Reno, CA · Lawn conversion
Replace Your Reno Lawn With a Low-Water High-Desert Yard
Reno sits on the floor of the Truckee Meadows at about 4,500 feet — true high desert, with roughly seven inches of rain a year, blazing sun, and cold winters. Keeping a cool-season lawn green through that means running sprinklers hard on TMWA's assigned watering days, right when the region has the least water to spare. Replacing your lawn with tough Great Basin plants cuts that summer watering, ends the weekly mow, and drops your bill. Use the free planner below to sketch your new yard, then take a real plan to a local pro if you want it installed — GoGarden doesn't sell or install anything.
Your water providerTruckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA), the regional public water utility serving nearly all of Reno, Sparks, and the greater Truckee Meadows. A limited number of outlying or rural Washoe County properties draw from private domestic wells or small community systems instead — check the name on your water bill to confirm who serves you.
Northern Nevada does not have a Southern-Nevada, Las-Vegas-style "cash for grass" turf buyback. TMWA's conservation program centers on year-round assigned watering days, leak alerts, and smart-meter usage tracking rather than a residential lawn-removal rebate. That means the money you save from a conversion comes mainly from a lower water bill and using far less water — not from a rebate check. Programs can change, so if you want to know about any current incentive, ask TMWA directly and don't plan around a payout that may not exist.
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?
Not sure of your square footage? Size it by shape
Measure the lawn you're removing. For an odd shape, add a couple of rectangles together.
3 Your plant plan
Clustered field sedge Carex praegracilis
2×1 ft · Sun–part shade · Evergreen
Premier no-mow lawn swap: mow short for turf or leave long for a meadow. Takes light foot traffic; wants regular water to stay green.
139 plants
Deer grass Muhlenbergia rigens
4×3.5 ft · Full sun · Evergreen
Evergreen native clump with tall arching flower spikes for a strong accent. Keep it back from the house, out of the first 5 ft.
8 plants
Common yarrow Achillea millefolium
2×1.5 ft · Full sun · Evergreen · Blooms late spring to summer
California native that knits into a soft, fern-leafy mat, staying low with white summer flower stalks. Tough and easygoing.
42 plants
Purple needlegrass Stipa pulchra
2×3 ft · Sun–part shade
California's native state grass, great for erosion control and reseeds on its own. Keep it out of the first 5 ft by the house.
21 plants
California fuchsia Epilobium canum
3.5×1.5 ft · Full sun · Blooms late summer to fall
Scarlet trumpet flowers late summer to fall make it a hummingbird favorite. Cut to the ground each winter for a fresh flush.
6 plants
Foothill Penstemon 'Margarita BOP' Penstemon heterophyllus 'Margarita BOP'
2×1.5 ft · Full sun · Evergreen · Blooms spring to early summer
Electric blue-to-fuchsia tubular flowers pull in hummingbirds and native bees. The toughest, longest-lived foothill penstemon.
21 plants
Plant photos from iNaturalist contributors · CC BY / CC0. See the full plant guide →
🔥 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.
Reno water rebates: the honest picture with TMWA
Nearly every home in Reno, Sparks, and the wider Truckee Meadows is served by Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA), the regional public utility that reads your meter and sends your bill. Here's the honest part most turf-conversion articles get wrong: northern Nevada is not southern Nevada. There is no SNWA-style "cash for grass" turf buyback here, and you should not expect a per-square-foot rebate check for pulling out your lawn. TMWA's conservation program is built around mandatory assigned watering days, leak alerts, and smart meters that show your near-real-time usage — not a lawn-removal payout. So the money you save on a conversion comes from a smaller water bill and using dramatically less water through Reno's long, dry summers, not from a rebate. There is one real, practical bonus, though: TMWA's assigned-day schedule applies to sprinklers, while drip irrigation and hand watering are allowed any day. A low-water yard set up on drip simply isn't tied to the even/odd watering calendar the way a thirsty lawn is. If you want to know whether TMWA is offering any current incentive, ask them directly — and check the provider name on your bill first, since a few outlying properties are on private wells rather than TMWA.
Why replace your lawn in Reno
Reno sits on the floor of the Truckee Meadows at about 4,500 feet, in true high desert — roughly seven inches of precipitation a year, blazing UV, dry wind, and summer days that swing 30 to 40 degrees between afternoon and dawn. A cool-season lawn is fighting that climate from May through September, and TMWA's three-day-a-week watering schedule makes it genuinely hard to keep fescue green without waste. Outdoor irrigation is the biggest swing in most Reno water bills, so trading turf for high-desert plantings, gravel mulch, and drip cuts your single largest use — and, because drip isn't bound by assigned watering days, it also frees you from the sprinkler calendar. Beyond the bill, a water-wise yard means no weekly mow, no brown patches after a heat wave, and planting that actually feeds bees, hummingbirds, and native birds. From the mature streets of the Old Southwest and Midtown to newer south-Reno neighborhoods like Damonte Ranch and South Meadows and the rocky foothill lots in Caughlin Ranch and Somersett, a landscape designed for 4,500-foot high desert simply holds up better than a lawn that's losing its daily battle with the sun, wind, and short water supply.
High-desert plants that thrive in Reno
Reno's valley floor is USDA zone 7a — with colder 6b pockets in the north valleys — so the plants that flourish here are Great Basin natives and hardy xeric species built for cold winters, intense sun, wind, and fast-draining alkaline soils, not the Mediterranean palette used down in California. For structure, lean on big sagebrush, rubber rabbitbrush, antelope bitterbrush, desert peach, Apache plume, curlleaf mountain mahogany, and three-leaf sumac; Woods' rose and fernbush soften the edges. For color that shrugs off the heat, plant firecracker, Palmer's, and Rocky Mountain penstemon, sulphur-flower buckwheat, blue flax, Munro's globemallow, showy four o'clock, blanketflower, and yarrow. Native bunchgrasses — Indian ricegrass, blue grama, Great Basin wildrye, and Sandberg bluegrass — give the movement and soft meadow feel of a lawn without the mowing or the water. Be honest with yourself about the season, though: late-spring and early-fall frosts are normal at this elevation, so plant in spring or early fall, skip tender species, and don't expect a mild-winter, year-round-green look. Group everything by water need, run it on drip, and top beds with a few inches of gravel or bark mulch to hold what little moisture there is. The planner below helps you lay out beds and pick a palette that fits your yard's sun, size, and soil.
Replacing a lawn in Reno — FAQs
Who provides my water in Reno?
Nearly all of Reno, Sparks, and the greater Truckee Meadows is served by Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA), the regional public water utility. A small number of outlying or rural Washoe County properties draw from private domestic wells or small community systems instead. Check the provider name printed on your water bill to be sure — it determines who to ask about watering rules and any current conservation programs.
Is there a rebate for replacing my lawn in Reno?
Not the way there is in Las Vegas. Northern Nevada does not have a Southern-Nevada-style "cash for grass" turf buyback, so you should not count on a per-square-foot rebate check from TMWA for removing your lawn. The real savings from a conversion come from a lower water bill and using far less water, not from a rebate. If you want to know about any current incentive, ask TMWA directly — we don't quote amounts here because programs change and none may apply to you.
Will TMWA's watering rules affect my new landscape?
In a helpful way. TMWA assigns sprinkler watering days by address — even-numbered addresses on one set of days, odd-numbered on another, with no watering on Mondays and none during the hottest midday hours (check TMWA for the current schedule). Drip irrigation and hand watering, though, are allowed any day. A low-water yard set up on drip isn't tied to the three-day sprinkler calendar the way a lawn is, which is one of the quiet advantages of converting.
What should I plant instead of grass in Reno?
High-desert plants suited to zone 7a: Great Basin natives like big sagebrush, rubber rabbitbrush, desert peach, and Apache plume for structure; penstemons, buckwheat, blue flax, globemallow, and yarrow for color; and native bunchgrasses such as Indian ricegrass and blue grama for a soft, low-mow look. Plant in spring or early fall, put everything on drip, and mulch with gravel or bark. Expect late-spring and early-fall frosts at this elevation, so skip tender, frost-sensitive species.
Does GoGarden install my new yard?
No — GoGarden is a free planning tool, not a landscaping contractor. We help you design the conversion, understand how Reno's water rules and TMWA's programs actually work, and, if you'd like, connect you with local pros who can handle the installation. We don't sell materials, pull any paperwork, or install anything ourselves, and using the planner costs nothing.
Areas we serve
Serving homeowners across Old Southwest, Midtown, Caughlin Ranch, Somersett, Damonte Ranch, South Meadows, Hidden Valley and the greater Reno area.
Lawn conversion in nearby cities
aSaaSin Ventures LLC operates GoGarden — a free planning tool that can connect you with a local pro, not the installing contractor. Rebate programs, rates, and eligibility are set by your water provider and change often; confirm the current terms with them, and get any required written pre-approval, before removing turf. Plant and cost figures are planning estimates.