The lush green lawn has been a symbol of prosperityfor as long as any of us can remember. It harkens back to old wealthy estates of the East Coast and Europe with acres of rolling green turf, great for polo, croquet, and ladies laying around on blankets in sun dresses and wide brimmed hats while the men take the boat for a row in the lake.
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All of this is lovely, or would be if we lived in Connecticut. The reality though is that our climate is
slightly (hint of sarcasm there) less lawn friendly . Recently, though, the misconception that Southern California is some sort of semi-tropical paradise is finally meeting the reality of our water shortages and how shall we say this ... 'the honeymoon is over'?
All over the Southwest lawns are being pulled up in favor of more drought tolerant and less maintenance intensive landscapes and the results are impressive:
Habitat Gardens full of flowering shrubs are bringing birds, butterflies, and lizards back into our gardens.
- Rain Gardens (so called because they are designed to either store all rainwater or allow it to permeate the soil) are preventing thousands of gallons of polluted runoff from entering our watersheds each year.
- Native Gardens are restoring habitat destroyed by development.
All of these gardens not only use up to 70% less water than lawns but require almost no fertilizers and other chemicals and pesticides to thrive in our hot, dry climate and, to top it all off, any of these gardens can be designed in a multitude of garden styles from Modern to Asian, Desert to Mediterranean.
So, are you ready to end your love affair with your lawn?
As Earth's population grows living areas become smaller and our cities grow upward. That leaves alot of vertical space to cover, and what better way to cover it than with beautiful tapestries of plants!
Check out 
some gorgeous manzanita in all sizes (including some 5g Del Mar Manzanita that it was painful to pass up since, as Jeremy pointed out, they are native to the site of the show!). We decided at last on Pacific Mist and Carmel Sur, two of our favorites. 
Try to install a landscape with only plants and you get the sneaking feeling that something is just missing... Pottery! Pots are a great addition to any landscape from modern to rustic and are much more than just fancy planters. A large glazed pot can make a lovely stand-alone focal feature, well sealed urns can be converted to make great rain barrels or small water features, and no patio is complete without at least one potted plant!
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