Here’s how we did it.  On Father’s Day, 2023, I began killing the grass.  I did two chemical applications, a week apart.

As the grass was browning, we covered it with cardboard.  If you haven’t kept all your delivery packaging, there are dumpsters everywhere that recycle cardboard.  The best time to pilfer; early morning.

We ordered pea gravel and covered the cardboard.  My husband placed river rocks along the sidewalk to prevent the gravel from washing off.

Spreading the mountain of gravel took us 3 or 4 weeks.  We’re old (70+) and we didn’t work 8-hour days.  I’d already warned my neighbors that my yard might look awful for a while.  They were very gracious about our mad venture.  I bought stepping stones and laid out four pathways.

I had mapped out the sun in the yard, using garden stakes and yarn.  The ground was a brick because I hadn’t watered for over a month.  My lovely (and younger) neighbor told me to place stakes where I wanted to plant, and he would dig the holes.  Yes.  He is my hero.  He dug 50 holes for me. I had ordered 42 plants from Resource Central. They would arrive in 4” containers, so the holes only needed to be 8” x 4”. But still. Fifty holes!

The plants arrived at the end of August.  I also had existing plants in my yard that fit the criteria for xeric landscape.  I divided some yarrow, rabbit brush and caryopteris to move into the new project.

I had two friends who had offered to help me plant.  It took the three of us about 4 hours to get these plants in the ground.  I used a combination of existing soil, compost and kelp for root stimulation.

I watered the plants twice each week through September; once a week through the fall.  In the winter I took a water meter out and measured by the roots of each plant during dry spells, then watered only as needed.

Spring came and the plants had exploded.  The yard was lovely beyond my wildest expectations.  We did have an unusual amount of rain that May which couldn’t have hurt.  We had bees, birds and butterflies in abundance. All of my neighbors were cheering!