Planting a Meadow
There's been lots of activity this summer in the City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden. A highlight of the summer was Kate Riley's excellent hands-on lawn replacement workshop on July 30th, which drew a crowd of over 24 people. 
Kate explained in detail how to remove an existing lawn and replace it with a beautiful, drought-tolerant meadow of California native plants. Although installation of a native meadow takes some initial work, it has many advantages. It saves water, eliminates the need for heavy applications of fertilizer and herbicides, and is low maintenance. In fact, a native meadow often only needs to be mowed once a year. 
Many of the plants used in native meadows can easily be started from seed. Kate brought native grass seeds for the workshop participants to take home so they could get started right away on their own meadows.
After the talk, Kate led workshop participants to the garden's existing lawn alternative/ground cover area, to see California native yarrow (Achillea millefolium) mixed with other ground covers. 
The group then headed to the garden's entrance, where Kate had a variety of native grasses ready to be planted. 
Workshop participants dug holes, lined them with chicken wire to discourage gophers, and planted a variety of native grasses, including California Field Sedge (Carex praegracilis), Giant Wild Rye (Leymus Condensatus ''Canyon Prince'), San Diego Sedge (Carex spissa) 
and the lovely purple needle grass (Nassella pulcra) which is our California state grass. Participants also got some hands-on experience setting up and connecting drip irrigation lines. 
The following Saturday, garden volunteers returned to finish the job by planting deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens), adding rocks, and then mulching the area. 
Work on the garden's new meadow demonstration will continue in the fall. Photos by Les Dublin.