Looks great and glad it is native! Wish it were native here in northern Virginia

Thanks for bringing this alternative to the Lawn Care forum. It's always good to see a low water use material being used. However, watering every day is what you should be getting away from. Have you tried watering 'deeply and infrequently?' Deep means 1 inch all at one time. I have not idea how you measure that with drip, which is one reason I've avoided drip. Infrequently means no more than once a week when temps are in the 90s. With temps of 115 you might water every 3-4 days if you really have to. We've broken a heat record nearly every day since May here in the San Antonio area, and I'm doing fine watering once a week. Recently we've been running 105 to 110, and it is no trouble to stay within the once a week water restrictions. So if lupia is truly a water saver, I would think it could go a week or two without showing any signs of stress following one deep watering.

Here is my lawn after 5 days of no water. I took the pic yesterday, so tomorrow is our day to water.

There are two plants in the center which divide the grass into fertilized and not fertilized. The reason I did not fertilize is we had plans to kill this front area out like we did in the back, but we changed our minds. So this front area did not get the corn gluten meal fertilizer, and it shows additional heat stress. The fertilized area looks like it's been watered every day, but it hasn't. It's growing strong. Oh, I should add that this area in the front did not get watered last week, because the wind was blowing the water away. Still the grass is at least alive and not looking horrible. We have some shade in the back and have not watered there for 3 weeks. So I'm just saying that lupia probably could go much, much longer without any water if you would water it deeply.

Also I like to keep up with SoCal weather. When I grew up in Riverside in the 50s through 60s, summer temps were routinely in the low 100s. But in the late 70s, the smog was so dense that temps rarely got to 100. Where are you in the IE? (Obviously you're not at Lake Arrowhead).

Hi! Where did you find flats available for purchase in Southern California? I‘m in LA and am having trouble finding flats at a decent price. Thanks!

Wow great work you definitely made the right call for the IE area! I definitely see Phyla nodiflora struggle to out compete nut sedge and bermuda grass runners though I've been told reducing the watering cycles to 2 days in a row once every 2 weeks deters some of that. Have you found Lippia to be better with out-competing weeds?

Just to offer some more takes on the two very closely related species. Because Lippia is a true native strain with greater genetic diversity it has some greater hardiness potential and can work wonders in harsher settings like hot inland climates. The sterilized Phyla nodiflora (close cousin of the former) has been bred to be a tad fluffier and more verdant and has a lot of curb appeal out the gate. Both are awesome options and I and my colleagues in the California native sod industry are working to get some of our state's mrore significant growers to start trialing Lippia in sod form or at least providing more accessible installation options as plugs can be excess labor for some. That being said with both of these plants I highly recommend taking a few cuttings from anywhere you can find 'em and trying to root them in any fast draining soils, particularly in the warm season. These plants will struggle in compacted clay.

Sharing a link to an article I wrote: Lippia vs. Phyla Nodiflora - what's the difference

Hi, any update on where to find the native Phyla flats? also in LA area here.