Dig This
The bookazine for people who love dirt!

Take a moment and picture the typical suburban landscape - what comes to mind? Personally, I envision manicured lawns, disproportionate shrubs, and perhaps a decent shade tree - but nothing to write home about, and certainly nothing sustainable or ecological by any stretch of the imagination. The re-imagined lawn of Greg and Lori Davis is another story. Drifts of native wildflowers surround the front of their Mesa, Arizona home, in lieu of the typical lawn. The result? A non-stop, low-maintenance show of gorgeous sustainability through most of the winter and early spring.

Seventeen years ago, self-described "conscious desert dwellers" Greg and Lori Davis began to fantasize about a new kind of front yard - a yard that would be less demanding of their time (at the time they had two small children), decrease their reliance on precious water reserves, and look great year-round. In consultation with a local expert on xeriscape planting design, they created a meadow of drought-tolerant perennials, biennials, and self-seeding annuals. All totaled over twenty species were initially installed, which eventually spread and re-seeded to fill the entire area.

Lori remembers how the earlier varieties were nothing to marvel at, so she took to stopping by roadsides and grabbing handfuls of seeds. Although she says it's hard to pick favorites, the lupine (Lupinus perennis) and California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) rank near the top of her list. 

"Living in the desert, the mindset is quite different from the Midwest-I think we expect less and therefore are charmed all the more by a flash of color or an interesting leaf shape," she said.

When choosing new plants for the garden, Lori considers a plant's drought and sun tolerance before color and structure. Lori waters everything by hand and only as-needed, so their water use is greatly reduced compared to conventional Arizona lawnscapes. However, like many gardeners, if she finds a plant interesting or a must-have she finds it a home. For example, Lori is experimenting with plants like columbine (Aquilegia sp.), which may not survive the harsh Arizona summer, and will therefore have to be treated as an annual instead of the perennial it would otherwise be in our lovely temperate Midwestern climate.

Although she may not admit it, Lori has a talent for planting design. The Davis meadow is a design inspired by nature, and Lori does a fantastic job maintaining it.

"When the plants go bonkers in late winter my real work starts.  While the shoots are still small, I remove plants which are growing too close to walks and start organizing the colors in my mind.  The seeds fall totally out of control, so I pluck lots of shoots to get the color groupings and plant heights where I want them," she said.

Through Lori's intervention and guidance, the meadow's natural aesthetic evolves and grows through each season.

When Greg and Lori first installed the new design, their neighbors were skeptical.

"In the beginning there was a lot of confusion.  Some would offer suggestions of their favorite pre-emergent to take care of the 'weeds,' which were coming up all over the granite in the winter and spring.  On one occasion I even had to run out and stop a yard crew from 'cleaning up all the weeds' which were about 6 inches tall and not yet blooming.  They were grabbing out lupine and bluebells by the handfuls!" Lori said.

Lori said that their neighbors now understand the unconventional design, and she receives numerous compliments when the meadow is in peak bloom. However, despite the meadow's many attractive and beneficial qualities, no one in the area has followed Greg and Lori's lead. A few neighbors have small gardens and borders of native and drought tolerant plants, but unfortunately, manicured lawns are still vogue for the majority of their community. But Lori is always willing to share the glory of meadow plants with friends and neighbors in her community.

"I harvest the seeds and put them in envelopes - somebody always wants something - and there are always too many seeds!"

Greg and Lori were way ahead of their time when they made the decision to live with their environment instead of constantly battle against it. Seventeen years ago, "sustainability" and "natural design" were buzzwords among few - but now, it's hard to go without seeing an advertisement for the next "green" product. The typical American homeowner has been stuck in a rut for decades when it comes to how they view their landscape, and I hope the vision and dedication of Greg and Lori Davis might inspire you to pause for a moment and consider your own landscape. Do you thoughtfully choose plants that work in your climate and environment? 

By Benjamin Futa

Benjamin Futa is currently in his second year at Purdue University studying Public Horticulture. He has been an avid gardener from a young age and imagines a life centered around connecting people to plants.  He also blogs at PLAN-T.