front lawn, drought, weeds, landscape options?

Question

So with the drought here, what's left of the grass is barely alive, I water a little bit, however I have monster weeds that is hard to remove, and shoots up about 2 feet tall in no time and needs to be mowed down.

I am in the process of remodeling, so I don't have time to up keep the front, it looks really bad.

I maybe starting to use roundup on the weeds, but thinking what is a good landscape option for future tenants.

I have read about putting cardboard and mulch over.  But then weeds will just grow too in a year or two.

I have checked out the artificial lawns, I didn't know they are so expensive, and requires extensive prep work

Account Closed · Answer

Jeremy, I asked a similar question on the forums some time ago.  Here is a link to the discussion:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/67/topics/213266-in-a-drought--to-sod-or-not-to-sod

Vincent

Tanya F. · Answer

Good information in the discussion Vincent mentions. There are numerous drought tolerant grasses.  No reputable landscaper or lawn service in CA should be selling or maintaining any other type of grass in CA.

Use xeriscape and plants native to your area.

Kelly N. · Answer

Hi Jeremy,

If you are putting in mulch, put down landscape fabric instead of cardboard- it will last a lot longer!  Try a local landscape supply house (maybe John Deere Landscapes has a place near you?).  It comes in 4 foot wide rolls and is a grey sort of felt like material.

Good luck,

Kelly

JD Martin · Answer

Does your local municipality offer rebates or incentives for taking out lawn and putting in Xeriscaping? That would be something that I would explore. If you don't have time to keep up the landscaping while you remodel, you should consider paying a lawn service to do so. It doesn't make sense to allow the landscaping to be destroyed to the point where you have to spend good money to rehabilitate it if you can spend a little now to keep it going.