WaterSmart makeover winner Keith Umbreit of Oceanside replaced his lawn with a very low-water-use landscape brimming with different shapes, colors, sizes and textures.
WaterSmart Landscape Contest winner Jeanne Reutlinger of Escondido combined garden savvy, patience and help from family and friends to turn a neglected yard into a budget-friendly habitat for birds and butterflies.
Aided by free classes from the county water authority and a sizeable turf rebate, Chula Vista contest winners remove thirsty lawns, add drought-tolerant beauty to landscaping
El Cajon resident wins Otay Water District landscape contest sandiegouniontribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sandiegouniontribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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There’s nothing like launching a gardening passion by tearing out a hilly front lawn by hand with a saw and crowbar, designing a low-water garden, and then getting it installed. But that’s just what Vista homeowner and novice gardener Robin Ziegler did, starting in 2018 and going through 2019. And all that hard work yielded not just a colorful refuge for birds, butterflies and bees, but also the Vista Irrigation District’s win in the 2020 WaterSmart Landscape Contest.
Digging deep
(Robin Ziegler)
Ziegler and her husband, Michael Goryan, bought their 30-year-old house in 2017 and, while they wanted a drought-tolerant garden, they focused first on renovating the interior. In the meantime, they turned off the irrigation to kill the 150 square feet of front lawn, studded with surprise ankle-breaking dips and holes. But, Ziegler recalled, in spring 2018, there was still growth only what came up were weeds that grew 8 feet tall. At that point, determined to turn the space