In a drought-vulnerable California, a quiet revolution is changing the idea of the American lawn.
For Sophie Pennes, a native landscaper in Los Angeles, reimagining the concept of a lawn came early in her life when she was still a teenager. Now, she helps others transform their relationships with nature. For others, like author Cara Lopez Lee, redefining her relationship with nature came from a personal commitment to the environment.
With increasing awareness of climate change, their work is part of a larger movement to reimagine traditional lawns as tools for ecological resilience.
Blue-Eyed Grass
Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) is a perennial plant native to Oregon, western California and parts of Mexico. Known for its vibrant blue, purple, violet, and lavender colors, it attracts a variety of pollinators, like bees, butterflies, and birds. This perennial plant, which lives for several years and remains present year-round, thrives in moist, grassy areas and flowers during the months of March, April, and May—or in months where there is increased rainfall. In the summer, the Blue-Eyed Grass goes dormant, shedding most of its leaves.
Hover over the image to learn more about this California native flower.
Reimagining the American lawn
Living alone for the first time in New York at 19 years old, Sophie Pennes felt lost and disconnected from herself. She decided to leave college during her first year and was unsure of what the future held in store. Back home in Los Angeles, Pennes felt drawn to her parents’ new vegetable garden.
Sophie Pennes, founder of Urban Farms LA (Photo courtesy of Solis Gardens).
“I didn't have a job. I didn't really know what I was doing. So, I just ended up gardening all day, like, five, six hours a day,” she said. “I really liked it. I felt like it healed parts of me. And then I was kind of like, why isn't everyone doing this?"
Digging in the garden gave Pennes respite and inspired her to found her own organization. So, she went back to college where she earned a degree in environmental science and communication from Chapman University. Not quite satisfied, she later completed a post-graduate horticulture program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
'Hector's Hill', installed on January 2024, by Solis Gardens (Photo courtesy of Solis Gardens).
Today, Pennes runs her own business, Urban Farms LA—a company designed to strengthen people’s connections to nature through edible and native gardens.
Urban Farms LA rebranded to Solis Gardens on April 28, 2025, shifting the focus of Pennes' business to native landscaping.
Initially, Pennes began by transforming traditional grass lawns into vegetable gardens like the one her parents had built in their family yard. Later, she decided to incorporate the California native landscape. Composed of plants that grow naturally in the region, these gardens promote biodiversity, water conservation and create habitats for local wildlife.
According to Pennes, the biggest barrier for most of her clients is not financial—it’s mental.
“It’s so culturally ingrained,” Pennes said. Speaking from the perspective of her clients, Pennes explains “‘I bought a house and I have a lawn, and that will signify to others that I am living the American dream, or I’m successful.’ People can't seem to imagine—or are unwilling to imagine—what could be in place of a lawn.”
But lately, that’s been changing.
Tomat Restaurant, four years post-native landscape installation on January 2024 (Photo courtesy of Solis Gardens).
Now, she gets calls from clients who already had the “seed planted” to remove their turf for native wild plants or vegetable gardens. One of her favorite projects was for a restaurant in Westchester, L.A.—Tomat.
“There's nothing that crazy about it, but there is something that feels revolutionary to me, because it's literally one strip of life in a massive, massive, massive parking lot by the airport,” she said. “A parking lot, that's four Target parking lots combined. And whenever I'm there working in the garden, the amount of life that I see in terms of insects and bugs is just so cool.”
White Yarrow
White Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a sun-loving perennial in the Asteraceae, or Daisy, family. Commonly found throughout the California Floristic Province, including California, Baja California, Oregon, and Nevada, as well as the Great Basin. It blooms from April through September, especially thriving in coastal regions. This versatile plant serves as an excellent lawn alternative, offering benefits like erosion control, deer resistance and a pleasant aroma. It’s even edible.
Hover over the image to learn more about this California native flower.
The science behind the buzz
Dr. Iryna Dronova, associate professor of Environmental Science, Policy & Management at UC, Berkeley (Courtesy of Iryna Dronova).
That burst of life is not entirely anecdotal. According to Dr. Iryna Dronova, associate professor of Environmental Science at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), planting a mix of biologically diverse plant species supports a broader variety of pollinators that help build entire ecosystems.
When one thinks of a pollinator, the first image that often comes to mind is of a butterfly that flutters around gardens or a bee that drinks nectar from flowers. But pollinators come in all shapes and sizes.
The significance of diversity applies not only to plants but also to animals and insects. Birds, bees, butterflies and even bats play an important role in pollination, and coexist in mutually beneficial relationships with plants.
“Biologically diverse plant assemblages attract greater diversity of pollinators and contribute to the formation of the whole food webs around them,” she said.
Native landscapes contribute to greater biodiversity, but their effectiveness in cities depends on a few environmental factors as, Dr. Dronova explained.
Urban environments are frequently warmer than natural environments because of man-made infrastructures (buildings, streets and other hard surfaces), that soak up heat and release it into the environment later.
When building cities, we remove natural elements like trees, soil and streams that help cool the air through evaporation. Even though native landscapes can help counteract global warming, they face greater strain to thrive in harsher conditions.
The urban heat island phenomenon (UHI) occurs when cities experience warmer temperatures than rural areas. In rural areas, plants help cool the air through transpiration, which acts as a natural air conditioner. Plants take up water from the ground through their roots, store it and transform the liquid into water vapor which then enters the atmosphere.
But in urban areas where sidewalks, car exhaust and giant parking lots are the norm, temperatures rise as a consequence of limited green spaces.
According to NASA, UHIs are one of the clearest indicators of how humans have impacted and changed the planet (primarily through our infrastructure).
Click on the hotspots for more information on urban heat islands.
Although buildings, streets and cars are essential to our lives now, their contribution to UHIs can affect our environment in many ways, from public health risks like dehydration and heat exhaustion, to infrastructural issues like power outages.
“We bring certain ways of cooling the environment, because people want to ameliorate the climate for themselves,” Dr. Dronova said.
Despite the obstacles that UHIs pose to these urban green spaces, they still provide access for people to reconnect with nature. She sees urban native gardens as tools for rebalancing that relationship.
“One of the questions when people design these gardens is, to what extent can we make it self-perpetuating?” she said. Regardless of how self-reliant the garden might be, it will need some care. “But that care gives an opportunity to attract people and get the community engaged in the process as well.”
Matilijia Poppy
Matilijia Poppy (Romneya coulteri) is a coastal shrub native to Southern California, particularly along the south coast, western Transverse Ranges and Peninsular Ranges. Often called the ‘fried-egg flower’ for its bright yellow and white blooms, it is one of the largest California poppy species. Its petals can grow up to seven inches across and are attractive to bees and butterflies. This plant thrives in dry washes and canyons, and once it's established, it can spread over a large area.
Hover over the image to learn more about this California native flower.
Policy, privilege and the power of access
Transforming green space can be powerful, but it’s not easy.
Dr. Jessica Bremner, urban planner and geographer, and assistant professor of Urban Geography at California State University, Los Angeles (Courtesy of Jessica Bremner).
“There's a cultural shift that's going on of what is beautiful in terms of a garden,” said Dr. Jessica Bremner, an urban planner and geographer. “We certainly seem to be closer to the other side of that in L.A., partly because of the awareness of climate and the awareness of the importance of native plants.”
Making changes to our closest landscapes, like yards, sidewalks, parking lots and other spaces is not simple. Transforming these green spaces takes time and money. Dr. Bremner also noted that change is not always equally accessible to everyone.
“It’s so satisfying, but not everyone has the time to do it, or not everyone's interested in doing it and not everyone has the money to do it,” she said.
With over half of L.A. residents living in renter-occupied housing units, many don’t have the authority to make those changes.
Programs like the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Turf Replacement Rebate, work to mitigate this cost by offering L.A. residents $5 per square foot for 5,000 square feet of lawn removed.
LADWP also offers free resources in addition to their rebate program, which span from “how-to videos” on landscaping transformation to free mulch and city plants giveaways.
Despite the rebates and additional support, Dr. Bremner acknowledges many other obstacles keep California residents from transforming their lawns or other green spaces into native landscapes.
Disparities persist.
“Some of that has to do with the history of development in L.A., and how neighborhoods have changed over time in terms of socio-demographics,” she said. “The long-term deprioritization of—not just in L.A., everywhere—the value of green space for people and urban ecosystems, and the lack of funding for that as well, obviously continues today.”
Aster
With bright purple, violet or lavender petals, Aster (Symphyotrichum chilense) brings life to native landscapes. Also known as Coast Aster, California Aster or Pacific Aster, this drought-adapted perennial is a part of the Sunflower family and blooms from June to October. Native to western and north-central California, it thrives with little to no supplemental summer water, making it a resilient choice for dry climates. It is also a host plant for many insects, and birds will eat the seeds after the flowers bloom.
Hover over the image to learn more about this California native flower.
A wildlife habitat of one’s own
Still, some people are turning their space into green pockets of life.
In Ventura County, an author and storyteller transformed her backyard into a Certified Wildlife Habitat—a space recognized by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) for supporting local wildlife.
Cara Lopez Lee, author and storyteller (Courtesy of Cara Lopez Lee).
From the outside, Cara Lopez Lee’s Spanish-colonial home looks like any other on her block—an aquamarine front door entrance, French windows and some green space on her front yard. But inside, the unassuming house offers so much more.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lopez Lee and her husband used their vacation savings to transform their backyard into a place of respite.
“It's funny sometimes when I tell people I have a Certified Wildlife Habitat, they think I have some kind of natural zoo back here where there's all kinds of animals wandering through, that you might just see with the naked eye,”she said. “And sometimes there are, but a lot of it, you really have to pay attention.”
Flourishing with California native plants, her backyard supports the growth of Coyote Mint, Giant Chalk Dudleya, Jelly Bean Gold Monkeyflower and White Yarrow—to name a few. At the center of her backyard, a small waterfall provides birds a place to bathe, drink and rest.
The garden is home to lizards, sparrows, hummingbirds, butterflies and bees who visit frequently. In Lopez Lee’s garden, she is never truly alone.
Hummingbirds visiting Lopez Lee's waterfall (Courtesy of Nataly Lozano).
“With my first garden,” she said, “I made a lot of mistakes. And I learned that's okay with this garden.”
To understand what kind of garden she could cultivate in her backyard, Lopez Lee sought the help of an expert to care and tend for her plants.
Guided by the knowledge of a professional landscaper, Lopez Lee found the process easier to contribute to the environment without a formal education in horticulture.
“There are more butterflies than I've seen here before. There are more bees than I had seen here before. There are more birds than I've seen here before, and I think we are giving them one more little corner of the world where they can survive. I think it's important,” she said.
From a strip of plants in the parking lot of a restaurant near the Los Angeles International Airport to a buzzing backyard in Ventura County, native landscapes are redefining what it means to have a lawn in California—and what it means to care for our planet.
As Dr. Dronova said, these gardens might not be a be-all and end-all solution to climate change and access is limited, still Pennes and Lopez Lee have created spaces where life can thrive through these gardens.
“The message that I think I would most like people to take away from my garden,” Lopez Lee said, “is a quote from somebody else. ‘Never doubt that a small, thoughtful, committed group of citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’ Those are the words of Margaret Mead, and I believe in them.”
California Poppy
The California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), also known as the ‘Golden Poppy,’ is known for its vibrant orange blooms and adaptability. It thrives across a range of environments—from the California Floristic Province to the Modoc Plateau, the Eastern Sierra Nevada and the Mojave Desert. While it prefers full sun, this wildflower can also tolerate shadier conditions. On March 2, 1903, the California Poppy was officially designated as the state flower of California, and April 6 is recognized as ‘California Poppy Day.’
Hover over the image to learn more about this California native flower.