The zero-waste recipe for converting lawns to low-water gardens finds fans in the East Bay.

Could the drought have an upside? For hundreds of East Bay residents who have made the leap into losing their lawns, it has meant not only liberation from the battle between green grass and green living, but also the opportunity to put their personal style into a low-maintenance garden—as well as to earn a hefty rebate.

The latest gardening trend—sheet mulching—has been the win-win solution for homeowners who have been paralyzed with the thought of digging out and hauling away hundreds of square feet of heavy sod or using dangerous grass-killing chemicals.

Sheet mulching is a simple technique for eliminating lawn by smothering it with a “lasagna” of recycled, composted, and renewable materials.

The recipe basics are easy: 1. Mow lawn as low as possible and water with hose. 2. Put down a couple of layers of cardboard (sold in rolls for large projects). 3. Wet with hose. 4. Spread a half-inch layer of compost. 5. Top with 3 inches of mulch (arborists offer free wood chips), or up to 8 inches for pernicious weeds like oxalis and Bermuda grass. 5. Water thoroughly. (Visit www.BayFriendlyCoalition.org for more detailed instructions.)

This process works on the same concept as a compost pile. As the lawn dies from the lack of light, it decomposes with the activity of beneficial worms, insects, and microorganisms coming up from the soil, eager to break down the nitrogen and carbon in the sheet-mulch layers.

Not only is the lawn gone from sight in a matter of hours, but its imminent demise also creates a new beginning for the unfortunate soil that’s been tortured under an all-grass monoculture, possibly mistreated with pesticides and herbicides, and gorged with an excess of fertilizer (much of which has traveled, due to overwatering, into our streams, lakes, bay, and ocean). As the sheet-mulching materials break down, they’re building a healthier, well-aerated soil that will allow the roots of the new plants to grow deeply, making them more resistant to drought.

Regional agencies including the East Bay Municipal Utility District, StopWaste, and the Bay-Friendly Landscaping & Gardening Coalition have been reaching out with information, classes, and financial incentives to help homeowners substantially cut back on water use and other unsustainable practices in their gardens.

EBMUD offers an integrated package of both lawn-conversion and irrigation upgrade rebates of up to $2,500 for single and multifamily residential properties (four units or fewer) and up to $20,000 for commercial and multifamily properties (five units or more).

“Residential turf uses more water than any other single urban water use,” said EBMUD water conservation representative Scott Sommerfeld. “Now that we’re into our fourth year of drought, people are really starting to get it. Our lawn-conversion rebates accelerated six-fold, from 70 in 2013 to 418 in 2014, and we had 331 in the first two months of 2015.” He said homeowners should fill out the rebate application and get it approved before starting their sheet- mulching project.

According to Teresa Eade, senior program manager at StopWaste, sheet mulching over an average 500-square-foot lawn and converting to a low-water landscape saves 12,500 gallons of water per year. She also said that hauling away that same lawn would add a ton of waste to the landfill.

“Sheet mulching is definitely getting new traction,” Eade said. “It’s driven by drought, but also by a new appreciation for the importance of soil.” She said society disturbs soil with such practices as construction, tilling, and mining, which release soil carbon into the atmosphere. But more people are recognizing now that good practices—such as sheet mulching—can restore that soil carbon.

At the state level, Gov. Jerry Brown has dedicated funds to increase carbon in agricultural soils to offset climate change. And healthy soils are getting worldwide focus this year, with the United Nations having declared 2015 the International Year of Soil.

The concept of keeping nature’s aging organic matter on site and making use of it to increase soil fertility dates back as far as the practice of farming, and was certainly not limited to drought-prone regions. In Ireland, for example, seaweed and manure have been the mulching layers of choice. In the sustainable agriculture model of permaculture, planting berms are built using brush and native soil.

The Bay-Friendly Coalition holds numerous events throughout the year to encourage practices that reduce waste and pollution, conserve natural resources, and create vibrant landscapes and gardens. It will present “Lose Your Lawn” talks at several East Bay nurseries in the spring and fall, with sheet mulching demonstrations by Bay-Friendly educators and garden planning tips from Bay-Friendly Qualified Design Professionals. And for the first time this year, there will also be hands-on sheet mulching workshops.

Both Bay-Friendly and EBMUD have introduced stickers identifying low-water plants at many nurseries in Alameda County. The growing interest in plants appropriate for the region has led local nurseries to introduce an increasingly extensive selection of California natives and plants from Mediterranean climates around the world.

With rebate money in their pockets, a new blank slate in their gardens, and plenty of time on their hands with no lawn to mow, homeowners can enjoy choosing from among these thousands of plants that thrive in our dry summers and winters.

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Anne Weinberger of Piedmont’s Anne Weinberger Garden Design is a landscape designer and construction specialist and a Bay-Friendly landscape design professional.

SHEET MULCHING RESOURCES
www.BayFriendlyCoalition.org
www.StopWaste.org

REBATE INFORMATION
www.EBMUD.com

BOOK
Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates,
www.EBMUD.com