By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer
There's a bit of lawn on the inside of this exuberant border at the home of Costa Mesa garden designer Brooke Dietrich. (Below is what the space looks like from the other side.)
But Brooke isn't feeling guilty about it for several reasons. One is shown in the picture above -- her wheaten terrier Blue--who obviously enjoys napping on this cool surface. But the lawn wasn't put in for his benefit.
The main reason for the lawn is in the picture to the left--Brooke's young daughter Finn. Finn loves playing on the lawn, and there wasn't any in the backyard. It was a lovely space for sure--we featured it in our June 2009 issue actually. You can catch a glimpse below. And see more of it on our website.
But the space was designed pre-Finn, created with adults in mind, and mostly hardscape. Brooke wanted a more cushiony space for her daughter to play in and decided to put that area in the front yard so that while Finn was playing she could watch, greet, and socialize with her neighbors.
Another reason Brooke isn't feeling guilty about the lawn is because she reduced its size considerably from what was here when she and her husband moved into the home -- shown below.
Plus, despite the lush appearance, the parts of Brooke's garden that aren't lawn are quite drought-tolerant.
The combination of agaves, aloes, Senecio, Grevillea, Aeonium, Kalanchoe, and kangaroo paws exist on rainfall alone throughout winter and early spring. This year, wetter than normal for Southern California admittedly, Booke still hadn't turned on the irrigation for these stations in mid-May.
So, all in all, I think she's forgiven for this small indulgence, wouldn't you say?
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