These homeowners revamped their landscape into an inspiring oasis on a budget. Installing a curated designed-for-drought plant set doesn't necessarily come without a lot of prep work. But man, once your new landscapes in, these yards can grow to fill-in within 1 year! Delivering some seriously happy customers.
Whether you want to up the curb appeal on an accent bed or redo the whole darn yard, here's a few stories to inspire. On how average home owners got their bare dirt covered without breaking the bank.
From Weeds to Wildflowers
This was Roshin & Wyatt's first front yard. After years of awesome apartments, they were excited to renovate their new home's gravel-and-weed front yard. They dreamed up a beautiful escape zone that featured a bocce ball court, lots of succulents and a native wildflower garden. But there didn't seem to be a lot of options out there that fit within their budget. Or their desire for zero maintenance.
Then a mutual friend told them about California Wild Gardens, and within a month they had picked out 2 large designs, gotten their plans customized (mostly for the large bocce ball court shown in images of the Xeric Modern plant package) and were ready for install. They were most excited about the blossoming flower garden of drought-tolerant California natives. This "was a super fast and cost-effective way to landscape with native plants," says Roshin.
Once covered in weeds and thick gravel their front yard is now a native wildflower garden. After removing some of the excess stones, they hired a crew and had their new yard installed in a weekend thanks to CWG's pre-done design plans and online plant ordering service.
By mixing in a lot of the gravel that was already there into some fresh dirt, the install crew helped to create ideal drainage conditions for California native plants to thrive. The entry went from a hot gravel patio into a colorful wildflower meadow in a season.
Homeowners kept their costs down by using the existing flagstone walkway and horizontal cedar fence as their main structure. They ended up with a beautiful lawn-free entry garden with drip irrigation for less than $5,000.
When watering restrictions hit the first summer, the plants were already 4 months old. It was easy for them to survive on a restricted irrigation schedule. After 10 months the garden reached %80 fill-in. The poppies, yarrow & blue-eyed grasses continue to self-sow more each spring. And every once in awhile they add an extra sage or grass to finish the look.
