When Catalina Schultz and her husband, Steve, bought their National City home in 2011, the front yard was basically just lawn. And Catalina, a self-described housewife, had no interest in mowing it.
She didn’t exactly have a plan, but the couple set aside $1,000 for her to dig up the lawn and create a garden that would be low water and low maintenance. Once the lawn was out, she started shopping for succulents — the least expensive ones she could find. It took her more than two years to transform the space into a creation of her own making. And last year, when she saw a flyer insert in the Sweetwater Authority’s water bill inviting residents to enter their 2023 WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Contest. Schultz entered her garden — and won.
The inspiration
With turf that had no personality, Schultz had an empty canvas to fill once she hired someone off Craigslist to remove it. But she found that underneath that lawn was stubborn clay soil that she felt required too much work for planting and maintaining. But she had two ideas that together formed the direction she’d take.
“I grew up in Mexico City,” she shared, “and my mother loved to garden. She had a garden I loved that was U-shaped and filled with plants with the center open.”
Schultz’s mother didn’t grow succulents or cactuses, but she followed the shape of her mother’s garden design. When it came to what types of plants Schultz would fill her garden with, she was inspired by the one plant that came with the house: a tall elephant bush (Portulacaria afra) that was abundantly thick. That one small-leaved succulent led to dozens upon dozens of others, along with cactuses, that would fill that U-shaped space.
The details
Back in 2011 and 2012, the Schultzes weren’t aware of turf removal rebates offered by San Diego County, so the couple spent their own money to remove theirs. At her husband’s suggestion, Schultz then bought mulch at Lowe’s to cover the ground and followed that up with steppingstones that dissect the length of the garden. She then started buying pots and potting soil for the succulents and cactuses she started bringing home.
Schultz’s plant selection was totally random. She’d go to Walmart, The Home Depot and Lowe’s in search of plants.
“I basically would select a plant because of the price,” she acknowledged. “If I saw one I liked and thought it was cute and the price was right, I bought it.”
Schultz’s instincts were spot on. Despite their small size when she bought them, she planted those that would end up soaring, like her Euphorbia cactus, at the back of her U, with those that fortunately were shorter in front. The variety of plants she’s chosen over the years are a mixture of height, texture and color, regardless of whether they’re flowering. Barrel cactuses are planted by fuzzy gray old man hairy cactus, which have a place by climbing aloe or jade or prickly pear cactuses. She uses pigface succulents (also known as ice plant) with their bright fuchsia flowers as a sort of ground cover. They’re all thriving in the northern exposure and ocean breezes. It’s a serendipitous more-is-more eyeful.
Schultz has also been creative in handling some plants that have grown gravity-challenged. Schultz chopped off an agave fox tail when it got too heavy for its stem. Then she drilled holes into the stem and planted jade cuttings into them. When her astoundingly tall African candelabra needed to be staked, she leaned a wood beam against it, then decided to hang pots filled with succulents from the beam.
The pots she has bought are stars in the garden as well. Schultz is clearly drawn to animals, with bunnies and pigs and frogs and cats and elephants and sheep all in pot form. Some are terracotta or stone. She has a few colorful Talavera pots as well. Most came from the home centers she shopped at.
Schultz didn’t remove the old sprinklers, but she doesn’t use them. A rain barrel provides enough water for her to hand water the plants monthly or when the soil is dry. She occasionally does some weeding or pulling off dead leaves from plants. But basically, she said, her garden is very low maintenance.
For all that, she’s rewarded not only by her enjoyment of what’s she created and how it draws bees, hummingbirds and butterflies, but neighbors will often compliment her on the garden.
Costs
Schultz said she started with a budget of $1,000 but it eventually grew to $2,500, including everything from removing the turf to spreading mulch, buying plants and pots, buying pavers, building a new fence, and buying a rain barrel.
Water saved
Schultz told the Sweetwater Authority that the couple saved an estimated 12,000 gallons a year.
A closer look:
Catalina Schultz
Agave fox tail (Agave attenuata), totem pole cactus (Pachycereus schottii), pencil cactus (Euphorbia tirucalli ‘Sticks on Fire’), road kill cactus (Consolea rubescens), chocolate drop cactus (Euphorbia ingens), oleander shrubs (Nerium oleander), climbing aloe (Aloiampelos ciliaris), old man hairy cactus (Cephalocereus senilis), elephant bush (Portulacaria afra), elephant bush variegata, rock purslane (Calandrina), ghost euphorbia (Euphorbia lactea), African candelabra (Euphorbia ammak), golden barrel cactus (Echinocactus grusonii), African milk tree (Euphorbia trigona), prickly pear (opuntia), miniature pine tree (Crassula tetragona), watch chain (Crassula lycopodioides), donkey tail (Sedum morganianum), chocolate soldier (Kalanchoe tomentosa), aloe ‘Christmas Carol,’ sedum, agave, blue chalk sticks (Senecio mandraliscae), jade, cotyledon, blue torch cactus (Pilosocereus pachycladus), kalanchoe, Peruvian old lady cactus (Espostoa melanostele), mini cholla (Cylindropuntia), cholla (Cylindropuntia), pigface (Carpobrotus glaucescens), Eve’s needle cactus (Austrocylindropuntia subulate) and a great variety of aeonium and cactus.
Estimated costs: $2,500, including fence, grass removal, landscape fabric, staples, mulch, plants, planters, soil, rocks, steppingstones, rain barrel, solar lights and decorations.
Who did the work? Homeowner Catalina Schultz and a worker she found on Craigslist, who removed the turf.
How long did it take? Over two years.
Water savings: About 12,000 gallons a year.
Advice:
- Water your succulent plants once a month or when the soil in the planters is completely dry.
- Use a rain barrel to save all the water from the rain and have it ready when your plants need water.
Talk to your plants. It’s a good therapy to relax and reduce stress.
About the series
This is the third in an occasional series on winners of the annual WaterSmart Landscape Contest, conducted in partnership with the San Diego County Water Authority. To learn about entering the next contest, visit landscapecontest.com.
For details on classes and resources through the WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Program, visit sdcwa.org/your-water/conservation.
Landscape rebates are available through the Socal WaterSmart Turf Replacement Program at socalwatersmart.com.
Golden is a San Diego freelance writer and blogger.
