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socalyarddiydude

Forget Kurapia - I converted my lawn with Lippia (Phyla Nodiflora)

b
last year
last modified: last year

Hi! I have been lurking on this forum and reading about ground cover alternatives to grass. I am on Southern California - Zone 9 B.

I finally ripped out my grass lawn and replaced it with drip irrigation, then planted Lippia aka phyla nodiflora throughout. It is a California native plant [CalScape Article on Lippia], and is much cheaper than Kurapia. I was paying <$20 a flat for it.

So far, the Lippia has done great, especially in the parts of the yard that I planted with lots of sun and in the heat of the summer (August, with temp up to 115F). It has required minimal drip irrigation (sometimes none at all during cooler weather) once it was established, has spread easily, and attracted lots of pollinators.

I made a video showing the lawn, since it seems rather rare to see Lippia lawns here:

Best GRASS LAWN Alternative - Lippia (Phyla Nodiflora)- Drought Tolerant, California Native, & Cheap

Hopefully this helps others. I'm happy to answer questions about the lawn too!

Comments (4)

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    last year

    Looks great and glad it is native! Wish it were native here in northern Virginia

  • dchall_san_antonio
    last year

    Thanks for bringing this alternative to the Lawn Care forum. It's always good to see a low water use material being used. However, watering every day is what you should be getting away from. Have you tried watering 'deeply and infrequently?' Deep means 1 inch all at one time. I have not idea how you measure that with drip, which is one reason I've avoided drip. Infrequently means no more than once a week when temps are in the 90s. With temps of 115 you might water every 3-4 days if you really have to. We've broken a heat record nearly every day since May here in the San Antonio area, and I'm doing fine watering once a week. Recently we've been running 105 to 110, and it is no trouble to stay within the once a week water restrictions. So if lupia is truly a water saver, I would think it could go a week or two without showing any signs of stress following one deep watering.

    Here is my lawn after 5 days of no water. I took the pic yesterday, so tomorrow is our day to water.


    There are two plants in the center which divide the grass into fertilized and not fertilized. The reason I did not fertilize is we had plans to kill this front area out like we did in the back, but we changed our minds. So this front area did not get the corn gluten meal fertilizer, and it shows additional heat stress. The fertilized area looks like it's been watered every day, but it hasn't. It's growing strong. Oh, I should add that this area in the front did not get watered last week, because the wind was blowing the water away. Still the grass is at least alive and not looking horrible. We have some shade in the back and have not watered there for 3 weeks. So I'm just saying that lupia probably could go much, much longer without any water if you would water it deeply.

    Also I like to keep up with SoCal weather. When I grew up in Riverside in the 50s through 60s, summer temps were routinely in the low 100s. But in the late 70s, the smog was so dense that temps rarely got to 100. Where are you in the IE? (Obviously you're not at Lake Arrowhead).

  • divyanshu abhichandani
    9 months ago

    Thanks for sharing. Where did you buy it from? I was looking to get Kurapia but it is costing around $600 for a 260SqFt are so we are thinking of cheaper alternatives like Lippia.

  • HU-105635199
    5 months ago

    Hi! Where did you find flats available for purchase in Southern California? I‘m in LA and am having trouble finding flats at a decent price. Thanks!