We’ve been working on a bunch of projects here at the Whearley household over the past few months. One project that is near and dear to my heart is replacing planting areas in our front yard with more water-wise plants as part of a long-term plan to eventually replace the entire lawn.

A quick recap of where we are so far: I went to a workshop in Palo Alto to learn more about replacing our lawn with water-wise plants, we removed a bunch of plants and a tree that was too close to the house, and then we did some planning and chose a waterwise plant palette.

This month we worked with a landscaper to do a few big things including removing lawn on the planting strip and by the driveway, creating some pathways, and swapping out sprinkler heads for drip irrigation. 

And then, we were finally ready to plant!

Cliff and I were in charge of selecting and purchasing all of the plants and then placing them where we wanted them to go. Armed with our shopping list and a sketch of our yard with all the dimensions, we went to Half Moon Bay Nursery and Wegman’s Nursery over on Woodside Road.

We were on a time crunch that day and I was like a kid in a candy store, practically running up and down the aisles to gather everything we needed. We loaded up two carts with lavender, rosemary, butterfly bush, two varieties of verbena, and three different kinds of sage. As we were checking out the cashier asked me which designer we were working with. I told him we were DIYing it, and I have to tell you, he absolutely made my day, when he said that we had done a great job.

When we got home, we placed each plant and measured out the distance so that they would have room to fully mature. The next day, the landscapers came back to plant them in the ground and hook up all of the irrigation. 

Here are some photos of how our yard looks now:

We’ll post an update as things start to grow and fill in! 

PS. Check out our posts on creating a waterwise lawn and warming up your outdoor living space.