DESERT AT YOUR DOOR DROUGHT SEASON INSPIRES WATER-EFFICIENT NATURALISTIC GARDENS.

Byline: Barbara De Witt Staff Writer

Here's news any homeowner with a lush green lawn hates to read:

``Barring a big storm, we'll keep the record of being the driest year on record,'' according to AccuWeather forecaster Steven Smith.

Longtime Los Angeles residents know what those words mean: Either pay big water bills (and possibly penalties) or start spray-painting your grass green.

``Lawns use more water than any other plant in a garden, and without them, I've heard you can cut your water bill in half,'' said Kathleen Brenzel, editor of the most recent edition of the ``Sunset Western Garden Book'' (Sunset publishing; $32.95).

A yard without a lawn? That's exactly what Gene and Barbara Oster of Chatsworth created last year when they ripped out the lawn in their back yard and replaced it with a desert landscape.

``You don't need automatic sprinklers, you don't have to worry about snails, and you don't have to mow the lawn,'' says Gene, who is president of the Los Angeles Cactus and Succulent Society.

As the Osters stroll through their 10-month-old garden, they point out various plants, explaining that a desert garden doesn't have to be cactus and sage. There are South African trees that provide graceful shade; a variety of variegated succulents (water-storing plants) in shades of green and white, which Gene is particularly fond of; and a lush-looking succulent ground cover called sedum, noted for the bright red edge on its chubby green branches. Other succulents include colorful rosette-shaped aeoniums and the long-leafed aloe, a favorite folk medicine plant that boasts huge spikes of flowers in the winter.

``I've really become fond of succulents,'' says Barbara as she plucks a piece of the sedum for closer inspection. ``Not only do you have unusual shapes that are fun to look at all the time, unlike a pansy that blooms and dies, but then they bloom on top of that as a bonus.''

Although the National Weather Service reports 1960-61 as the driest year on record (4.85 inches of rain fell on the Southland), many residents remember water company restrictions and penalties during the droughts of 1989-90 and 1994-95.

Ralph Crane of Northridge said that, after the last drought, he realized he was using about six feet of water a year. As a result, he took action.

``The result was a 'Mediterranean' garden, which has a better ring to it than a 'drought-tolerant' garden. Instead of a lot of rock, our garden features plants that are conducive to our climate ... and uses a fraction of the water,'' says Crane, who teaches gardening at California State University, Northridge, and the Arboretum of Los Angeles County in Arcadia.

Among his favorites are a ground cover called myoporum parvifolia, also known as a burgundy carpet, and arbutus ``marina'' trees and several California native flowers.

The type of landscape Crane is referring to is also called ``naturalistic,'' according to Westside landscape designer Susanne Jett, whose work is featured in a new natural gardening section in the latest edition of ``Sunset Western Garden Book.''

This broadly defined drought-resistant gardening philosophy, which utilizes California natives, Southwestern succulents and also many plants from the Mediterranean, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, has increased in popularity by 40 percent since 1990, according to Jett.

The change in residential architecture has also been a factor, says Jett, who notes that many of the new housing tracts in Thousand Oaks and Santa Clarita have a Mediterranean design which blends well with the local landscape, which is primarily chaparral.

Getting started

Ready to reduce your water bill and get back to a more natural setting but not sure what to plant? Here's some tips from our gardening experts:

DESERT LANDSCAPE: A desert landscape is the most drought-resistant as it's mostly sand or gravel with a few succulents such as yucca and cactus. The best designs have a variety of heights and shapes, such as barrel and fuzzy bear types. While designing, consider which plants grow fast or slow. The classic saguaro cactus will take about 10 years to grow tall enough to have those familiar ``arms,'' while desert agaves and San Pedro cactus will grow as much as 6 feet tall in three years.

In addition to rocks, consider a ground cover such as sedum or crassula, flowering ice plant, daisylike gazanias or creeping juniper. Although most desert and/or rock gardens aren't known for trees, Oster says the California oak, Chilean mesquite, desert ironwood and Mexican palo verde will complement the landscape while providing some shade.

CHAPARRAL LANDSCAPE: If gravel is just too stark for your tastes, try looking to the desert's foothills, where you'll find oak trees and a wild tangle of intertwining shrubs, particularly salvia (otherwise known as sagebrush or sagescrub), sugarbush and creosote. You'll also find a variety of succulents (cactuses, yucca, desert candles and agave) and taller evergreens such as laurel-leaf sumac and lemonadeberry, as well as toyon (also known as hollywood) which produces red berries, ceanothus (California lilacs), sunflowers and poppies. It's a rugged look that will require a little more maintenance and water than a rock garden.

MEDITERRANEAN LANDSCAPE: Think of the landscape of Italy, the south of France and Greece, where you'll find tall cypress, olive trees (nonflowering is less messy), orange, acacia and crape myrtle trees, says Jett. Perhaps the most formal of the low-water-use landscapes, Mediterranean gardens can even have a wisteria-covered arbor with a carpet of California lilacs, geraniums, westringia (Australian rosemary) and lavender.

Even a rose garden is possible, if you water with soaker hoses and minimize evaporation with a couple of inches of mulch, says Brenzel. Or better yet, try a rose developed for arid climates, such as the climbing variety called Cecile Brunner.

Instead of a gravel pathway, Jett suggests using dymondia, a very tight lawn alternative that will stand up to foot traffic.

Succulent locations

For more ideas or advice, contact or visit:

--Los Angeles Cactus and Succulent Society: Meets on the fourth Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Encino Community Center, 4935 Balboa Blvd., Encino. Its fourth annual Show and Sale will be held June 15-16 at the Sepulveda Garden Center, 16633 Magnolia Blvd., Encino. Admission is free. For more information, call [phone] or [phone] or check the Web site at www.lacss.com.

--Descanso Gardens, 1417 Descanso Drive, La Canada Flintridge. [phone]. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; closed Christmas day. Admission is $5 for adults; $3 for senior citizens and students; $1 for children 5 to 12; free to children under 5.

--Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. [phone]. Open noon to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekends; closed major holidays. Admission is $10 for adults; $8.50 for senior citizens; $7 for students; free to children under 12. General admission is free on the first Thursday of each month.

--Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara. [phone]. Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends. Admission is $5 for adults; $3 for senior citizens and teens; $1 for children 5 to 12; free to children under 5.

--Theodore Payne Foundation, 10459 Tuxford St., Sun Valley. [phone] or theodorepayne.org. Hours: 8:30 to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday; 11 a.m to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.

Keep it growing

Whether you choose a rock garden, a shrub-covered chaparral landscape or a more romantic Mediterranean design, you'll need to learn to turn the sprinklers off as most such plants will survive with a monthly watering.

``Overwatering is the kiss of death in a drought-resistant landscape and you'll know you've over-watered when the plant turns to mush,'' says Oster.

The other most-frequent cause of death is dehydration, which means the plant doesn't get any water for more than six months and the tiny feeder roots die, causing the plant to wrinkle and keel over like those you might have seen on a desert highway.

To get the proper balance, Oster uses a water meter, but says you also can dig a few inches into the soil to check it. If soil clings to your fingers, then it doesn't need water.

Also use caution with your plant selection, warns Oster, as children and pets can be hurt by prickly thorns. And other plants, such as euphorbia succulents and African sumac, are so toxic that their milky sap can blister your skin.

CAPTION(S):

8 photos, 3 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) it's only natural

Drought-resistant gardens can be as eye-catching as water-guzzling lawns

(2 -- color) Gravel, succulents and South African trees provide an almost water-free garden for Laura and Gene Oster.

(3 -- color) Deset Landscape

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

(4 -- color) After the last local drought Ralph Crane ripped out not only the lawn and ivy at his Northridge home but also the sprinklers.

(5 -- color) no caption (flowers)

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

(6 -- color) Chaparral Landscape

(7 -- color) Mediterranean Landscape

(8 -- color) Mary Ann Hausner, left, relaxes with landscape designer Susanne Jett in her naturalistic-style back yard.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) GETTING STARTED (see text)

(2) Succulent locations (see text)

(3) Keep it growing (see text)