Another Redditor has joined the movement of homeowners trading high-maintenance grass lawns for something easy and beautiful.
Grass takes a huge amount of water, pesticide, and fertilizer to maintain, making it hard on both the owner's wallet and the surrounding environment.
Many homeowners faced with this reality have adopted an anti-lawn philosophy, replacing their grass with low-maintenance native plants or xeriscaping, sometimes with the help of knowledgeable landscapers like Yardzen.
According to r/xeriscape, where this Redditor shared their story, xeriscaping is "a water-saving approach to landscaping that doesn't sacrifice beauty for low maintenance and drought tolerance." It's especially popular in drought-stricken areas and desert climates like California, Arizona, and Colorado, where the original poster lives.
"Previous owners ran the sprinklers an hour every day in the summer," the Redditor said, alongside a picture of their old lawn. Despite the expensive care routine, the grass was patchy and dry.
So the new homeowner said they got rid of it. "Ripped up the grass, loosened the soil, and started planting," they wrote.
The result just two months later was an inviting garden with attractive gravel paths, rocky planters, and stepping stones in between ornamental grasses and hardy flowers. The new design was more colorful, and the plants even looked healthier despite taking way less water.
The Redditor explained in a comment that their yard now held an incredible variety of plants: red yucca, prickly pear cactus, lavender, grape vines, golden and red currants, blue fescue, gayfeather, ice plant, prairie winecups, and many, many more.
In another comment, they broke down the cost of the project.
"The rocks were [$]200, I'm probably [$]600 deep in the plants, and I think like [$300-$400-ish] on the solar array and lights," they said.
"This is great. Looks so much better," said one commenter. "Good work!"
According to the Redditor, their yard will only get better from here. "Still have about a dozen ornamental grasses that need to get planted soon," they said in their original post.
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