Inspired by a coastal trail
For East Coast transplant Scott Flor, lush green lawns recall his Pennsylvania home.
“I like grass,” Flor admits. “I even enjoy mowing the lawn. My sons played a lot of soccer and football on our lawn in Malibu.”
When his two sons grew up, however, and they no longer needed the lawn surrounding the half-acre property he and wife Kelly purchased 21 years ago, it was time to remove the grass.
“We wanted to be good citizens,” Scott says of their decision two years ago, during the drought. “I cut way back on the watering, and the grass started to die. It looked terrible.”
The couple hired someone to remove the lawn in front and back and called in CrossRoads Mulch, a company that installs protective covering on playgrounds and along freeways, to cover the empty landscape while they decided what to plant.
The couple did not consult with a designer. They didn’t even have a master plan. Instead, they looked to their Malibu community for inspiration.
“We started the landscape as a process,” Scott says. “Otherwise, it would have been overwhelming. We wanted to make the landscape look like Legacy Park in Malibu. It has a coastal bluffs trail with different types of flora. It’s what you would see if you were walking along a California trail. That’s what I wanted for our backyard.”
In the backyard, Scott created a meadow by scattering a coastal mix of California native seeds from the Theodore Payne Foundation that includes Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia or beach suncups, Eschscholzia californica var. maritima or coastal CaliforHave nia poppy, Leptosiphon grandiflorus or large flowered linanthus, Lupinus bicolor or miniature lupine and Lupinus succulentus or arroyo lupine.
“I spent 15 bucks and just threw them out and raked them into the soil,” Scott says. “It is just gorgeous, and it comes back every year.”
The couple also planted drought-tolerant African daisies, hardy succulents and jade plants, agave and aloes. Colorful orange nasturtiums, Scott says, “just popped up.”
“I’m a big proponent of buying small one or five gallon plants,” he adds. “The plants grow really fast.”
He estimates he spent about $8,000 on the makeover, including about $1,000 for a path. “I thought all the costs for removing the lawn would offset the turf removal rebate [$9,000], but it didn’t.”
That’s OK with Scott, who misses the grass, but saves roughly $200 a month on water and enjoys the butterflies and birds that are drawn to the new landscape. He also enjoys the changing view. “It’s fun to look out and know you have created something that will last forever.”