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Drought-resistant landscaping is catching on around the Valley

A drought and tight water restrictions in the central San Joaquin Valley are changing the way people think about their yards.

Instead of having a green carpet of water-guzzling grass, some property owners are ripping out the lawn for rock pathways, large boulders and drought-tolerant plants.

The landscape design, known as xeriscaping, can reduce water usage by 50%, experts say, and keeps yard maintenance down.

Local garden clubs have promoted the practice for years, and landscape companies — even homebuilders — have slowly incorporated more drought-friendly supplies and services into their businesses over time.

But xeriscaping — and hardscaping or adding stone walls and patios — is gaining more attention this year because of increased water concerns, experts say.

"I see a big increase in people wanting to make changes to their yards," said Susan Stiltz, a landscape specialist and arborist who owns her own Fresno design and consulting company. "It has taken a dramatic increase in the last six months and with the (city of Fresno's) water schedule change it's changed even more."

August is typically a slow month for design consultations, but this year Stiltz is booked three to four weeks out.

People want their yards evaluated to find out what's good and bad and how they can make changes, said Stiltz, who also works part time for the city of Fresno's water conservation department.

"A lot of times, they want to eliminate their lawn because it's usually the No. 1 biggest water user," Stiltz said. But something has to take its place, she said.

Pathways, patios or courtyards are good fillers along with bushes or plants that don't require a lot of water. Some people put in horseshoe pits and bocce ball courts, Stiltz said.

But getting rid of grass can be difficult. The Community United Church of Christ in northeast Fresno is using solarization to kill its Bermuda lawn to prepare for a drier landscape.

Solarization involves laying plastic on top of the grass, sealing it and letting the sun kill the grass. Stiltz recommends using an herbicide like Roundup to kill the grass, but warns that it will take multiple applications.

"You have to make sure you have a good kill," said Stiltz, who often tells people to start by reducing the amount of grass in their yards instead of taking it all out.

Homebuyers are looking for water-friendly and easy-to-maintain yards, too, and Granville Homes is responding to the demand.

The Fresno builder is offering buyers an option to have a drought-tolerant lawn or synthetic grass at its Via Fiore neighborhood at Copper River Ranch in northeast Fresno.

They're not the only ones: Wilson Homes' Encoure neighborhood at Harlan Ranch in Clovis has no grass lawns and only drought-resistant landscaping. Wathen Castanos Hybrid Homes will honor buyer requests for xeriscaped lawns while De Young Properties plans to soon offer the landscaping and synthetic grass.

Offering a water-wise landscape "goes along with our Eco-Smart program," said Michelle Brunn, Granville's director of sales. "We're constantly looking at ways to be more energy efficient and to utilize our resources in a way of being sustainable."

Houses on larger lots will have synthetic turf in the front yard and those on the golf course will have turf in the backyard as well, Brunn said. The houses on smaller lots will have the water-wise lawns, she said.

Rosenbalm Rockery, on North Hughes Avenue near McKinley Avenue, west of Highway 99, has seen a spike in synthetic grass companies buying up decomposed granite, or small pieces of rock, for homeowners getting rid of lawns, said owner Todd Rosenbalm. The granite is placed under the synthetic grass.

There also has been an uptick in homeowners wanting stone to create dry landscapes. Flagstone, pavers, rocks and the decomposed granite are popular. The business even carries colored rock to add a little pizzazz to a garden or yard.

Homeowners are turning away from mulch or bark, which have to be replaced once a year, for rock, Rosenbalm said. "Once you rock it, you still gain weed blockage and coverage to retain the moisture in the ground," he said.

Gazebo Gardens Nursery at Van Ness Boulevard and Shields Avenue in central Fresno sells mulch and a variety of drought-tolerant plants like juniper and palms and succulents.

The nursery always has carried water-wise plants, but they are "selling faster now than it used to," said owner Scott Miller.

"In the spring, we sold a lot more succulents and cactus than we had in years past," he said.

There is an increasing awareness of the water situation, he said, so people "are starting to change their habits even though they're not forced to."

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/08/15/4072901_no-water-no-worry.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy