[joemc3]

Hi there,

I'm planning to replace the front lawn with rocks and some drought-resistant plants. The lawn now is pretty brown with dried weeds.


Never did this before, so I wonder:

- do I need to remove all the dried lawn with a tiller, or just lay fabrics right over the dried lawn?

- do I need to grade the lawn area first so it's level with the sidewalk around?


Thanks.

 

[dj3]

Since chasing a "green lawn" has become a dream in my area, many homeowners have installed "desert landscape" instead, sometimes with some help from their water company.
I've done it more than two dozen times.
This has been my best approach, you have to realize that it can't be the same everywhere:
1. Kill the weed and grass (do you have any?) chemically and by removing it.
2. Remove and grade dirt close to walkways, you want your finish rock lower than the
concrete. Remove or bury sprinkler lines and risers.
3. Apply a weed screen. Here is the thing: It may be effective subject to conditions beyond your control. Since weed screen is expensive and not always much more effective than 6mm plastic, I started to use plastic sheets that would last 3-4 summers. Beyond that, I started going after weed aggressively, but I had much less weed than before.
4. Create your own border design to separate between the different kinds of rock, pebbles or gravel you plan to use.
5. If you want to plant cacti and succulents plan for that. I opted to put them in different size pots on top of the finish gravel and water by hand, they don't need much water, or you can do drip irrigation controlled by a timer. My plant investment was less than $300.
6. As the years go by, weed pop up especially after the rain (Jan-Feb in my area) so I use weed killer in a sprayer to get rid of the weed.
7. Remember, it's not a weed free, care free, maintenance free system - it's a low maintenance system where you have to stay on top of it. Still a lot less expensive and labor than maintaining a lawn and trying to keep it green.
8. It has worked for me, will it work for you? I think it's up to you. For sure you'll save water and labor. You will have neighbors commenting about how your solution looks so great.
My water supplier sends out average water consumption reports every 2 months, and we are at the lowest water consumption level every time.

 

[joecaption]

Please post a picture of what your trying to deal with so we can see what your dealing with.
Tilling it will just help plant the grass and weed seeds.
Weeds and grass will just grow through the weed block and make it impossible to pull them out by the roots.

 

[joemc3]

It's a corner lot. There are 2 areas. The large corner is 25' x 50' on the right side of the entrance.

On the left side it's 25'x25' lawn area.

What's the best way to prep the area? Don't prefer using chemicals to kill the weeds but tilling would cause weeds to regrow later despite fabric on top?


Main thing is how to design such a large area with rocks and draught-resistant plants. I don't plan to put in trees because the tree roots can get to the house foundation.

Would appreciate if there are some design ideas/photos/sites to lookup for designs for large corner lot.

 

[Old Thomas]

I would spray undesirable plants and I would not expect it to ever end. Seeds find their way in and some can be dormant for up to 100 years, just waiting to pop up when you least expect them to.

 

[DoomsDave]

@joemc3, nice to meet you!

In general, I enthusiastically second @dj3's recommendations.

Where in California are you? Riverside, is different from Palm Desert, is different from Laguna Niguel, etc.

And, pan back and take some big pictures of your overall area.

I don't share the opinion that trees are necessarily a bad thing in a water saving garden. Many, like Acacias and Paloverdes, don't wreck concrete, and thrive with little water.

Again, nice to meet you.

 

[joemc3]

Thanks everyone for the ideas. Really helpful.

I'm located in the Bay Area in N CA. There has been no rain for 3+ months in the area.

The dried grass and weed are about 1.5" above grade. The yard is very dry and hardened now.


To prep the area - without using chemicals, if I want to do this with less hand work,

I wonder if I'd perhaps run the tiller over this dry hardened area just slightly enough (without adding water before tilling) to remove that top layer of dried grass/weed until it's roughly around 1" below grade. This way it won't disturb the hardened soil below. I'd then lay down fabrics/plastics and put gravels/rocks over afterward.

Would this plan make sense?


Also, after tilling area, would putting cardboard/newspaper over for 2 months, before laying fabrics/plastics - help kill any remaining weeds any further?

 

[Mystriss]

One of the things done up here is to dig out the to-be-rocked area and put in concrete. Then (with smaller size rocks) every four or five years you move all the rocks and clean out all the accumulated dirt. Bigger rocks are preferred cause you can hose out the dirt between em all. Smaller than fist size or too much "density" of rocks requires moving them. >.<

Weeds up here are near impossible to keep down heh

 

[dj3]

Tilling the pad will give weed seeds a chance to germinate.
You have to scrape off your weed with a square shovel, a hoe or a pick with a wide blade.
I know, it's hard work, but think of all the muscles you will get.
Alternatives? hire a day worker, or rent a skip loader.

 

[Cedrus]

Why not consider decomposed granite?

 

[cee3peeoh]

Cement and paint it green, poof, you're done.