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Gallery: Lawn Alternatives

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Airy Grasses
Noel Grevillea
Deodar Cedar
California Fescue
Flanders Poppy
Toyon, Christmas Berry
Coast Redwood, Redwood
Crape Myrtle
Noel Grevillea

Common name:Noel Grevillea
Botanical name:Grevillea 'Noellii'

This low, compact evergreen shrub reaches 3'-6' tall and 6'8' wide. Dark pink flowers apear in the spring. Its bright green foliage is needle-like. Full sun is required for growth. Prune after bloom period to keep this shrub looking dense. Grevillea is sensitive to salt accumulation so it's important to drip irrigate for hours on this plant to leach out salt once a month. Do not fertilize with phosphates.

Deodar Cedar

Common name:Deodar Cedar
Botanical name:Cedrus deodara

This fast-growing, coniferous evergreen is capable of reaching a size of 80' high by 40' wide. Its needles are a light, silvery green color, 2" long. Flowers are inconspicuous. Barrel shaped cones appear in fall and winter. Branches are pendulous and spreadings. Plant in area that has ample room for growth.

California Fescue

Common name:California Fescue
Botanical name:Festuca californica

The California Fescue is a cool season bunchgrass with blue-green blades that reach 2' high. The violet colored flower stalks are 5' tall, appearing in spring and summer, creating fountain-like clumps. This grass is drought tolerant for sun and shade although it looks better with additional summer water. The California fescue is native to CA and is a beneficial insect plant. Plant on dry sunny slopes or on the edge of a dry creek bed.

Flanders Poppy

Common name:Flanders Poppy
Botanical name:Papaver rhoeas

This beautiful annual has bright red single flowers, each petal often marked at its base with a large black blotch. Sow seeds in spring. Flanders Poppy is attractive near entries, walkways, and in containers. It can reach 3' tall and prefers full sun in well draining, rich soil. It may re-sow.

Toyon, Christmas Berry

Common name:Toyon, Christmas Berry
Botanical name:Heteromeles arbutifolia

Toyon is a California native evergreen shrub that grows 8'-15'. high and spreading 2'-3'. It has leathery, toothed leaves, white summer flowers and clusters of red winter berries. It tolerates full sun or partial shade, heat, smog, wind and heavy or light soils. It is drought tolerant, attracts beneficial insects and hummingbirds. - Cornflower Farms

Coast Redwood, Redwood

Common name:Coast Redwood, Redwood
Botanical name:Sequoia sempervirens

This fast-growing, aromatic tree has soft, dark green foliage with long needles appearing in flat sprays and brown, barrel-shaped cones that appear after 1 year. Its soft, red-brown bark is fiberous and furrowed. Particularly after mechanical damage, this tree will stump sprout to form new, young trees around the stump. Avoid planting in areas of high foot traffic.

Crape Myrtle

Common name:Crape Myrtle
Botanical name:Lagerstroemia indica

The new leaves of this species are 2" long, bright green, and tinged with bronze. Some cultivars have spectacular fall color. When it has a bare outline, its rounded seed capsules add interest. Its delicate flowers bloom in 6"-12" long clusters. The flower colors could be shades of red, rose, pink, purple, and white, blooming in summer. It thrives on heat, and new cultivars have been created that resist mildew. This tree prefers full sun and has low watering needs once it's established.

Designer: Jody Palmer

Airy Grasses
Image: 7 of 42

Photographer: GardenSoft

Soils and Compost:

Practice grass-cycling by leaving short grass clippings on lawns after mowing, so that nutrients and organic matter are returned to the soil.

Integrated Pest Management:

Remove irrigation water and fertilizer from areas where you don't want weeds to grow.