WaterSmart makeover: Adding beauty, family style

For The Union-Tribune

Patti and Don Boone are native San Diegans. Don grew up in Point Loma, the neighborhood where they raised their daughter Kim. After Patti’s mom passed away, the couple, now retired, decided to leave Point Loma to move into the Chula Vista home where Patti was raised. Patti had been a receptionist at a downtown San Diego law firm, while Don was a carpenter with Kaiser Permanente’s engineering department.

About 10 years in, during the fall of 2022, they decided it was time to change up the front yard from the longtime lawn. Kim, now an adaptive physical education teacher, and her husband, Parker Richardson, a biologist and restoration ecologist, encouraged her parents to install a native garden. They also played a large role in helping select the plants and put in the garden. It truly was a family project that took about six months.

The family spends a lot of time together, doting on 2-year-old grandson Nolan, who enjoys the butterflies that often land on the more than 50 species native to San Diego that thrive in the 1,660-square-foot garden.

Patti saw a notice earlier this year from the Sweetwater Authority water district soliciting contestants for the 2025 WaterSmart Landscape Contest. They entered and won, getting a $250 gift card to The Home Depot, which they’ve spent on their bathroom remodeling project.

The inspiration

The Richardsons are enthusiastic advocates of native gardens. In fact, they’ve just bought a house near the Boones and are starting to plan their own native garden. Before that, though, they advocated for Kim’s parents to create one — and they didn’t need to push hard.

“Our decision to install a WaterSmart landscape was inspired by our love of nature and passion for living sustainably,” said Patti Boone. “Planting our yard with native species was the best way for us to make our yard more sustainable by saving water, while also ‘bringing nature home.’ ”

The Boones applied for and received a $1,000 grass removal rebate, which they put into hiring someone to remove their Bermuda grass with a Bobcat before then taking out all the pre-existing irrigation. They also took down their hibiscus trees.

With that done, the Richardsons took the initiative to research plants and helped the Boones create the design and layout so planting could done in the spring of 2023. The younger couple’s plant selection at Native West Nursery was inspired by the flora they encountered while hiking in local canyons. Kim’s parents also had their own priorities.

“We got together and sat around the table to talk about it,” recalled Don. “We wanted a low-maintenance garden and didn’t want to spend a lot of money on water. And we wanted to bring in wildlife.

“Today, we have a little birdbath that hummingbirds love. They take their baths there and it’s fun to watch. We also have milkweed, which has drawn monarch butterflies, which Nolan loves.”

The details

There wasn’t much hardscape involved. Don used his skills to replace the center walkway from the sidewalk to the front porch and lay pavers. The family dug out a channel from one side of the property, under the walkway and to the other side, to create a swale that they lined with rocks. This would be the main source of irrigation, fed by the roof gutters and a rain chain hanging from the house. It was designed to also prevent water runoff into the street.

The dirt dug up for that project was used to create several mounds that transformed a flat space into one with some topographical interest.

With his background in restoration projects, Parker Richardson understood the type of plant palette needed in the wild. But that doesn’t necessarily transfer to the needs of a having an eye-pleasing residential garden.

“So it was more about picking the ones we thought would be the most green and have the most flowers, and then arranging them in a way that is aesthetically pleasing,” he explained. “We made sure we planted the taller plants in the back and the lower ones towards the front. We were trying to layer the plants by size so you can see the whole yard.”

Richardson created a chart that shows different plants they were considering and when they would bloom at different times of the year in order to maximize the time through the year for color. With the swale, they’ve been experimenting with where the water pools at the end and planting species that like to be more wet. With an eastern exposure, the garden gets a lot of sun, so they had to take that into consideration as well, with plants that thrive in those conditions. To add visual interest, they installed rocks of different sizes, purchased from Southwest Boulder and Stone, along with decomposed granite and mulch. A modest birdbath sits by the shrubs near the swale. And Richardson has brought in unusual finds from his work in wetlands, like a long tree branch, that serve as garden art.

The focal point of the garden is a strawberry tree in the back of the garden by the front porch — ironically, the one non-native plant in the yard — said Richardson.

“It’s used very commonly in a lot of droughtscape or drought tolerant landscapes,” he said. “Don and Patti wanted a tree in that particular location, so we went to Moon Valley Nurseries and, after looking at some options, we liked the way this one actually looks almost native. It fits in with the other plants.”

Nearby is a matilija poppy, which in the spring produces what Kim Richardson joked are “fried egg poppies,” big white flowers with a yellow center. Around that are various sages, including a Cleveland sage, along with California sagebrush and California buckwheat. The family is very proud of the evergreen San Diego marsh-elder: a rare plant, they said, in California. Deer grass hovers around the swale and California poppies dot the ground. And there’s milkweed for the butterflies.

The Boones are delighted that as the plants have filled in, the garden has required little weeding and maintenance. It’s filled with birds and pollinators.

“The yard is a natural bird feeder and is often visited by hummingbirds and other bird species,” said Patti. “During the spring, the yard is always full of bees and butterflies getting nectar from the many flowering plants.”

They’re not the only ones enjoying the garden. The Boones live in a walking neighborhood and have been getting lots of positive comments from neighbors, especially in the spring when so many plants are blooming.

“They’ll be walking by and butterflies will be flying and they’ll say ‘It’s just like paradise,’ ” said Don Boone. “One lady used to come by and talk about it. I told her about the rebates to incentivize her. High school kids come by and they must be learning about native plants in school, because they comment on them. It’s their future, and it’s great there are different ways to go about making your yard look beautiful for a cheaper price.”

Costs

The lawn removal was covered by the rebate the Boones received. Since they and their daughter and son-in-law did all the labor, their only expenses were for plants, decomposed granite and stones and rocks. Don Boone estimated that came to around $2,100.

A closer look: Patti and Don Boone

Plants used: Cleveland sage (Salvia clevelandii), white sage (Salvia apiana), strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), deerweed (Acmispon glaber), deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens), toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri), California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), bush sunflower (Encelia californica), San Diego County viguiera (Bahiopsis laciniata), common yarrow (Achillea millefolium), Margarita BOP penstemon (Penstemon heterophyllus ‘Margarita BOP’), California sagebrush (Artemisia californica), and apricot mallow (Abutilon palmeri). We attempted to include as many species that are unique to the South Bay as possible, including San Diego marsh-elder (Iva hayesiana) and Otay manzanita (Arctostaphylos otayensis).

Estimated costs and any rebates you got: The costs were around $2,100 for the plants and materials. Removing the grass cost another $1,000, but that was covered by the rebate the couple received.

Who did the work: Homeowners Don and Patti Boone, along with daughter and son-in-law Kim and Parker Richardson

How long it took: The process of removing old lawn and shrubs and planting natives happened over the course of around six months. The couple started the project in the fall of 2022 and planted in early spring 2023.

Water savings: Don Boone estimated they’re saving about 25 percent on their water bill. He noted that because they used plants native to their area, their landscape requires no irrigation system, just the rain they receive. They installed a natural rain collection swale, which is fed by the house’s rain gutters.

Advice:

• Plant after a rain; it will make your life much easier.

• Plant plants you love to see or smell and will enjoy watching them evolve with the seasons.

• Native yards are not always green, and that is OK. They need to dry out and provide seeds for birds and other creatures.

• Native yards are a reflection of nature. Embrace having a lively yard that serves a purpose instead of a conventional lawn.

About the series

This is the fifth this year in an occasional series on 2025 winners of the annual WaterSmart Landscape Contest, conducted in partnership with the San Diego County Water Authority. To learn about entering the next contest, visit landscapecontest.com.

For details on classes and resources through the WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Program, visit watersmartsd.org. Landscape rebates are available through the Socal WaterSmart Turf Replacement Program at socalwatersmart.com.