How a California homeowner ditched his lawn for a drought-resistant native garden
Christopher Smee replaced his water-hungry lawn in Glendale with native California plants like sage and poppies, re-creating the landscape that existed before the neighborhood's 1920s development.
The $20,000 transformation cut his water usage so dramatically that he now waters just once monthly in the summer.
The experience inspired Smee to volunteer at a local preserve, helping plant hundreds of native species across the Verdugo Mountains area.
When Christopher Smee welcomes visitors to his Glendale garden, he enjoys giving what his friends jokingly call "the botanical tour."
"Would you like to walk through the native chaparral?" he asks, pointing out the California native plants in his front yard: a multi-trunk toyon, bright orange California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), lantern-shaped Bladderpod (Cleomella arborea) with yellow flowers that bloom most of the year, purple Arroyo lupines (Lupinus succulentus), fragrant Allen Chickering Sage (Salvia 'Allen Chickering'), and tall, silvery white sage (Salvia apiana) at the center.
"I love the majesty and structure of the white sage," he says, pointing out the dried branches he leaves for the birds. "I love the color, and when I learned about its importance to the Indigenous community, I felt it should be at the center of the garden."
Like many newcomers to Los Angeles, Smee, a 45-year-old former flight attendant, was fascinated by the city's landscape and its famous palm trees when he first moved from England.
As he spent more time hiking outdoors in Los Angeles, on the Mount Thom trail in the Verdugo Mountains and the Pacific Crest Trail in the San Bernardino Mountains, Smee started to appreciate the native plants that thrive in Southern California's dry climate.
So when Smee and his husband, Ryan Tish, bought a 1925 French-style home in the Rossmoyne Historic District, he knew he wanted to redesign the traditional front yard.
"There was a privet hedge, a lonely juniper, a hibiscus, a large bird of paradise and a camellia bush," he says. "The lawn was mostly dirt. In fact, it had been colored green with CGI in the online real estate listing."
Even though Smee had never gardened before, he decided to remove the tropical plants and Bermuda grass lawn in 2021 and plant a native garden to honor the California plants that grew there before the homes were built.
"I asked myself the question, 'What was meant to be here?'" he says, standing in his yard as birds, bees and butterflies floated through the landscape. "That was the key question. All these plants I see in gardens - are they original? My husband grew up in L.A., and he couldn't answer the question himself. I learned that generally they are not. I wanted to make things right, so I went on a journey to find what was here originally."
He began by visiting the Theodore Payne Foundation's demonstration garden in Sun Valley, where people can see native plants growing in their natural habitat. He also visited local nurseries such as Plant Material, Artemisisa Nursery and Hahamongna Native Plant Nursery, which offer native species.
Wanting a garden that was easy to use and colorful year-round, Smee contacted landscape designer Guillaume Lemoine of Picture This Land to help design a formal French garden using California native plants.
"I always had a vision of walking down the porch steps, turning straight into the garden, and being able to walk to the wine terrace," Smee says. "You want to get some usage and joy out of your garden. Not just something to look at when you drive by."
Like many design projects, the plan changed over time. "The French garden didn't happen," Smee says. "But one day I will do it." Still, the cottage-style garden has a French-inspired look composed of four quadrants with a water fountain in the center.
Smee replaced his water-hungry lawn with native California plants like sage and poppies, re-creating the landscape that existed before the neighborhood's 1920s development.
The $20,000 transformation cut his water usage so dramatically that he now waters just once monthly in the summer.
The experience inspired Smee to volunteer at a local preserve, helping plant hundreds of native species across the Verdugo Mountains area.
