Fight Climate Change with Your Yard: Sustainable Landscaping

A home from yard using sustainable landscaping

50% of your water goes on your lawn

 

 

Lawns use as much water as an entire family uses indoors. 
With a climate smart yard, you can:

  • Save water and money on your water bills.
  • Save time with less yard maintenance.
  • Pull carbon climate pollution from the air and store it in the soil.
  • Cut methane climate pollution by composting food and yard waste.
  • Help butterflies, bees, birds, and other pollinators thrive. 

3 Steps to a Climate Smart Garden

Step 1: Free, easy steps to transform a lawn into a mulch planting bed.

Step 2: Install drip irrigation to save 50% to 90% of your water.

Step 3: Use the Garden Planner and plant your dream garden.

Front yard of a white house with sustainable landscaping.

Inspiring water smart gardens.

Video Playlist

California Native Plant Society garden tools:

Find low water plants.

Purple Coneflower

Favorite Water Smart Flowers

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Leave the leaves for garden mulch to:

  • Fertilize the yard.
  • Provide habitat for pollinators.

 

Why to leaf mulch – Washington Post

Climate Super Powers of Trees

    Tree canopies
     cool streets 10°f.

Shade homes.    

Filter pollutants,
improving health.

Pull climate pollution  
from the air.    

    Reflect sunlight
    back out of the atmosphere.

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Grasscycling leaves mowed clippings on your lawn to fertilize and hold in water.

  • Provides nutrients without chemicals.
  • Cuts waste.

 

Grasscycling – CleanLA 

Garden Gallery

Yellow House Climate Smart Bunch Grass
Front yard of water smart garden with stone pathway

Xeriscape Garden

Xeriscape yard: Low water, slow-growing plants and only weed and trim 3 times a year.

Green Climate Smart Garden Yard

Native Plant Garden

You can choose native plants adapted to local rain levels and supporting birds, bees, and butterflies.

Low water garden in Ventura.

Low Water Garden

A habitat garden supports local birds, lizards, butterflies, bees, other insects, and more.

Green Climate Smart Garden Yard

Compost helps plants store more carbon climate pollution in the soil!