http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/lawn-care/lawn-substitutes/white-clover/grow-a-white-clover-lawn.htm

As noted, clover features only moderate drought tolerance when planted en masse. Since Bermuda's drought tolerance is what I'd consider low (no grass does better than low-moderate, and that's fescue), it's still an improvement.

Remember that planting clover will require water to germinate the seed and establish the clover, so that may not be a very good choice for this summer either.

Do you have any idea how many inches per week clover requires in the summer? This is the information I haven't been able to find...

Our fescue was requiring more than the 1/12" per week requirement and it was just too much. I know that Bermuda requires 1", so we can save 30% on the lawn alone by switching to Bermuda. Do you think we can save any more with clover?

I can't stomach the idea of letting everything die and living in a dust bowl. Between the alley next to and behind us and the neighbors next door who have a dirt lot, we get enough dirt blowing all over the place.

http://www.wikihow.com/Grow-a-Clover-Lawn

This is not specific but mentions weekly watering.

http://www.outsidepride.com/resources/planting/clover_instructions.html

This is much more specific. 30 to 45 inches of rain a year (productive to optimal). Thirty inches of rain a year translates to about 0.55 inches a week, or about half what a lawn requires. I can imagine that rising toward 1" a week in very hot, windy weather, particularly with low humidity. A layer of compost at the surface 1/4" thick would help hold some moisture while not smothering the clover (or grass).

Keep in mind that ESTABLISHING a lawn, even a drought resistant one, is water-intensive. The best time to establish a drought resistant lawn is when you have plenty of water.

You would be better off sacrificing some of the lawn area instead of starting over. Just figure out what part of your sprinkling system you should shut off.

I agree that the fescue has to go. Fescue is not compatible with California's water shortage. When fescue is grown in the right location, it only need 1 inch per week. I also agree that giving up grass for dirt is a foolish idea. Brown dirt heats up the air eventually leading to more use of air conditioning and likely water inside the house.

Another problem with California's rules, as I read them a while back, is that they do not allow you to water properly. Our toughest water restrictions in San Antonio allow us to water every other week for a total of 6 hours per day. Our most lax restrictions allow us to water every week for a total of 8 hours per day. This regimen absolutely works for most grass unless it is mowed too short on a south facing lawn in full sun. From my understanding of the California rules, you can only water for 10 minutes. That is EXACTLY wrong. Even in Phoenix the deep watering rules work. In fact I'll tell you a method that works great - soaker hoses. Turn on your faucet to the water trickles out at 1 cup per minute (roughly 800 gallons per week), run a hose to a soaker hose and let it run for days at a time. Keep the soaker hose moving and you'll have a pretty nice lawn for only 800 gallons per week. Otherwise the normal practice that works is deep and infrequent watering. Deep means a full inch all at one time, not 10 minutes per day. Infrequent means once per week with temps in the 90s, once every other week with temps in the 80s, once every 3 weeks with temps in the 70s, and once a month at temps below 70.

As to a grass for your situation, if you remove every tree pictured in your pictures, then you can have bermuda. Clover is not going to be particularly happy with 1/2 day of sunlight either. There are two grasses that will be very happy in your situation. Those are St Augustine and a variety of zoysia called Shadow Turf. St Augustine is inexpensive, easy to establish, and grows with a coarse blade. Shadow Turf is expensive, easy to establish (but takes much longer than you expect), and grows with a fine blade like your fescue. Shadow Turf will not take much wear if you have pets or walk the same path every day. It will shorten as the grass blades break off and it will not return until the following spring. St Augustine will show a path but will return within the same season if the activity stops.

Just out of curiosity where are you in Riverside. I grew up between Central and Arlington west of Victoria. My sister lives down towards the airport.

dchall, I'm LantanaLove. Back in December you and some other members set me on the right path and introduced me to alfalfa pellets, shampoo and deep watering. I'm sure a lot of conversations on this forum head that way, but I'm the one who lives downtown by Mt. Rubidoux and I swore I had clay soil.

.:face palm:.

This is the same yard. I just ripped out the chain link fence.

I know the trees make it hard to use a warm season grass, but the sun makes it hard to use a cool season grass. The yard faces southwest so it takes a beating in the summer with dappled shade for periodic relief I'm at a total loss as to what I can do and what will be sustainable. We have no idea what our particular water agency will implement so we don't even know what rules we'll be playing by.

How quickly will St. Augustine spread if I plugged it? Is like to have a decent yard for the summer.

St Aug usually goes down in pieces about 3 square feet. In Texas it costs about $1 per piece with a slight discount for buying a full pallet. When it becomes established and while the temperature is in the 60s to mid 70s, it will spread maybe an inch per day. Mine usually spreads in the early spring and again in the fall. Total for the year is usually 10 feet. This year with all the rain and clouds keeping the soil and air cooler, I would expect more like 20 feet. In Riverside it should be more like 15 to 20 feet. Didn't you have a coolish summer last year? Like more low 80s days and fewer 100s days?? So if you carpet the yard with pieces of St Aug you will have a great lawn this summer. If you checkerboard it in leaving large gaps, it will not do what you want until later in the summer assuming Nature cooperates.

I'm not sure about the cooler summer. Last summer was our first summer back here after years spent out past Palm Springs - so it was definitely cooler to us!

I'll look into the St. Augustine. Is there a specific type that works best in the shade?

Do I throw down the 3x3 pieces or do I have to dig them into the ground?

I've never dealt with sod before. Always seed.

They're not 3x3. That would be 9 square feet. They're 3 square feet. Almost all of them work well in the shade. Floratam is one that does NOT perform its best in the shade. Likely you cannot get that one anyway. If you have a choice at your local nursery, then write back with the choices. That's easier than going through all of them and sending you on a wild goose chase. Prep the area by killing the grass and raking it away. Stagger the edges of the sod so it is not like aligned like a checkerboard. Snug the edges up tight as you go. Then roll it down or walk on every square foot to make good contact with the soil underneath. Roots will not grow through the air to reach the soil underneath. Then water it 2-3x per day lightly - just enough to moisten the roots and the very top of the soil underneath. It should not be soggy. Do that until the roots knit down into the soil and then start backing off on watering frequency. Cut it by half right away and then again 3 days later. Slowly move away from frequent watering until you are watering only once per week. The target for the amount is 1 inch. I probably explained the cat food/tuna can test for your sprinkler to get 1 inch. If not search this forum and you'll find it plenty. Always mow St Aug at the highest setting and you should be good to go.

My parents lived in Palm Desert and Indio (almost next door to the Coachella site). Were you farther out than that?

Old thread, but adding a real-world data point since this still comes up in searches: we just had a 3-day heat wave over 100°F here in eastern Massachusetts (zone 6b) and I didn’t water at all. My grass went fully dormant and brown, while the white clover and microclover I’d overseeded into it stayed green the entire time. So to the original question — the clover you already have is telling you the answer. Once established, its deeper taproot keeps pulling moisture long after shallow grass roots give up, and it fixes nitrogen for whatever grass remains, so a mixed lawn needs less fertilizer too.

One caution on Bermuda for anyone reading from a cooler climate: it’s a warm-season grass, so north of roughly zone 7 it turns brown for the entire winter — you’d be trading summer green for six months of tan.

I ended up writing up the full grass-vs-clover drought comparison, with the university extension data behind it, here: lawnseedpicker.com/drought-tolerant-grass (my site, for transparency).

Bermuda is generally much more drought-tolerant than clover and handles heavy traffic better once established.

...and it will go dormant in Zone 8 and often in Zone 9.