GARDENING WITH NATURE

Article by Sigrie Kendrick

Rethinking Lawns in the Okanagan

I have had the pleasure of visiting a great many beautiful gardens recently, and l have been overjoyed to notice the trend of fewer turfgrass lawns and growing interest in Okanagan lawn alternatives.

The Problem with Traditional Lawns
Traditional turfgrass lawns have long been a symbol of suburban living throughout the Okanagan Valley, but they come with a hefty environmental price tag in this semi-arid region.

A typical lawn requires approximately 2.5 to 5 centimetres of water per week during the growing season just to maintain that pristine green carpet in a region that receives only 30-38 centimetres of annual precipitation.

Beyond the immediate water consumption, turfgrass lawns demand significant resources throughout the Okanagan’s growing season.

• They require frequent watering, fertilization, pesticide applications, and regular mowing, all of which contribute to environmental stress and increased household expenses.
• In the Okanagan’s dry climate, maintaining traditional lawns can account for 60 percent of residential water usage during peak summer months, placing enormous strain on local water systems during the region’s driest period.
• The environmental impact extends beyond water consumption. Turfgrass often requires synthetic fertilizers and pesticides that can leach into groundwater systems and contribute to nutrient pollution in nearby waterways
• Additionally, frequent mowing is a source of carbon emissions and contributes to noise pollution in residential neighbourhoods.

The Case for Change

Embracing Okanagan lawn alternatives can lead to more resilient and visually appealing landscapes. Reducing turfgrass areas can dramatically decrease your water usage while creating more sustainable and diverse landscapes perfectly suited to the Okanagan’s climate.

Native plant alternatives such as sagebrush, penstemon, and native bunch grasses require significantly less water than traditional turfgrass, once established, as they are naturally adapted to the region’s hot, dry summers and cold winters.

This reduction can save thousands of litres of water annually for the average Okanagan household.

Ground covers like kinnikinnick, native sedums, or Achillea millefolium (Yarrow) can provide visual appeal while requiring minimal irrigation after establishment.

These alternatives also offer additional benefits such as supporting local pollinators, reducing soil erosion on the region’s slopes, and requiring less maintenance overall.

Where to Begin

To reduce your environmental footprint, identify high-maintenance areas of your lawn that receive the most water or are difficult to maintain. Remove grass in these zones first, replacing them with drought-tolerant alternatives.

Common target areas include:

• steep slopes
• areas under trees
• narrow strips along pathways

Rather than removing all turf at once, consider a phased approach. Start by reducing lawn size by 20 per cent in the first year, allowing you to tabulate water savings and adjust your landscape design before continuing.

You can replace removed turf with native wildflower meadows, rock gardens, vegetable plots, or water-permeable hardscaping. Each option offers different water-saving benefits and maintenance requirements.

Prioritize the Toughest Zones

When planning turf reduction in your garden, focus on areas that provide the greatest water-saving potential.

South-facing slopes, areas far from water sources, and sections that receive full sun typically consume the most irrigation water and are most challenging in our region’s intense summer heat. These zones offer the best opportunities for conservation through alternative landscaping.

Worth the Investment
The initial investment in turf reduction typically pays for itself within two or three years through reduced water bills, decreased fertilizer and pesticide costs, and lower maintenance requirements.

Native plants and non-native xeric alternatives will require less frequent watering, no fertilization, and minimal pest management once established. Many homeowners find that reduced turf areas become more interesting and biodiverse than traditional lawns, attracting beneficial insects, birds, and other wildlife. This ecological enhancement adds value to your property while contributing to local environmental health

Take the First Step

Begin by assessing your current lawn’s water usage and identifying areas that could benefit from alternative landscaping better suited to the Okanagan’s climate.

Contact your local water utility,  as many municipalities offer rebates or incentives for xeriscaping, turf reduction and Okanagan lawn alternative projects. The Regional District of Central Okanagan, City of Kelowna, and other local governments often provide resources and financial support for water-wise landscaping initiatives.

A Landscape That Gives Back

Reducing turf grass areas represents a practical and effective way to conserve water while creating more sustainable, diverse, and interesting landscapes that benefit both homeowners and the broader environment.

Be sure to check out the Lawn Alternatives Garden in the UnH2O Demonstration Garden on Gordon Drive in Kelowna

Sigrie Kendrick is a master gardener and executive-director of the non-profit Okanagan Xeriscape Association.

GARDENING WITH NATURE

Article by Sigrie Kendrick

Glorious Ground covers

Nature abhors a vacuum

It has been said that Nature abhors a vacuum and I have often reflected on this old adage when
planning and planting gardens.

If you have a plant there, chances are, you won’t have a weed. This is especially true when considering ground covers, which act as an organic living mulch and don’t need to be constantly topped up as you would with a composted mulch such as Glengrow or Nature’s Gold. These living mulches mimic what happens naturally on the forest floor and include all the benefits we associate with mulch, in that they act as a weed suppressant, they moderate soil temperature, and they conserve soil moisture.

Whether you have a baking hot, sunny location, a spot with deep shade, or anything in between,  there is a ground cover to meet your needs.

Ground covers by location 

For instance, the Moroccan Pincushion Flower, or Pterocephalus depressus, is a fantastic choice for those hot, sunny areas in your garden. This distinctive ground cover features greyish-green crinkled leaves which are tolerant of light foot traffic such as when used in-between flagstones.

Many low-growing thymes also suit such spaces where there is some foot traffic. Pterocephalus depressus is hardy in zones 4-8 where it will form an evergreen mat a few inches high with a spread of 18 inches. This ground cover flowers in late spring to summer with silvery-pink blooms similar to Scabiosa which then transition into attractive silver seed heads. The blooms of Pterocephalus depressus are a magnet for a large variety of butterflies.

One of my favourite ground covers for a sunny to part-shade location is Persicaria affinis ‘Dimity’. Also known as Himalayan Knotweed or Fleece Flower, this ground cover is as the common name suggests, native to the Himalayas, where it is found at altitudes up to 15,000 feet.

In our hot Okanagan summers, this Persicaria benefits from some afternoon shade where it will put on a display of rose-red blooms, aging to pale pink, from July to October. Ultimately the flowers turn brown and remain on the plant, offering winter interest as well. Persicaria affinis reaches a height of 6-8 inches and a width of two feet. The leaves of this perennial turn brilliant bronzy-red as the temperature falls in the autumn, further adding to its value.

Lamium maculatum, known commonly as Spotted Dead Nettle, is an extremely versatile and easy-to-grow ground cover for a partial or full-shade location. This herbaceous perennial is hardy in growing zones 4–8 so completely appropriate for gardens in the Okanagan, where it will brighten a shady area with its heart-shaped variegated leaves, even when not in bloom.

The cultivar ‘White Nancy’ features silvery green leaves with a thin dark green margin and small white, hooded flowers. Lamium maculatum is extremely long blooming, beginning in late spring and continuing for months with some re-bloom in the fall. This ground cover is virtually disease and pest-free and is not favoured by deer.

It is extremely easy to propagate Lamium maculatum by stem layering. Simply push a stem which is still attached to the mother plant, into the ground and cover it with soil, leaving only the tip visible. This tip will soon form a new plant.

A great candidate for adding colour to the late summer and fall garden is Creeping Hummingbird Trumpet ‘Orange Carpet’ or Zauschneria californica, which hummers love, and which spreads with underground stems. It does well in dry, sandy to rocky, well-drained soils on slopes.

Lastly, there are a wide variety of sedums (commonly called stonecrops) which provide both colourful leaves and flowers, thrive in hot and dry locations, attract pollinators, and have great resistance to heat and drought. In fact, stonecrops can be found growing wild on some of our rocky, dry slopes around the Okanagan Valley, proof of their fantastic toughness.

Try a mass planting of several, including some of these low-growing varieties: Sedum repestre ‘Angelina’, Bertram Anderson Stonecrop, Dragon’s Blood Stonecrop, Fuldaglut Sedum, Mossy Stonecrop, Rose Carpet Stonecrop, Russian Stonecrop or Spreading Stonecrop.

Check our Plant Database for more ground covers as well as more information on those mentioned above.

Sigrie Kendrick is a master gardener and executive-director of the non-profit Okanagan Xeriscape Association.