I read somewhere that front yards are an American invention designed to give urban dwellers the sense of being in the country while in the city. The ongoing California drought is a challenge to that illusion. Altadena has received almost 9 inches of rain this year which is better than  last year but still about 25% of normal. I take the view that less rain will be the new normal so I am trying to adapt our yard to that situation. I have added mulch to the flower beds, installed drip irrigation, and used a barrel to capture rain water this season. My latest effort was to landscape the parkway in front of the house. The city of Pasadena was paying homeowners $2 per square foot to remove their grass turf and replace it with something more drought friendly.

Before

I looked into hiring a professional but that was going to cost an arm and a leg, so I decided to do the job myself. But could I? Some part of my mind was up for the task but my 66 year old body had its doubts. I discovered that my body could handle working for an hour and a half a day. So from 4:00pm to 5:30pm each afternoon for seven weeks I was in the front yard digging, raking, and moving dirt and rock. 16 bags of redwood mulch, 42 bags of pea gravel at 75 pounds per bag, one thousand pounds of cobble stones, and succulents transplanted from the back yard later, the job is done. The best part of the project was meeting my neighbors, many of whom walk their dogs every afternoon before dinner.

After

What’s next in the drought adaptation process? Well, I have been dreaming of trying to convert our sixty year old backyard swimming pool into a rainwater capture reservoir. But that idea is being met with some very stiff resistance by another member of the family, so for now, maybe I will try to just take shorter showers.

View in January 2017

View in January 2018