Check up on the term "xeriscaping" or "xeriscape lawn". That will help you in the right path.

As for killing your grass, you can cover it with something, such as cardboard, or you can remove a few inches of sod,, but you'll still have to fill in that area again since you don't want to design your new landscape in an area with a few inches lost.

thank you!

The process for removing grass depends on the type of grass. If you have a grass that spreads by rhizomes or stolons, you will probably need to use Roundup. If you have a fescue you can go the cardboard route or solarize it.
You may want to look at the book Reimagining the California Lawn.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kill your lawn

Thank you for the book recommendation lgteacher. It's been ordered.

I know is late but in case someone else is reading this before taking on a project..... Rent a sod cutter! Believe me, I'm in the process of removing my lawn and replacing it with low water landscaping right now and the 2 days I spent using the sod cutter were the best spent days of this project. Once the sod is removed dealing with the remaining grass roots that are still alive is much more manageable.

Water well a day or two before using the sod cutter.

But before you do anything, check with your city to see if there is a turf replacement rebate program. We're getting $2 a square foot back.

This post was edited by VedaBeeps on Wed, Oct 15, 14 at 18:18

Sod cutter are great, however I needed a strong neighbor to help. Rental fee was reasonable but was on a waiting list..

Sod cutters work to remove the top of the grass. It will really depend on the grass. If the roots are deeper than the sod cutter goes once you get rain you will get grass (or the weed roots) growing back. We use roundup and then remove with pickaxes then water till the weeds and grass grow back then repeat the process. I know some people get fiesty about roundup but it decomposes in the soil.

I use a mini excavator to remove sod and then load into the trailer. Sod cutter would be my next choice. Most lawns can just be killed with round up (As we did here) and cut with a weed eater or use plastic sheeting to kill the lawn for the eco friendly type people. The dead lawn will decompose and the planting areas should be covered in a 3 inch layer of bark such as Cedar. This client wanted pea gravel but we used bark around each plant. Repeat treatment to rid Bermuda grass here in California will continue. Complete weed control should be monthly as maintenance

I killed my lawn by putting plastic on it for 6 weeks. Worked great and it was so easy. Plus it peeked all the neighbor's interest.

In the fall I covered my lawn with cardboard. By spring it was dead. So dead that I used a rake and just pulled it up. If you use round up, it will take a while before you can plant anything else. Unless you want to cover with stones, pebbles or patio bricks.

"If you use round up, it will take a while before you can plant anything else."

If you use regular RoundUp (no additives or extended use ingredients) or its generic glyphosate, you can plant as soon as the next day, although most would suggest you wait a week after the final application.

In my business, we lay sod or seed a new lawn the week following a RoundUp application - no problems. You should be able to do the same with any other plant type.

We recommend you hire a licensed landscaper to get rid of your lawn. If you stop watering it, it will start to turn brown and become easier to remove.

1-3 Person Landscape removal crew is required to remove the lawn, install black tarp and kill off the roots so it wont grow between. This is crucial for drought succulent/landscaping.

"We recommend you hire a licensed landscaper to get rid of your lawn"

Nonsense!! This is not rocket science and anyone with any sort of physical ability to garden can do it themselves. I have used a sod cutter myself to get rid of a lawn - easily done in just a few hours (depending on the size) but have used a small skid steer for larger lawns to scrape off the turf and its roots and any weeds that might also be present.

Herbicides (like RoundUp) or smothering with cardboard, etc. will also work but take far longer to achieve the same results you can get the same day with manual removal methods.

cakbu, that looks beautiful!

Thank you, inthetrees. I keep tweaking it and trying to make it look better.