Replace Your Lawn!
Back by popular demand, we are presenting our Replace Your Lawn (RYL) workshop series in a special four part installment about the basics of converting your ecologically taxing and expensive lawn into a beautiful, carefree, sustainable habitat.
These workshops will be held Saturdays at a new time: 9 AM in the month of July. This months’ RYL series is unique because we will be hold the Session “Kill your Grass!” twice because the summer months are the best time to kill warm-season grasses, which are the most widespread grass type used for lawns in Southern California.
Replace Your Lawn I: Inspiration! Tour of Nursery Gardens, Design Ideas – Saturday, July 3, 9:00 AM
Jump start your familiarity with drought-tolerant native plants with hands-on, (or more accurately, feet-on!), interaction. We will introduce you to the Thirty Plants, a list of reliably attractive native plants we have developed, followed by a walking tour of the nursery and gardens. As we walk, we will give design ideas for plant combinations, answer care and maintenance questions and point out special features of the Thirty Plants. You will be able to see full-grown native plants a become familiar with what to expect in your native garden. We will also show you our propagation area and give you a behind the scenes look at how we make the magic.
Replace Your Lawn II: Kill Your Grass! – Saturday, July 10, 9:00 AM
Step one – get rid of it! This may be more involved than you would expect and the methods to get rid of a lawn are quite varied. You must identify the type of turf you have, research methods for removal, and then select the method appropriate for the season, your grass type, your work schedule and your budget. The future success of your new planting will depend on your successful removal of the existing turf.
Download the handout:
Replace Your Lawn: Kill the grass!
Replace Your Lawn III: Creating and Caring Your Native Garden
Saturday, July 17, 9:00 AM
Plan your landscape carefully before planting. Come learn how to choose a theme, and plan your garden for success with sound horticultural practices and an introduction to plant selection. Mike Evans will share from our booklet, “Creating and Caring for your Native Garden”, that you can download here. Learn how to create a thriving native garden.
Replace Your Lawn IV: Plant Selection, Thirty Plants
Saturday, July 24, 9:00 AM
After you have determined the look and feel you wish to achieve in your garden, the fun begins – plant selection! We will present a group of plants we call our Thirty Plants. These are the “must-haves” for any native California garden. This selection of thirty plants represents a handsome mix of the most authentic native plants for Southern California gardens. As we discuss the Thirty Plants, we will expand our knowledge of natives in general, and learn how to chose the right plants for any particular design theme.
Download the handout: Thirty Basic California Native Plants
Replace Your Lawn V: Kill the Grass! (Repeat) – Saturday, July 31, 9:00 AM
Step one – get rid of it! This may be more involved than you would expect and the methods to get rid of a lawn are quite varied. You must identify the type of turf you have, research methods for removal, and then select the method appropriate for the season, your grass type, your work schedule and your budget. The future success of your new planting will depend on your successful removal of the existing turf.
