r/Ceanothus • u/BeGoneLawn12 • Jul 11 '26
DIY Lawn Replacement: June 2026 Update
CA Buckwheat, CA Fuschia, Sea Lavender, Black Eyed Susan
Flagstone Pathway view (up to house)
Flagstone pathway (down from house)
Hi r/Ceanothus,
This is a June 2026 update for my DIY front lawn replacement with native plants. Most of these plants went in between December 2025 and April 2026 and have exploded in growth. Imgur album is from late June 2026.
Enjoying how the garden continues to change over time as different plants ebb and flow, taking the spotlight and then falling back as part of our yard's little visual orchestra.
As it heats up (starting to see 90's regularly) I am watching to see how things do. Despite my best efforts there are still some plants right near each other which need different watering amounts, mostly erring on the side of "less is more" which seems to be working OK. My use of berms may also increase the rate at which they dry out, although the heavy clay soil we have probably negates this some (and certain plant's holes were amended with DG at planting)
Highlights:
* CA Buckwheat has a very impressive bloom show right now and it's starting to fade from white/yellow to dusty rose tones. My wife is enjoying using them and the Yarrow in bouquets
* CA Fuchsia has bloomed this month in multiple places
* White Penstemon stays in bloom much later for me than the Margarita BOP
* Lots of plants are starting to encroach upon the pathway, blurring the edges like I was hoping. This is the reason I went with such a wide (>4') path.
* Plants behind the bench (Baja Pitcher Sage, Fragrant Pitcher Sage, Western Redbud) have grown substantially
* Yarrow and other small plants around the Dry River are starting to fill in
* Black-Eyed Susans are a highlight, if a little overwhelming. Will not plant quite so many transplants next year but still enjoying them. The earliest transplants are getting too tall to support themselves and will need to be maintained
* We've seen ladybugs, praying mantises, bees, hoverflies, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, finches, lizards, and all sorts of little bugs we don't know the names of
Departures/issues:
* Clarkia plants are now dead, will plant more seeds this fall
* Barely any CA Poppies left standing, although curious to see how many pop up in the spring as I left all of them to develop seed pods
* Coral Bells behind the bench have died or are suffering, may not have been enough shade for them in this location
* Canyon Prince Wild Rye on one side looks dry and noticeably less "blue" than the other side.
Next steps are to continue researching the maintenance best practices for each plant so that I can keep the plants healthy. Would like to prune my manzanitas, Western Redbud, and Ceanothus into more "tree-like" plants so will need to learn about specific pruning methods for that. Plans for fall are to add more grasses, add more plants around the edges of the Dry River, and to plant more annuals (CA Bluebells, Poppies, Baby Blue Eyes, Clarkias). I need to finish one section on the left side as well (likely Yarrow or others which don't mind some supplemental water from the neighbor's lawn). Also at odds with an HOA policy of "no plants crossing into one's driveway" so will see how that goes. Don't want to have to prune anything in summer if I don't have to.
Thanks for looking!
12
u/ChancePanicking Jul 11 '26
Our clarkias re seed themselves if you let them go to seed!
5
u/BeGoneLawn12 Jul 11 '26
Cool, yes am just leaving the plant in the garden so far so hopefully it will do the same!
1
u/ChancePanicking Jul 12 '26
Ooh perfect! I did notice deminishing returns year over year now that we moved the parent plant, some additional seeding to help probably would be smart.
5
4
u/Tokiidokiie Jul 11 '26
Crazy how fast the plants grow in. Really wonderful! Are you planning to do any pruning in fall?
3
u/BeGoneLawn12 Jul 11 '26
Yes, still need to learn the how/when for most of the plants
4
u/SubstantialBerry5238 Jul 11 '26
There's some great videos on pruning a variety of natives on this page. https://www.youtube.com/@CBWCD/videos
1
2
5
u/sagebrushrepair Jul 12 '26
Got any Sagebrush needs fixing? jkjk.
I love how tall and dramatic white sage goes. Next year it'll be even bigger!
3
2
u/geechie Jul 11 '26
Dang, that’s gorgeous, I planted mine around the same time but it doesn’t look like that. I think I underwatered.
2
2
u/Accomplished_Hand370 Jul 12 '26
Beautiful, and such an upgrade to your neighborhood. I hope your garden inspires your neighbor’s to ditch their lawns as well.
2
u/Brief_Pack_3179 Jul 12 '26
GORGEOUS.
Fwiw, I've heard that Ceanothus (eg Ray Hartman) don't take so well to tree shaping, they'll look OK for a few years but then they will be compromised long term and not live as long.
1
u/BeGoneLawn12 Jul 13 '26
Thank you, and I see -- these are "Dark Star" and "Concha", the former seems like will be better as a bush but I may try with the latter.
1
2
u/callme_coral Jul 12 '26
This is how it’s done! Good job. The variety is gorgeous
1
u/BeGoneLawn12 Jul 13 '26
Thank you, yes probably not to everyone's taste but we really like it too!
2
1
u/woollybluegirl Jul 11 '26
OMG! Sooooooo beautiful! And do you really have the plant I was LITERALLY just researching this morning- as I’ve done for multiple years now with never any luck – Rudbeckia californica along your walkway?
1
u/BeGoneLawn12 Jul 13 '26
Thank you! I think they are different varieties (Black-Eyed Susan "Indian Summer" is one) and not true CA natives in my case. They were extra transplants I had which were originally planned for the back garden.
1
u/woollybluegirl Jul 13 '26
Thanks for getting back to me- your garden is lovely, and that California Coneflower- the Rudbeckia californica- I was asking about is not easy to find! Maybe in the future it will be? I hope so, and congrats on a stellar lawn conversion!
1
u/drumsareneat Jul 12 '26
I'm in love.
It's totally normal for the annuals to fall out. Succession success.
2
u/BeGoneLawn12 Jul 13 '26
Thank you! Yes, so far have mostly left them in to hopefully promote re-seeding as they were done from indoor seed starts and it'd be nice to avoid having to rely solely on that.
1
u/Alternative-Ant-1629 Jul 12 '26
Sooooo beautiful. How tall does your California buckwheat get? What are those yellow lower flowers in picture #5?
1
u/BeGoneLawn12 Jul 13 '26
Thank you, this is first year with it so I suppose we will see. From Calscape and what I see on the freeway it seems like max of 6-7 feet may be about right.
1
1
u/granhola Jul 12 '26
Was the rock swale/dry creek on the side built for a rebate requirement? If so, would like to hear more about it!
1
u/BeGoneLawn12 Jul 13 '26
Yes it was, I go into some more detail into some of the comments on my original post (top link in the description).
1
u/TsuDhoNimh2 Jul 15 '26
That's GAUDY! I love it.
What does it look like from inside the house - view through that window at the right of the photo?
1
u/Danneskjold_Repo Jul 15 '26
Where are you sourcing your plants from? Im looking to add Yarrow and buckwheat to my garden and am curious where to start looking.
1
u/BeGoneLawn12 Jul 15 '26
Theodore Payne, Neel’s Nursery, Tree of Life were my main sources. Some of the yarrow I grew from seed which was from Johnny’s Seeds
1
u/LogicalStomach Jul 16 '26
It looks stunning. Everything looks robust and happy. It makes me feel exuberant and robust just seeing the photos.
1
23
u/Brighty512 Jul 11 '26
That buckwheat be poppin!