Lawn Conversions: Below are some before and after photos of lawn conversions I have done. I’m a big believer in getting away from water-sucking monoculture turfs! Below each set of photos is a paragraph providing context; reasoning for the conversion, explanation of procedure, and pros of having done the conversion.
Turf-to-Hardscape Conversion
This used to be my backyard in Chico. I had a dog at the time, and over time, a dog did what a dog does… which is get really bored when you’re at work all day, and dig holes. So eventually, I did what one does in this situation; have a love affair with a transfer shovel in the hot Chico summer (I’m still unsure why I timed this project for during the summer, maybe it was a male ego thing), pry up all of the turf, get 4 tons of aggregate delivered, and wheelbarrow it into the excavation. I loved the increased utility of the yard; I could hose down camping gear easily, and not worry about maintaining turf. Weeds pop up through the gravel, you say? I respond, 10-15 minutes with a weed torch and forget about it. I later repurposed some pavers from a walkway to go between the back of the house and the garage.
Turf-to-Resilient Mulch Conversion
I worked for a master gardener (to whom I owe much of my experience and perspective) up in Northern California for several years, and she had front and back yards that were becoming increasingly problematic; overrun with weedy broadleafs and grasses (even invasive species such as Johnson Grass), patchy from lack of aeration (they were huge lawns, the back yard pictured was a third of the size of the front yard!), and just plain unsightly for the most part. Their only redeeming quality was the satisfaction of mowing it down, and even that was becoming a less rewarding feat of labor. So, I pitched the idea of digging out the edges, covering it all in cardboard and stapling that layer down with weed fabric, and then covering everything over with almond shell. Two out of three of those materials were free in this case, so the cost was my labor and the fabric and the staples. I watched the new conversions for two years after I installed them, and can report almost perfect results; barely any maintenance (reapply shell every year, pull an occasional weed), so much water saved, and it looks attractive! It’s a great opportunity for a blank canvas; stifle the weed seed banks and selectively plant natives, or whatever your imagination wants to do!
