A low-water backyard in the East Bay, one season at a time
In spring 2023 we took out about 600 square feet of lawn behind the house and replaced it with plants that can live on very little summer water. This log is where I write down what I planted, how much I watered and what happened next, mostly so I stop repeating the same mistakes.
October 11, 2026
We got 0.4 inches overnight, the first real rain since May. I held off on planting the new sages until the soil was wet below the top couple of inches. Planting into dry clay and then soaking it has never worked well for me; the water runs off the surface and the root ball stays dry.
September 27, 2026
The California buckwheat finished flowering in August and the seed heads have gone rust brown. I left half of them for the finches and trimmed the rest by about a third. Last year I cut one plant hard into old wood and it never fully recovered, so this time I stayed above the green growth.
September 9, 2026
Three days over 100°F. Two emitters on the back line were clogged and the manzanita next to them showed it first, with dull leaves curling at the tips. Cleared them with a pin and ran the line for an extra twenty minutes. The plant looked normal again within a week.