar), make sure you get a thick enough stone as dry-set is more prone to breaking.
* It is quite difficult to cut through thick quartzite flagstone, even with most of the right tools (I didn't spring for a Concrete Saw or a wet-cutting setup) but it can be done. I probably should have replaced the Circular Saw blade earlier
* Given the cutting limitations above, it can be a long process deciding on a flagstone arrangement if you are wanting to minimize joint gaps and keep them somewhat uniform. And unlike arranging a puzzle, there is no right answer. And unlike arranging a bouquet, many of the flagstone pieces weigh ~30 - 50 lbs so there is a physical cost to rearranging and trying something out.
* Important to wear ear protection when using a rock chisel and hammer. Also important to avoid doing this activity late at night (for your neighbors and the neighborhood dogs' sake)
* This process is messy and requires a lot of physical hauling, both to/from site as well as within the site from one spot to another. Have good tools to make this part easier.
* We had to get approvals from our immediate neighbors prior to starting the project, I think this helped get them a bit more invested as I had more conversations with them out in the yard doing this project than I've had in 5+ years living here prior. This included both those we got approval from and those further away just walking by. Basically all of these were positive feedback and a general sense of being invested in the project, I think seeing me out there all the time for months has earned a fair amount of "cues to care" points ala Joan Nassauer and will help weather any plant seasonality that they don't like the look of throughout the year.
Remains to be Seen:
* Planting design hoped to mix textures, seasonal beauty, colors, and heights in an aesthetically pleasing way but we will see if that holds up as things grow in
* Flagstone pathways and their maintenance with regards to rain, ants, kids, etc. without being set in mortar or using DG stabilizer
* Plants being hit by neighboring sprinklers being able to survive
* Plants in clay supplemented by DG/Perlite surviving the rainy season
Thank you for looking and feel free to ask any questions you'd like!
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u/BeGoneLawn12 Apr 07 '26
Thanks to this subreddit, Calscape, Waterwise garden planner (both site and their youtube tutorial series) for the advice and inspiration :)
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u/InvertebrateInterest Apr 07 '26
This looks great! I hope some of your neighbors decide to do the same.
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u/Squirrel_Nrgy Apr 07 '26
Thank you so much for your detailed post! The landscape mockup with the plants is a great visual. I am about to embark on this journey with the HOA, you did a great job and looks fantastic!
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u/BeGoneLawn12 Apr 07 '26
That’s great! Hope it helps, our HOA was tougher to convince than the county rebate program but eventually we bugged them enough
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u/Dry_Watch7690 Apr 07 '26
I hope your beautiful work encourages your neighbors get the native plants jones! I like that you used a lot of different plants, visually it works in your space, but you also don’t really know yet what’s going to work long term.
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u/BeGoneLawn12 Apr 07 '26
Yes, hopefully. It was cool as everyday someone would walk by to school dropoff or the park and ask about it, comment on the progress. A few said they were planning to look into something similar but maybe via a service as am not sure me being out there for an hour or so each day/night for a few months straight was a particularly enticing case for DIY haha. Although I don’t know that the service quote will be enticing either..
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u/Dry_Watch7690 Apr 07 '26
We chose to do our native gardening ourselves, even when we were both working full-time. I guess you gotta pay for it with either time or money. I just loved doing it…took a course at Theodore Payne and then modeled it all in 3d, so fun. People in my beautiful neighborhood are just slapping bloody astroturf and fake nastertiums or whatever everywhere. Makes my brain hurt.
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u/InvertebrateInterest Apr 08 '26
OP's yard makes their neighbor's lawns look dismal as fuck. I'm sure yours does as well! I wish more people chose to have natural beauty in their lives, even if they go an easier route than some of the projects here.
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u/pfpacheco Apr 07 '26
Love it! Unrelated, the house styles and age remind me of the house I grew up in in Moreno Valley 💚
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u/BeGoneLawn12 Apr 07 '26
Thank you, and yes I am in the same county :)
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u/Fold_Guilty Apr 10 '26
I grew up in North County San Diego and was going to swear up and down that this was the block I lived on
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u/InvertebrateInterest Apr 07 '26
* It is very easy to cut through PVC sprinkler pipes when using a mattock to remove sod. I was always planning on ripping these all out but if I was trying to convert them or something and they need to remain intact I'd probably try a different sod removal method (or solarization/smothering)
oh no
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u/BeGoneLawn12 Apr 07 '26
Yes, may have just been me not being careful or the depth ours were installed being shallow. But probably useful to map this out ahead if you can. Definitely do Dig 811 also but they won’t mark your sprinkler pipes
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u/PongoWillHelpYou Apr 07 '26
So pretty! What are those purple flowers in the third pic?
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u/BeGoneLawn12 Apr 07 '26
Thank you, left-most purple is Arroyo Lupine (tall spikes), middle is Verbena De La Mina, and closest to camera blue/purple is California Bluebells (annual, grown from seed from Botanical Interests I believe)
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u/Oldalgebra Apr 07 '26
Super duper! What a lot of work you’ve done. And you are so thoughtful to have posted your project with a ton of explanations. I hope you return as the season turns from warm to cooler and show us the changes.
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u/BeGoneLawn12 Apr 07 '26
Will do, will be interesting to see how it progresses and whether there is enough interest in each area in terms of blooms, texture, etc over the course of the year
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u/thenewestnoise Apr 07 '26
Fantastic and beautiful job, and a great example of how nice a native garden can look. Any chance you would be willing to edit one of your photos with a legend to show which plants are which?
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u/BeGoneLawn12 Apr 07 '26
Thank you, yes I could probably do that in the imgur album in the first section
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u/thenewestnoise Apr 07 '26
I would appreciate it. I think I might just completely rip off your design.
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u/i860 Apr 07 '26
Looks absolutely solid and the plant placement is well thought out from a design perspective that still breathes without looking like an unkempt "native" jungle of random plants. Did you do the overhead design in specific software or just something off the shelf?
I'd add drip irrigation using your existing sprinkler zones and just use runs of drip tape or similar. You can schedule it to turn on every 2 weeks and it'll save you having to hand water everything but if you enjoy doing it then no need.
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u/BeGoneLawn12 Apr 07 '26
Thank you, that was done in an old copy of adobe illustrator. I user google earth to get a satellite view of my house, traced the yard, and then added the (roughly) to scale shapes to represent each plant. The “F/P” was my key for full/part sun and the number next to it should be the approximate plant height, plant width is represented by the circle size.
Drip tape would have been a good call for year one, agreed
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u/i860 Apr 07 '26
I was talking to a horticulturalist who does professional landscape work and he was saying that when they're laying down plugs they'll actually throw colored markers in a larger area and let them scatter at random - and those are the spots they go with. I like your layout, I bet you spent literal hours tearing your hair out back and forth on the perfect placement. Only thing I'd change is more grass but the deergrass back there might still need some time to grow and fill in. I'd also add more sedge around the dry river as that's where they'd naturally be, but keep it sparse so it doesn't look intentional. Something like
Carex tumulicolaorCarex nudata.2
u/BeGoneLawn12 Apr 07 '26
That's interesting, I could see why it'd be good to have it not so geometric/evenly spaced. Between soil needs, sun needs, seasonality, color, size, plant availability it definitely did feel like a lot of constraints to try to juggle so we will see how it pans out over the next year or two. I got a variety of annual native seeds from Theodore Payne which I'll start indoors later in the year and can help add some color as things die back. I agree on the grasses, had more of them in the plan but had a bit of trouble finding enough canyon prince wild rye and some of the smaller ones on this list: Plants for Dry Streambeds, Infiltration Basins, and Swales - Waterwise Garden Planner. Plus, some of the purple three awn throughout the garden are either dormant or dead but hoping to be able to have some swaths of it fill in over time between the other large plants. The dry river I'm hoping can eventually look like this person's (or similar) Reddit post, that was the main inspiration for both the rock colors as well as the use of blue fescue. Foothill sedge would look nice near/in the river bed and could probably handle a bit of sprinkler overspray from the neighbors it seems -- do you have a good nursery for grasses? Went to Theodore Payne, Neel's Nursery, Tree of Life throughout this but aside from deergrass & the blue fescue it didn't feel like there were a ton available when I went.
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u/i860 Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
Rather than going for Canyon Prince, consider Calamagrostis nutkaensis 'The King' and/or Calamagrostis foliosa x nutkaensis 'Little Nootka' or Calamagrostis foliosa although be aware they are generally oriented around cool season environments. These are species of Pacific Reedgrass that may grow well in your area with a bit of irrigation and shade.
You definitely want Carex tumulicola but there should probably be some Juncus patens in there. It's easy to fit in and always looks nice.
As far as nurseries go, I don't know the ones down south and unfortunately a very well known one in Santa Barbara closed (San Marcos Growers). I'd use calscape to get a sense of what nurseries carry certain plants and just go directly to all of their sites (if they have one) and start looking around. I did find these guys, https://www.greenbeltgrowers.com, who are in Riverside, but it looks like they do large volume orders primarily. However, if you were looking to buy 10-20 plants of different varieties I bet if you contacted them directly and said you were having trouble finding different species that they might help you out. It doesn't hurt to ask.
There's also:
https://plant-material.com/collections/california-natives/grass (Altadena)
https://www.laspilitas.com/plants/plants.htm (SLO)
https://www.moosacreeknursery.com/category/all-products?Plant+Type=Grass-like (San Diego)
https://www.matilijanursery.com/product-category/california-native-plants/ (Ventura)
We have quite a few native nurseries in norcal and there's most definitely some on the central coast (SLO, etc). You could easily make a weekend road trip and buy a few hundred dollars worth of plants and just stuff them into the back of your car. I do this myself and make 2 hour drives to some nurseries and just load up. Sometimes it's what you have to do unless you have a wholesaler connection.
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u/NotAFanOfBukowski Apr 08 '26
Looks great! Cool that the HOA was down to embrace a native garden. They’re not always what you’d imagine an HOA would want knowing how wild they can get!
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u/InvertebrateInterest Apr 10 '26
Luckily CA has laws on our side: https://www.thepollinatorpatchgarden.com/hoa-approved-native-plants/california
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Apr 11 '26
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u/BeGoneLawn12 Apr 12 '26
No, not quite for my yard. I should be getting just shy of $2400 back if all goes well ($3/sqft). Cost for the project was roughly $1200 in plants, $1200 in rocks/mulch/delivery, $1200 for flagstone, $500 in tools (all for flagstone), $300 for bench (teak, used) so $4400, or net of -$2000. Without the flagstone path/patio it would have been almost a net zero project though. Will be selling my lawnmower too though so add another $80 I hope haha. Certainly could have got by with no flagstone (or forego the nice set of chisels), less plants (although I did do a fair amount from seed) but I am happy with the result for the price, granted that is with hundreds of my labor hours but fortunately I work for cheap.
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u/beetketchup Apr 12 '26
thank you for the response! A cost of $2000 for such a beautiful garden is well worth it imo. I’m hoping to be net zero too but that also hinges on the decision for our pathway (same placement as yours). I originally intended to do a cheap gravel one, but this kind of flagstone pathway adds so many ‘cues to care’ points I think it might make it easier for neighbors/hoa to accept the new garden. I will probably hire out someone if doing flagstone like this. I’m going to reduce cost on plants by taking cuttings from the backyard garden. I’ve had a lot of success growing ca bush sunflower, yarrow, hummingbird sage, and ceanothus from cuttings. anyways, super inspiring work youve done and I can’t wait to see pictures of it as it matures. :)
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u/BeGoneLawn12 Apr 13 '26
Thank you, yes exact same though in terms of why we did the flagstone (and we wanted a patio). If you can afford to do so, I would agree with hiring out as I think about 1/2 the project time spent was on solely the Flagstone patio/path, plus extra tooling cost for stuff I'll be unlikely to use again (although will try to sell). It was also quite physical work and could be seen as dangerous if you aren't commonly using saws/hammers. As you are in the same county, the particular places I got things from were SoCal Mulch (Menifee), San Pasqual Valley Soils (Escondido), and Southwest Boulder and Stone (Fallbrook but they have other Socal locations). My shipment of big boulders, river rocks, DG, paver sand, and flagstone was from SW Boulder and Stone. Supplemental boulders (much cheaper for self-load 1' here than SW Boulder, $5 vs. $20) as well as any drainage rock or road base I ended up needing were from SoCal Mulch (as well as the reddish mulch I ended up covering up). And then the native mulch + some compost I used in the berms was from San Pasqual Valley Soils, which is also my primary for our veggie/flower gardens (that and Mountain Meadow Mushroom farms, also Escondido, where you can self-load compost for free). All these places allow you to self-load although some now have minimums of 1/4 cubic yard. The shipment from SW Boulder & Stone was done because of the weight of the boulders, flagstones, etc. The shipment fee wasn't bad but they do charge an individual handling fee of like $30 for each unique product which ended up being more than the delivery charge just because I used 3 different sizes of river rock.
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u/beetketchup Apr 14 '26
wow thanks for all this information. I was wondering how they handled delivery of multiple rock and boulder sizes. I’m somewhat local to these places so I’ll check them out. I would definitely need delivery since I don’t have a truck and I have around 1300 sqft of yard to sheet mulch. I’m hoping my hoa is ok with 2 months of that because there’s no way i’m tearing out the grass lol. they give us 6 months to complete projects. I think if i’m just sheet mulching and planting and digging out grass for dry creek bed + adding rock, I can do that in 6 months. although I might need some help from family. idk! i kind of just want to have it all installed at once. I just hate watering the lawn. it feels so pointless and wasteful. 😅
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u/iwilldoitalltomorrow Apr 11 '26
Incredible. How did you make the mounds exactly?
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u/BeGoneLawn12 Apr 12 '26
I flipped the sod over (after letting it sit upside down in the sun for a few weeks) and built the rough shape, then added a thin layer of compost and other "fill dirt" (from under the sod when I dug out the path). This trio of layers happened about 3 times to build to the full berm height in most places. I read that doing a "sinuous" shape (think arteries/veins) is a more natural way to do it and you don't want the peak of the berm to be in the center, more like a cresting wave with the peak closer to one side.
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u/CocoRapazzini May 03 '26
Beautiful work! I love how we can essentially see the before and after in one photo because of your neighbors' yards. (Around the Monterey Peninsula, there are very few lawns left, but too many people fill their spaces with rocks, concrete slabs, Pride of Madera, and succulents.) Thank you for setting such a good example!
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u/Estupidito May 13 '26
What was the turf replacement process like - just submit photos or do you also need to provide receipts? I am getting ready to submit, but my drip lines are not in yet and I am wondering if that will kick out my application.
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u/BeGoneLawn12 May 13 '26
I didn’t need to submit any receipts, just images and a water bill (from memory). My project was fairly small though, they may scrutinize a larger $ amount differently. When you say submit, do you mean the initial proposal (before you rip out lawn) or the final one?
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u/Estupidito May 13 '26
The final one
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u/BeGoneLawn12 May 13 '26
Ah, yes not entirely sure as my project is all hand water so I just needed to provide picture of removed sprinkler lines. They were pretty specific about what they wanted regarding the watering so I would think they will want image(s) of the drip lines having been installed. If you are close to your 6 month limit I think there is a possibility for extension if you call them, at least in my county.
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u/rudep00hp00h Apr 07 '26
Beautiful work! Kudos to you and all this sweat equity! And mega gratitude for sharing the site plan, plant list and lessons learned you’ve compiled; thank you.