They turned the front lawn into a welcoming extension of their Woodland Hills home

By Lisa Boone

April 19, 2017 7 AM PT

Gov. Jerry Brown may have declared California’s drought over, but we’re continuing to ask Southern California readers to share photos of their lawn- to drought-garden makeovers. Why? “This drought emergency is over, but the next drought could be around the corner,” Brown said in a statement. “Conservation must remain a way of life.”

Here’s how one Woodland Hills couple transformed their thirsty front yard:

What happens when an architect and a landscape architect renovate a front yard together? In the case of architect Carmel McFayden and landscape architect Louisa Relia, the result is a grid-based landscape that thoughtfully complements the lines of McFayden’s 1969 Midcentury home.

McFayden and husband Frank Donner live in Woodland Hills, where temperatures can reach triple digits in the summer; this prompted them to consider a more drought-tolerant alternative to grass.

A turf removal rebate of $6,600 sealed the deal, and after investing an additional $4,000 of their own money (including labor and designer discounts), the couple transformed their front lawn into an outdoor space that connects them to their popular cul-de-sac.

“My husband liked to sit out on our front step with our Australian shepherd,” McFayden said. “He wanted a formal place to sit and talk to our neighbors.”

After Relia’s landscape design (shown below) was approved, the couple hired a Bobcat operator to remove the lawn, along with six inches of dirt. The original flagstone walkway and several long established plants and bushes were retained and everything else was removed. After three truckloads of dirt were exchanged for 18 cubic yards of nitro fertilizer, MLML Landscaping broke up the clay soil in preparation for planting.

Relia’s underlying design is composed of two-foot grids, which reflect the linear lines of the home.

“The grid created the guidelines for the design,” says McFayden. “The plants themselves create their own form and scent and color that surprises and delights as you walk toward the home.”

The couple installed an eight-foot-wide gravel path next to the house to allow access to trash cans, the side yard and the driveway. The gravel keeps water away from the home’s foundation and creates an outdoor space where Donner can sit and visit with neighbors.

The couple ditched rain gutter downspouts in favor of sleek copper rain chains and concealed companion catch basins in the gravel below.

The new landscape features 147 plants of 10 different varieties that are on the Los Angeles County drought tolerant plant list: bunches of low spreading rosemary, red kangaroo paw, 33 achillea “Moonshine,” five agave attenuata, 15 flowering echeveria elegans, 57 English lavender, santolina chamaecyparissus, sedum and two olive trees.

The grid design means that the homeowners can add plants at will. They recently filled in some bare areas with additional lavender, rosemary and acchillea “Moonshine” plants.

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Flowering Bladder Pod. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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Ceanothus “Yankee Point” line a walking path. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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A Western Redbud tree grows in La Canada Flintridge. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Erigeron karvinskianus (Santa Barbara daisy) blooms in Brentwood. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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The Tree Mallow “Malva Rosa” blooms in Pasadena. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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Yellow yarrow attracts butterflies. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Rockroses. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Drought tolerant lilac verbena.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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The beloved California Poppy.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Dendromecon harfordii. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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A Dudleya succulent perennial. The plant’s fleshy leaves are covered with a chalky powder. (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Galvezia speciosa commonly known as Showy Island Snapdragon. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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A branch from a Dudleya plant. When the plants flourish in spring, they grow reddish stalks and small, yellow flowers. (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Baby Blue Eyes. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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Another type of Dudleya, a plant native to California, Arizona, Oregon and Baja California, is shown growing in a planter. The succulent requires moderate water and lots of sun. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Rose-shaped black echeveria succulents. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Channel Island bush poppy. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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A common manzanita will bloom with white flowers. The flowers give rise to berrylike fruits that attract birds. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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The fruit from a coffeeberry bush attract bees. Such established plants do not require irrigation, but look better with moderate watering. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

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Hummingbirds and butterflies love Zauschneria, or California fuchsia. The plant blooms in late summer or fall and generally requires little to moderate water. (Iris Schneider / Los Angeles Times)

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Monkey flower growing in a pot. The flowers, which attract hummingbirds, are said to resemble a grinning monkey. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

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An ant crawls across the bud of a California lilac. In winter and spring, lilacs turn western hillsides blue. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Gray buckwheat grows in long stalks with tiny blossoms. Buckwheat is native to most of the West and California coast. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Drought-tolerant Cleveland sage or California blue sage, a low-water California native, will grow blue flowers in the summer. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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White sage or bee sage (Salvia apiana) is an evergreen and drought-tolerant shrub native to Southern California. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Sage flowers come in many varieties, belonging to the mint family. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Flowers of a purple sage plant. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

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Ceanothus, also called ‘Dark Star,’ is another variety of lilac. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), sometimes called California holly, is found in the Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada foothills. The evergreen shrub produces bright red berries from fall and winter, which attract birds. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Since its completion a year ago, the garden has improved more than just curb appeal.

“It has brought a lot more life to the garden,” says McFayden, who enjoys watching birds, bees and hummingbirds from inside.

The front yard is now an extension of the couple’s home.

“We sit out in the front nearly every evening enjoying a glass of wine and talking to our neighbors, who are always out walking their dogs,” McFayden said. “I feel like we increased the square footage of our home. It’s like a living room. These are spaces that people don’t think of utilizing.”

If you’ve given your yard a makeover, we want to see it, and may feature it in an upcoming edition of the Saturday section. Please send before and after pictures to [email protected], and include a day-time contact number.