I have always secretly, or not so secretly, wanted to do away with the lawn in our backyard. This is not to say I have not enjoyed it over the years. It has served as a good picnic location, a runway for leaping over sprinklers, and as a soft place to land while practicing cartwheels. But, alas, it is so hard to justify in Southern California’s semi-arid climate. Now, with the a severe drought looming, it seems almost absurd.
I have been thinking about water use a lot lately. So have many of us. Replacing the lawn felt a little urgent until a friend of mine recently posted this article to her Facebook feed. According to a report put out by the Pacific Institute in 2012, a whopping 93 percent of California’s water is used for agricultural purposes. Based on that, Los Angeles’ water use is some percentage of what is left over (small in comparison). Between 40 and 70 percent of Los Angeles’ water use goes to landscaping. So, in the big picture, my patch of lawn uses an almost immeasurable amount of water.
So, why get rid of it then?
I think choosing to get rid of the lawn, while it will save a little water, is more about a mind set. Even if half the residents of Los Angeles refused to water their lawns this year, the amount of water savings would be tiny compared to the water used wasted on many industrialized farms. However, if it did happen it would mark a cultural shift (or mandatory water conservation regulations). So, I am choosing to do it because it reflects something I value – a closer more respectful interaction with our planet. I hope that more people will follow me and one day we can say that half of the lawns in Los Angeles have been converted to landscaping that better matches our climate.
Now, don’t get me wrong. You can have the mindset, but not the means to act. If I were working full-time this would not be happening. I have the desire and the time, and am going to dig it up myself. Yikes!
And, I have another motivating factor – the lawn is in the sunniest section of our backyard. My veggie garden is getting too much shade as of late, and will be much happier when I move it to replace the lawn.
Now that I have started digging, the lawn all of a sudden seems a lot bigger.
Growing Up in the Garden 
I’ve been reading about the water shortages. And having dug up our lawn and benefited I’m cheering you on from the sidelines!
Claire – Thanks so much! I think I am going to need the cheering on. I am going to go out there today and see how much I can tackle. I would really like to have everything finished by March so I can plant for summer.
Sending a little applause your way, because this is a great step to take even if the ultimate impact seems very small. Good luck with all that digging!
Thank you! I sometimes feel like doing these small things is misplaced effort because I should be out there working for change in the larger arena. But, then again we have to start somewhere and walk the walk – right?
Good luck with the digging. Looking forward to pictures of your relocated veg patch 🙂
Thank you. I can’t wait to show pics of the progress. Documenting it here on the blog will help me see it through.
I was just talking about this today. I am planting cloves in the backyard first. Can’t wait! Great post. 😀
Thank you so much! You are planting cloves, as in the spice? I have no idea what the plant looks like.
I meant to say clovers. 🙂
Hi Jessica. How exciting. As you toil away removing the turf, just think of all the cool things you will be able to grow in its place.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Thanks Sarah! I am going to gain quite a bit of space. Yay!
Absolutely! I applaud you.
Reblogged this on Gardening Nirvana and commented:
Jessica at ‘Growing Up in the Garden’ did a beautiful job conveying much of what I feel about maintaining a lawn in semi-arid California. Enjoy!
Even though we get our fair share of rain and snow, people here are adopting less lawn in there yards to. They seem so decadent when you think about it. I think there must be some varieties of grass that need very little water but hardscape and fencing, maybe a patio etc makes for more time to enjoy the yard and less time to maintain a lawn.
Our lawn is a low water variety and used widely in Southern California. I find the lawn to be fairly low maintenance. We don’t even have to mow at all in the winter. We have pea gravel, gravel or wood chips over much of the backyard and the entire front yard and the weeds are always a problem, even with the landscaping cloth underneath it all. We refuse to use chemicals, so keeping on top of them is quite a lot of work….But, even so, I can no longer justify keeping all the lawn.
I smiled when I read this as we are just about to lay a lawn this year at our Beach Cottage, which is under a sea of black plastic at the moment waiting for a septic tank to go in. We thought it would be much better to lay a lawn whilst we wait and don’t worry about water usage the South West of Scotland catches all the rain that comes over from Northern Ireland we never have to water!! However I think you are doing a good thing there – vegetables are very decorative and edible – you cannot lose.
Great blog by the way I will be back for some tips!
If mother nature is going to water your lawn, why not? Yes, I see removing the lawn and moving the veggies to its spot as a win, win. On another note – My grandfather was born in Scotland and I do hope to get over there one day to see it. 🙂
Do you know which part of Scotland is he a Highlander or Lowlander? My husband is Scottish a Lowlander and our Beach Cottage is on the South West peninsula on the Mull of Galloway – the most southerly point and we are lucky to enjoy a mild Gulf stream climate – just up the road is the Botanical gardens where they grow palm trees.
My grandfather was from Edinburgh. He came to the U.S. as an infant when his family left during WW I.
I got rid of my lawn a couple of years ago. In my climate it would live without watering but there are tons better things I can do with the space.
Good luck with your garden make-over 🙂
Thanks so much for the encouragement. We resisted for a while because it is such a nice place for the kids to play, but as I said to a friend of mine recently – kids will adapt to their play environments and create adventures whatever the landscape.
Yes, your kids will have different adventures. One of my daughter’s favourite activities is picking the wildflowers that grow at the back of the garden (and watering the vegetables).
I came to you via Alys … and knew that I would agree with your mindset, because I share many of those same mindsets with Alys.
We are much wetter here in Virginia, but we ALL need to be mindful of using / reusing / wasting water. Excellent post! (and I liked the memories of grass … sprinklers and cartwheels)
Thank you. I really appreciate hearing from folks. My in-laws live in Virginia, so we find ourselves there once or twice a year. Definitely wetter and greener, but oh so humid in the summer….
Happy me!
We live in the south of France which would have a similar (perhaps slightly less arid) climate to you. We purposely don’t cultivate a lawn because it uses so much water to maintain which is a) expensive and b) wasteful. We have one shady corner of the garden where we put down grass at the start of spring, it grows with the rain we get then, and it dies naturally in the summer heat. We try to grow Mediterranean plants instead.
Ooh, I like the idea of the grass being reseeded each year and letting it go with the weather cycle. We don’t even get enough consistent rain in the spring to allow for that. There is so much variety and beauty in the Mediterranean plants.
What a nice idea.