Lawn-Conversion Planner
Replace thirsty lawn with a low-water garden you actually want to look at. Pick a look, tell us how much lawn you're converting, and get a real plant list — how many of each, how far apart, what it costs, and how filled-in it'll read at maturity. Built for Sacramento, with drought-tolerant plants rated for fire-smart placement.
1 Pick a look
A knee-high tapestry of native grasses and sedges threaded with seasonal flowers — the relaxed, walkable look that reads as a meadow, not a cactus garden.
2 How much lawn are you replacing?
3 Your plant plan
Clustered field sedge Carex praegracilis
139 plantsDeer grass Muhlenbergia rigens
8 plantsCommon yarrow Achillea millefolium
42 plantsPurple needlegrass Stipa pulchra
21 plantsCalifornia fuchsia Epilobium canum
6 plantsFoothill Penstemon 'Margarita BOP' Penstemon heterophyllus 'Margarita BOP'
21 plants
🔥 Fire-smart placement: Deer grass, Purple needlegrass are drought-tolerant but more flammable — keep them out of the 0–5 ft strip against the house (Zone 0) and use the low-flammability plants there instead. Want a palette that's fire-safe right up to the wall? Try the look.
You're converting about 400 sq ft of lawn. Many Sacramento-area water providers pay a per-square-foot cash rebate for replacing lawn with low-water landscaping (often called Cash for Grass) — programs and rates change, so check your own provider's current offer and rules before you start.
Rebate programs usually want low-water plants covering a set share of the area and drip irrigation in place. This plan reaches roughly 100% live-plant coverage at maturity — GoGarden doesn't determine eligibility or amounts.
Want it installed?
Let a local pro know you're interested · no obligation
Plant counts use triangular on-center spacing and are planning estimates — buy a few extra for losses and confirm spacing with your nursery. Water use follows WUCOLS for the Central Valley; flammability guidance follows CAL FIRE / UC ANR; costs are 2026 retail assumptions, not quotes. Palette drawn for Sacramento (USDA zone 9b) — 48 plants and growing.
Planning the whole yard? Trace it over an aerial photo in the Yard Planner, size the drip in the Sprinkler Calculator, or see the bigger picture on the Resilient California Yard hub.
Replacing a lawn in Sacramento — FAQs
How many plants do I need to replace my lawn?
It depends on the plants and the area. Groundcovers and grasses go in close (1–4 ft apart); shrubs and accents go in wider. The planner counts each plant using triangular on-center spacing — the same offset-grid installers use to close gaps — so a 400 sq ft bed of mixed low-water plants typically lands somewhere around 60–140 plants. Pick a look and enter your area to see the exact list.
Is there a rebate for replacing my lawn in Sacramento?
Often, yes. Several Sacramento-area water providers run per-square-foot 'Cash for Grass' style rebates for converting lawn to low-water landscaping, usually requiring low-water plants over a set share of the area plus drip irrigation. Programs, rates, and rules change and vary by provider, so check your own water agency's current offer before you start — GoGarden helps you plan the planting but doesn't determine eligibility or amounts.
Are drought-tolerant plants also fire-safe?
Not automatically — and that's the honest catch most low-water plant lists skip. Several classic California natives (manzanita, ceanothus, and aromatic woody sages) are wonderful low-water plants but genuinely more flammable, so they don't belong in the 0–5 ft strip against the house. This planner rates each plant's flammability and flags the ones to keep away from the structure, and the 'Fire-Wise Foundation' look uses only low-flammability plants for planting right up to the wall.
How much does a lawn conversion cost?
The plant material itself is usually the smaller part — the planner shows a plant-cost band for your list. A full installed conversion also includes removing the lawn, prepping soil, adding drip irrigation, and mulching, which in California commonly runs several dollars per square foot on top of the plants. Doing the planting yourself from the list keeps it to mostly plant cost.
What plants work for a low-water yard in Sacramento?
Sacramento is USDA zone 9b with hot, dry summers, so the winners are Central Valley–proven low-water plants: native bunchgrasses and meadow sedges (deergrass, Carex pansa), tough perennials (yarrow, California fuchsia, blue-eyed grass), structural sages and coast rosemary, and sculptural succulents like agave and red yucca. The planner's palette is drawn from WUCOLS (Central Valley water use) and UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars.