Nothing. Let whatever low weeds want to grow, grow. Mow those. Over time, the ones that survive mowing, low watering, and no fertilization will select themselves.

You can try an initial seeding with a tri-mix (fescue, rye, bluegrass). The bluegrasses can survive extended dormant periods but go brown during them. Fescues do dry periods fairly well, but do need some water every now and again.

Very dry years may result in a complete die-out except for a few patches of surviving bluegrass. Bluegrass, however, spreads during good years.

Depending on your specific location, there are certainly some very drought tolerant options.

Carex pansa or California meadow sedge is a native popular for an informal lawn alternative that requires minimal mowing and will subsist on just rainwater. Will also take partial shade.

UC Verde buffalo grass is another possibility. Formulated specifically for the CA climate, mowing is actually optional and after establishment, requires 75% less watering that does standard turf grass types.

Artificial turf.

Are you north of Redding? I'm guessing you are in the San Francisco to Tahoe area. How do you folks refer to the parts of California north of Redding?

Oh, I assumed Logland, not Fogland. My answer might change...

@dchall_san_antonio In San Francisco Bay Area

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) @User Someone suggested Kurapia ground cover roll. Would this be a good option?

https://www.kurapiadirect.com/

I have no personal experience with it myself, although I do know it comes highly recommended as a lawn alternative for many situations in CA. You might want to post this in the California Gardening forum for some direct and location specific responses.

In the past, clover was purposefully incorporated into grass seed as they are beneficial to each other. I am going to add clover to my areas next spring.

With the wildfires getting worse each year, and places where you never had to worry about them being affected, I would suggest groundcovers that have a lot of natural water in them, like ice plant.

There's a lot of microclimates in the SFBA, and the CA Gardening forum is pretty heavily weighted towards SoCA. But specific questions for NorCA plants usually get a fair # of answers - but again, you need to be more specific about where you are.

In SF, for example, the soil is sandy and water runs right through it. In the EBay where I live, the soil is adobe clay. Half of the EBay is still in the fog belt, while anything east of the hills resembles SoCA in climate.

If you are anywhere near state/county parks or swaths of grasslands, be very very careful about what you plant, if there is any chance of invasiveness. "Iceplant", generally meaning Carpobrotus edulis, is listed as invasive, while Delosperma cooperi, which looks very similar, is not.

I was just reading the threads on kurapia (Lippia nodiflora) and it looked like this plant needs summer watering. It is not a true drought resistant plant. If you are only planting a very small lawn, once-a-week watering sounds fine. But if you've got a third of an acre, that's quite different, LOL.

Personally, we got rid of the lawn decades ago. No kids and no reason to keep it. I wanted a localized version of a cottage garden, adapted into multiple beds separated by the usual concrete walkways, driveway, patio, etc. Totals about 2300 sq. ft. garden. Not only do we have flowers year round, I only water with soaker hoses every 4-6 weeks, depending on how much fog we get. I cannot conceive of watering every week - the potential EBMUD bill staggers my imagination ;))

I have been searching for the ideal groundcover for years. The two best drought-resistant ones I found for my area are aptenia and groundcover lantana (there's a shrub version of lantana; you don't want that). Both are full sun, however.

Both have their negatives. Aptenia IS invasive, so I plant it only where it is confined by concrete. It does appreciate a little bit of summer water, especially during those extended heat spells that seem to be happening more often these days.

Lantana once established will survive without any summer water at all. Zip, none, nada. However, it mounds upwards (similar to ivy) as well as outwards, so it rewards being cut back/whacked down periodically, which can make it go through an unattractive stage, depending how drastic you had to be.

The white lantana is extraordinarily vigorous. I once let one plant trail down a concrete wall and across our driveway just to see if it would stop growing at some point. I finally chopped it back after it reached 17 feet without any indication it was slowing down! Width was fairly even at about 2' across all the length.

Lantana is supposedly also deer resistant; it has a rather unusual smell when crushed. Aptenia is greatly appreciated by our local bees, who love the flowers.

Anyway, hope my experience helps the OP a bit. Go to a good nursery and see if you can talk to someone, too - I've always found it a good way to get solid advice. Golden Nursery/San Mateo and East Bay Nursery/Berkeley are the best sources for both advice and plants, IMHO.

Cocoa hull mulch is the premium mulch - breaks down (relatively) quickly compared to bark, and really enriches the soil. Thus it is also the most expensive, as well. The chocolate smell is nice but fades rapidly. Remember not to let any mulch pile up around shrub/tree trunks. Cocoa hull mulch, if watered by sprinkler, will develop an unattractive but apparently harmless greyish-white fungus on the surface.

If you have full sun for more than 5 hours per day, you can use bermuda hybrids or UC Verde Buffalo grass for a conventional type lawn. For a slightly unconventional lawn you might try a wheatgrass type which is native to your area, perhaps mixed with blue grama. These are prairie grasses which need very, very little water and can be mowed once a month starting in the summer. You'll have to check with your local county extension service to find a good wheatgrass.

I have really bad dirt/soil since my lot used to be a parking lot. A year ago, it was seeded with a contractor grass mix. At the barest ray of sunshine as spring started springing, I have almost a whole lawn of lush green clover. It's grown even in the runoff areas that have salt and dirty snow from the road. It's grown even in the subdivision ditch that runs into my lot, where I've never seen anything grow before.

I've never watered it. And we're in drought conditions.

It is so lush, I'm having to mow 2x a week. But wow! It looks fantastic. I don't think it will be attractive to bees provided I mow off the flowers.

Did you manage to finish your landscaping project?

In Northern California's dry climate, it's essential to choose water-saving options. You might want to check out Buffalo grass and California Native Bentgrass. These varieties require less water and grow at a slower pace, reducing the need for frequent mowing.

As for ground cover, consider options like creeping thyme or clover, both of which are drought-tolerant and low-maintenance.

For more detailed recommendations and local insights, you should definitely check these guys out. They can provide valuable information on the best choices for your specific area.