A creative way to replace a front lawn

With the shortage of water in Southern California, residents have developed creative ways to replace water-thirsty grass. While some may replace their lawns with artificial turf, others prefer to use succulents and hardscape, like a river of rocks.

Fallbrook resident Jane Carpenter and her husband moved to Fallbrook in 1992. He traveled a lot for his job, so "first thing, I joined the garden club and quilt guild to meet people," she said.

The Fallbrook Garden Club offers workshops on a variety of plant-related subjects as well as having study groups for succulents and cactus, herbs, and fruit...