This is from SoCal, but may be applicable up north. Bewaterwise

The link shared above should be http://www.laspilitas.com/

They also have information on removing your lawn. If you have bermuda or St. Augustine both of which have underground runners, sheet mulching may not be very effective. If you have Marathon, mulch away!

Rebates come from your local water district, so check with them before counting on extra cash.

Hello, we are currently doing this exact thing. We are sheet mulching and then putting down Creeping Thyme, the purple flowering variety. No mowing, no watering after it's settled, and is very hardy.

Same here, we are in the process of redo our front lawn with Cal Native/drought tolerance landscape! Our front lawn is about 600 sq.ft and the water agency has $1/sq.ft rebate. However, we decided not to apply because the whole process appear to be very time consuming. Plus we would have to pick plants from the approved lists! Not worth it IMHO.
We definitely need to be prepared as the water agency is seeking to increase the water and sewer rate by 14.5%/year (for the next 5 years). Our water bill would be double by then (and it is already expensive as of now).
on top of that, our beloved governor recently signed a bill which set an initial limit for indoor water use of 55 gallons per-person per-day in 2022, which gradually drops to 50 gallons per person by 2030.

Thank you all! We went to a waterwise meeting given by our Master gardeners yesterday and found out that they will come out for free for 2 hours and consult with us on how best to convert our yard!

We also visited them at the Sonoma Co fair and got a list of native plants to use. It's so much more helpful to see the plants in an actual garden setting!

Tomorrow is the flower show sale from the fair!

this is a great site although it is for SoCal, a lot of it may be applicable to other parts of the state. It offers "plant palettes" of various styles with a list of plants and descriptions for each. Based on the work of Bob Perry a professor of landscape architecture at Cal Poly Pomona.

Look at the "garden styles" page, very helpful for a cohesive plan.

https://inlandvalleygardenplanner.org

We found a great nursery nearby that has tons of Ca natives! www.calfloranursery.com . They don't ship, however. Nancy

I'm in Los Angeles, but I planted my front yard primarily in South African natives, which do very well here and many make good ground covers. In addition to that, I have planted agaves - one of which is still left. Here are some 2018 photos of my front yard:

I think the hybiscus require the most water, but the bromeliads are good at keeping water after being watered and really don't need that much, but I do put mosquito pellets in them, just in case... I don't know what the white flowers are, but I believe they are from South Africa.

Thanks for the pics Lars. We went to Cornerstone gardens today for some inspiration and it was wonderful! We hadn't been for years and it has since been taken over by Better Homes and Gardens. Just stunning!

I would LOVE to do this, but it would have to look prim and proper with irregular enthusiasm on my part.

nanelle, we aren't the prim and proper type! That's why we are being very careful in this historical district!

We used to live on over an acre at the end of a lane, so we could do whatever we wanted!

We're researching well before we convert the yard!

Our former neighbor is the designer of the Sonoma Co. Fair flower show and is going to help us with design. Nancy

@nancyjane_gardener, our situation is a little different, but I

would love to follow your progress.

Our state rebate was easy. Take a few photos and then do the project then submit new photos. It’s all online and we got our check about 6-8 weeks after completing our project and submitting the photos.

The plant list includes all CA natives plus a bunch of low water non natives , so if you plan on native plants it is not an issue to “pick from the list”.

As for sheet mulching and Bermuda grass - we were advised before doing the project that nothing really will ever free us from Bermuda grass especially since neighbors have it, too. The seeds are in the air so even stripping the soil to remove rhizomes only buys you time. It WILL be back! But we were also advised that sheet mulching with sufficient cardboard layers and mulch thickness would kill the existing grass and give our natives time to establish. We have had some bermuda reseed on top of the mulch, but we knew it was inevitable and try to keep on top of it, and our natives are doing great.

We chose sheet mulching because it was cheap, easy, fast and a good way to improve soil and looks good. We are happy we went with this method.

Tmnca, who do we apply for the rebate? I'm not terribly worried about the $, but if I can get a little back, great! I would like to have access to the plant list.

I'm pretty sure Bermuda is illegal here these days! I'm pretty sure we have some sort of fescue. I'm not sure. This is the first lawn I've had since I lived in town with my folks 40 something years ago! Nancy

nanelle, I don't know how to post pics here. Either a phone change or when it switched to Houzz made my ability to post photos nil. I will take photos just in case something changes in my ability to post photos, though!

Nancyjane, bermuda uses less water than some fescues (Marathon). Your local water agency will have information about rebates. Not sure if you have them up north. There is good information here, but it is from southern Ca. Be Water Wise

The formal gardens at Lady Bird Johnson's Wildflower Gardens in Austin, TX are a great take a "traditional" layout, but in a style that might work with what you're after.

Cornerstone now the home of Sunset's display garden, just fyi. Very food-gardening heavy, with lovely arbors planted with tomatoes, pole beans, etc. Lots of salvia. No woody plants. (But a magnificent life-sized wire tree sculpture!)

Lars, your white daisy could be Anthemis cupaniana.

Sara, I mentioned we went to Cornerstone, but I thought it was taken over by Better Homes.

We didn't see many veges, but it may have been toned down when we went.

Revolutionary, very much what we are looking for. We get rain (in non drought years!), but get very little 6 months of the year!

We plan to mound some areas (good drainage), and get rid of as much lawn as possible to lower our ever rising water bill (we were on a well the last 40+ years and didn't really have to worry about it!)

We would like to have a tastefully water wise yard and cut down on water usage due to California's ongoing drought conditions. Nancy