Maybe you feel you need professional help for this project, someone who can design a replacement landscape for you and install a drip system. Drip-irrigation systems use less water than sprinklers as you can give each plant just what it needs.Watering deeply encourages deep roots.
I hope this is the year you decide to quit mowing, raking, feeding, weeding, watering, reseeding and being disappointed in your lawn. The drought is a good excuse to quit being a slave to your lawn. I have never regretted removing my lawn and replacing it with an easy-care landscape of drought-tolerant and native plants. Another benefit is that it doesn't look like everyone else's garden.
The United States is the only country with a Mediterranean climate whose people routinely plant lawns. In countries with similar climates, people don't plant lawns because summers are dry. Still, they have beautiful gardens filled with plants that grow well in their climate.
If you live in the City of Napa, you can apply for the “Cash for Grass” turf-replacement rebate. On the City of Napa web site, you can schedule an appointment to apply for the program. You may be eligible for a rebate of up to one dollar per square foot. If you do not qualify, then you can just quit watering and mowing and spend that time researching what you would like your garden to look like.
Take a drive around Napa and look at some of the lawn-free gardens. On the corner of Old Soscol and Soscol Avenue, Riverwood Apartments has a very nice landscape. Something is blooming there most of the time, but when not, leaf color provides contrast and year-round interest. This well-designed landscape offers birds, lizards and beneficial insects with a good place to live.
In the Stonehouse development in Napa, some homes have gardens instead of front lawns. One has a huge redwood tree and a variety of shade plants that bloom seasonally. Another has a landscape of small rocks with interesting plants planted at intervals. More and more of the neighbors are following their lead. All of these landscapes are original and allow the owner or designer to express a unique vision for the front of their home.
There are many possible design themes. Consider a pollinator garden, a butterfly habitat, a desert landscape, a rain garden, or a scheme devoted to native plants. Get some books to help you identify the needs of the plants you want. Sunset's Western Garden Book is a leading reference for California gardeners. One section in the book contains helpful plants lists for many different types of home gardens.
Another book I admire is Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates published by East Bay Municipal Utility District. The pictures alone will inspire you.
Fall is the best time to plant a new garden in Napa County. Plants have a chance to settle in and develop root systems as the weather cools, and by spring they are ready to grow. The Napa chapter of the California Native Plant Society has a plant sale in October, where you can find plants that thrive in our climate and soils.
When you garden is new and plants are becoming established, you will need to irrigate. But as time goes on, plants' water needs will plummet. I water much less now than when I had a lawn. The plants are well established and have deep roots. I give my front and back gardens a good cleanup once or twice a year, much less work than the weekly lawn routine.
Workshop: Napa County Master Gardeners are conducting a workshop on “Structures in the Garden” on Saturday, June 7, from9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Do the beautiful flowers in your garden need extra support? At this workshop you will learn how to make your own support systems for the garden. Workshop location is the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden,Connolly Ranch Education Center, 3141 Browns Valley Road in Napa. Online registration (credit card only); Mail in registration (cash or check only).
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
Napa County Master Gardeners welcome the public to visit their demonstration garden at Connolly Ranch on Thursdays, from 10:00 a.m. until noon, except the last Thursday of the month. Connolly Ranch is at 3141 Browns Valley Road at Thompson Avenue in Napa. Enter on Thompson Avenue.