No-mow grass lawns are attractive, natural, low-input alternatives to the traditional short green turf grass in the home garden. To maintain the beautiful meadow effect, keep foot traffic to a minimum. Plant shrubs, perennials, bulbs, ground cover and other low maintenance plants in borders, so that frequent walks through your no-mow lawn to attend to borders aren't necessary.
Shrubs, especially ones native to your area, require very little maintenance. Purple sage (Salvia leucophyll), named after its pale purple spring flowers, is attractive to bees, hummingbirds and butterflies. It grows quickly, reaching 3 to 6 feet tall. Evergreen silver bush lupine (Lupinus albifron) grows up to 5 feet tall, bears fragrant blue-violet blooms from spring to mid-summer, and is attractive to butterflies and bees. Both of these shrubs thrive in full sun, need little water and are suitable for a Mediterranean climate.
Common woolly sunﬂower (Eriophyllum lanatum var. achillaeoides) grows up to 3 feet tall and wide. It displays silvery-gray leaves and golden yellow flowers. Naked eriogonum (Eriogonum nudum) offers an airy effect, growing up to 3 feet high with gray-green leaves and white, yellow and pink summer flowers. Both perennials last for several years with little attention, growing best in full sun in a Mediterranean climate.
Harlequin Flower (Spraxaxis) originates from South Africa and is well suited to a Mediterranean climate, offering brilliantly colored flowers in pink, red, ivory and orange. Bugle Lily (Watsonia borbonica) is another Mediterranean climate plant that bears beautiful spikes of white flowers. Both of these plants bloom in spring, then die down over summer, when you can safely leave them unwatered. Planting them in clumps creates an effective display; left undisturbed throughout the year, the clumps will naturally increase in size.
Groundcover plants reduce border maintenance by suppressing weeds. Evergreen Carmel creeper "Yankee Point" (Ceanothus griseus var. horizontalis) has medium-blue flower clusters that attract butterflies, hummingbirds and bees. With glossy dark green leaves, it grows quickly to about 3 feet high and 10 feet wide. Creeping blue blossom (Ceanothus thyrsiﬂorus var. repens) grows only 8 inches tall, but 12 feet wide. Its white spring flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Both of these groundcover plants grow best in well-drained soil are suitable for a Mediterranean climate.
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