Slopesaver- fescue blend
Last Saturday (August 21), we went on a fun tour aboard a Santa Monica Blue bus to look at examples of how to plant, in your backyard or front lawn, new types of grasses, which require much less water and mowing than traditional turf.
As students of the Green Garden Academy, a free seminar series organized by the Office of Sustainability of the City of Santa Monica, we were lead by Russell Ackerman, and we met landscape experts and adventurous home-owners along the way.
See for yourselves some of these luscious ground covers.
Slopesaver (fescue blend) low-mow grass in a backyard on Marguerita Ave.
UC Verde Buffalo grass in a frontyard on Berkeley Ave.
UC Verde Buffalo Grass
Even better, why not eliminate grass at all?
Take a look at the Santa Monica demonstration gardens, one traditional, with turf and flowers such as roses and gardenias at 1718 Pearl, the other with only mulch and California native drought-tolerant plants, on 1724 Pearl. The latter uses far less water and requires much less maintenance than the former.
Text and photos by Elisa Leonelli