How to Design a “Wabi-Sabi” Drought-Tolerant Garden Inspired by a Los Angeles Lawn Makeover
A recent Los Angeles Times story, “Her water bill was ‘insane.’ So she tore out her lawn and planted a ‘wabi-sabi’ wonderland,” profiles Julia Lee, a Cheviot Hills homeowner who replaced a large hillside lawn with a colorful, imperfect, evolving garden of California native plants, wildflowers, drought-tolerant shrubs, and a rain-catching bioswale.
Her project shows why Southern California gardeners are moving away from thirsty lawns and toward landscapes that use less water, support pollinators, welcome birds and bees, and feel more personal than a perfectly manicured yard.
Quick Summary of the L.A. Times Article
The article explains how Julia Lee decided to remove her traditional grass hillside lawn after realizing her water bill was extremely high and the lawn no longer served her family. Her children were older, the lawn was not being used, and ongoing California drought and wildfire concerns made the grass feel wasteful.
Instead of hiring a full landscape designer, Lee used city resources, rebate programs, garden classes, help from friends, and a willingness to experiment. She sheet-mulched the old lawn with cardboard, planted native sages and wildflowers, added drought-tolerant plants, and eventually installed irrigation and a bioswale to slow and capture rainwater.
The result is not a rigid, formal garden. It is colorful, loose, seasonal, and intentionally imperfect. Lee describes the garden as a work in progress. It blooms beautifully in spring, goes more dormant in summer, attracts birds and pollinators, and has helped her connect with neighbors. That imperfect, evolving quality is what gives the garden its “wabi-sabi” feeling.
What Is a Wabi-Sabi Garden?
A wabi-sabi garden embraces natural beauty, age, imperfection, weathering, seasonality, and change. Instead of forcing every plant, path, stone, and flower to look perfect all year, a wabi-sabi garden allows the landscape to evolve.
In a Southern California garden, wabi-sabi design works especially well because many climate-adapted and native plants have natural cycles. Some plants bloom intensely in spring, rest in summer, set seed, dry down, or become habitat for insects and birds.
A wabi-sabi garden does not mean neglected. It means intentionally natural, layered, imperfect, and alive.
Why This Garden Style Works in Southern California
Southern California gardeners deal with heat, drought cycles, watering restrictions, dry slopes, fire awareness, compacted soil, runoff, and high summer irrigation costs. A wabi-sabi drought-tolerant garden can help solve several of these problems at once.
- Less lawn means less water use. Turf is often one of the thirstiest parts of a residential landscape.
- Native plants support wildlife. California natives provide food and habitat for bees, butterflies, birds, and beneficial insects.
- Seasonal dormancy becomes acceptable. The garden does not need to look artificially green all summer.
- Rainwater can be slowed and captured. Bioswales, dry creek beds, mulch, and planted slopes help reduce runoff.
- Imperfection reduces pressure. Gardeners can experiment, lose plants, replant, and allow the garden to mature over time.
How to Design Your Own Wabi-Sabi Wonderland
Start with the feeling you want: natural, loose, textured, colorful, habitat-friendly, and water-wise. Then build the garden in layers instead of trying to install a perfect finished landscape all at once.
1. Remove or Reduce the Lawn
If your lawn is expensive to water or rarely used, consider replacing part or all of it with drought-tolerant planting. Sheet mulching with cardboard and mulch is a common method for suppressing turf without hauling everything away.
Before beginning, check local turf replacement rebate programs. In Southern California, rebates may be available through regional water agencies or local utilities.
Sources: Metropolitan Water District: Turf Replacement Program and LADWP: Landscape Efficiency Assistance Program
2. Use the 70/30 Planting Idea
For an easy structure, make about 70% of the garden reliable backbone plants and 30% seasonal color or experiments.
- 70% backbone: California natives, drought-tolerant shrubs, grasses, sages, buckwheats, ceanothus, coyote brush, and long-lived perennials.
- 30% seasonal interest: wildflowers, annuals, bulbs, herbs, container plants, seed-grown flowers, and experimental plants.
This keeps the garden from looking empty after spring bloom while still leaving room for color, surprise, and change.
3. Add a Bioswale or Dry Creek Feature
If your yard slopes or water runs toward the sidewalk, consider adding a bioswale, dry creek bed, or shallow rock-lined channel. This can slow stormwater, reduce erosion, and create a natural-looking design feature.
Use local stone, gravel, river rock, or boulders to shape the path of water. Plant around it with deep-rooted, low-water plants that can handle seasonal moisture followed by dry periods.
Source: California Native Plant Society: Designing with Native Plants
4. Choose Plants That Can Look Good Even When Not Blooming
A wabi-sabi garden depends on texture, form, seed heads, movement, and structure. Flowers matter, but the garden should also have interesting foliage, branching, bark, grasses, and dried seasonal elements.
- California buckwheat for pollinators and dry texture
- Coyote brush for structure and slope coverage
- Ceanothus for spring flowers and evergreen form
- Salvias for fragrance, pollinators, and seasonal bloom
- California fuchsia for hummingbirds and late-season color
- Deer grass or giant rye for movement and structure
- Matilija poppy for dramatic flowers and wild texture
- Yarrow for soft flowers and spreading groundcover effect
Source: Calscape: California Native Plant Database
Plant Ideas for a Southern California Wabi-Sabi Garden
California Native Shrubs and Perennials
- Ceanothus
- California buckwheat
- Red buckwheat
- Coyote brush
- White sage
- Cleveland sage
- Hummingbird sage
- California sagebrush
- California fuchsia
- Monkeyflower
- Woolly bluecurls
- Coyote mint
- Yarrow
- Golden currant
- Matilija poppy
Wildflowers for Seasonal Color
- California poppy
- Clarkia
- Arroyo lupine
- Desert bluebells
- Baby blue eyes
- Phacelia
- Gilia
- Goldfields
Non-Native but Useful Accent Plants
A wabi-sabi garden can include some non-native plants if they are non-invasive, useful, and compatible with the garden’s water needs.
- Lavender
- Rosemary
- Borage
- Calendula
- Cosmos
- Ornamental alliums
- Edible herbs in containers
Where to Source Plants and Materials
For a Southern California wabi-sabi garden, prioritize local nurseries, native plant organizations, seed mixes, water agency programs, and reclaimed materials.
Native Plant Sources
- Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants
- California Native Plant Society: Gardening with Natives
- Calscape Native Plant Finder
- Las Pilitas Nursery
- Tree of Life Nursery
Water-Wise Garden Programs
- BeWaterWise: Southern California Water-Saving Resources
- Metropolitan Water District Turf Replacement Program
- LADWP Landscape Efficiency Assistance Program
Hardscape and Wabi-Sabi Materials
- Reclaimed stone
- Broken concrete used as urbanite
- Weathered wood
- Gravel and decomposed granite
- Natural boulders
- Terracotta pots
- Rustic plant labels
- Mulch from local tree trimmers
- Bird baths or shallow water dishes
Design Ideas for a Wabi-Sabi Wonderland
Create Paths That Feel Discovered
Instead of a straight formal walkway, use stepping stones, decomposed granite, mulch paths, or a dry creek bed that curves through the planting. A slightly irregular path makes the garden feel more organic.
Let Plants Reseed
Allow poppies, clarkia, calendula, borage, alyssum, and other friendly flowers to reseed where appropriate. This gives the garden a natural, self-renewing feeling.
Use Signs and Plant Labels
Handwritten plant labels, small educational signs, or “Think Global, Plant Local” style markers can make the garden more inviting to neighbors and visitors.
Add Habitat Features
Bird houses, shallow water dishes, bee-friendly flowers, brush piles, rocks, and seed heads can support birds, bees, butterflies, lizards, and beneficial insects.
Accept Dormancy
A Southern California garden does not need to be green and blooming every month. Summer dormancy is part of the rhythm of many California native landscapes. The key is to design with structure so the garden still looks intentional when some plants rest.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Not watering new plants enough during establishment: Drought-tolerant does not mean no water the first year.
- Planting too densely without planning mature size: Native shrubs may spread wider than expected.
- Mixing high-water and low-water plants in the same irrigation zone: Group plants by water needs.
- Skipping mulch: Mulch helps suppress weeds and reduce soil moisture loss.
- Expecting instant perfection: Native and drought-tolerant gardens often need time to settle in.
- Removing every dried flower head: Seed heads can feed birds, create texture, and help the garden reseed.
How to Start Small
You do not need to replace your entire lawn at once. Start with one section: a parkway strip, a corner bed, a slope, or a side yard. Add a few backbone plants, scatter seasonal wildflower seeds, mulch heavily, and observe what survives.
The wabi-sabi approach gives gardeners permission to learn by doing. Some plants will fail. Others will thrive. The garden becomes better over time because it reflects the actual site, not a perfect picture from a catalog.
Quick Answer
A wabi-sabi drought-tolerant garden is a natural, imperfect, evolving landscape that uses climate-appropriate plants, California natives, wildflowers, texture, stone, mulch, and seasonal change instead of a high-water lawn. To design one in Southern California, remove unused turf, use rebates when available, plant a strong foundation of native and low-water plants, add seasonal wildflowers, capture rainwater with a bioswale or dry creek bed, and allow the garden to change over time.
Sources and Further Reading
- Los Angeles Times: Her water bill was ‘insane.’ So she tore out her lawn and planted a ‘wabi-sabi’ wonderland
- Los Angeles Times: They cut their water bill by 90% and still have a showstopping L.A. garden
- Metropolitan Water District: Turf Replacement Program
- LADWP: Landscape Efficiency Assistance Program
- Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants
- Calscape: California Native Plant Database
- California Native Plant Society: Gardening with California Native Plants
- California Native Plant Society: Designing with Native Plants
- Las Pilitas Nursery
- Tree of Life Nursery
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