Here’s a screenshot of a Los Angeles Times garden blog post that caught my attention:(The text and photos in this post are quite interesting, and you can click on the photo to view and read the entire thing.)

I’ve never been a fan of the sweeping expanses of lawn that have become the hallmark of American suburbs, so I love the design of this house in general — the covered porch, rather than a large lawn, is what provides a measure of privacy.

With such a tiny front yard as this, it would be easy enough to care for turf grass (even in drought stricken Los Angeles) but the homeowners have gone one step further and installed a xeriscape – a landscape of drought-tolerant plants that don’t require supplemental irrigation. According to the article, they took advantage of a program that offers rebates to residents who tear out turf and replace it with plants that don’t need much water. (I’ve loved this idea ever since I wrote about it for Continental, the inflight magazine.)

Even after the rebate, however, the homeowners reportedly spent $10,000 on design and installation for their showcase garden! I think it’s this high initial cost that keep so many people enslaved to their front lawns. I’d get rid of my grass in the blink of an eye if it weren’t so prohibitively expensive to do so… what about you?