I have always loved homes with beautiful lawns. For as long as I can remember my parents always made sure that every home we’ve lived in had a gorgeous carpet of grass surrounding us. I loved that. Green grass reminds me of family memories and summer.. all the good things. So when we recently purchased our Santa Barbara home I knew that I needed to make a few changes to give it the same look and love that I craved.
Our new home came with a huge overgrown garden and buffalo grass. If you’re familiar with this type of grass you’ll know that while it’s great for drought conditions it’s not best in a small space.
Our home has a mix of garden levels with the lawn space in the back making the most impact. It sits just outside our living room with large double wide sliders and a view of the ocean. It’s prime for picnics and Maggie rolls. ;) While I loved the placement I was disappointed when I saw that the lawn was filled with long buffalo grass. It also had a ton of bugs living in it that jumped onto your legs as soon as you walked on the grass. Definitely not what we wanted, so this week we decided to remove it and replace it with a beautiful new layer of sod.
We knew that a fresh blanket of greenery is exactly what this garden needed and boy were we right! As soon as the old grass was removed and the first line of sod was laid, Jeff and I couldn’t have been more excited!
The area, while large enough for a pool really called for more. It needed color, life and something to ground the space. Everything grass can offer. Now when looking outside of our living room we’ll have the perfect backdrop for our ocean views. We’re so thrilled! While this yard is large there is little grass in it so I welcome the change and the softness only new sod can offer. Sometimes it’s the simplest things that can make the biggest difference don’t you think?
For those looking to do the same and are curious about pricing. For our area we spent $2,800 to have the Buffalo grass removed and to lay the new sod. So worth it! We went with Marathon 1 and love the look and durability of this option. The area we landscaped was around 750 square feet.
While we can’t dive into it the same way we can a pool I feel it’s exactly what this yard and we needed! :) You’ll have to let me know what you think! Do you love grass as much as we do?
xo,
Kristy
For more information about our home and garden click here.
It’s so pretty! I’m with you about loving a lovely green lawn. Last October We moved into the home that took two years to remodel. We are on an acre so thought we would put in lots of lawn to take up a good deal of the space. Well…Adam ordered a new hybrid grass seed that we put in. Just beautiful until the weather turned hot! Now it’s all dead! Have to wait until it’s a bit cooler and then sod!!! And lots of plants and flowers! We have beautiful oak trees too! It’s been so much fun following along with your journey!!! Can’t wait to see more!
Looks wonderful, you seem to always make the right decision. Look forward to all your renovations!!
Looks so much better can’t wait to see it when you get the flowers in!!
So pretty and such an improvement! I’m enjoying following along with this project! Question: from the photos, it doesn’t look like there’s a sprinkler system installed in that area…?
Love the grass it’s so pretty and does ground the space so well. Hopefully it will remain healthy with the climate in SB You are making changes to suit you for the short term but I can’t wait to see what you do to permanently change the home. The ceiling height is low and that is the most difficult to change but you are so creative I’ll look forward to the journey with you and Jeff
Me too
I love rolling green grass, looks great! How are handling watering, or do you have irrigation? Good luck with all the changes.
Big difference!! Beautiful!!
All you need now is a beautiful swimspa :)
Thanks for keeping us up – love your stories!
Can not believe what a difference it made to remove the Buffalo grass and put down sod! It’s so pretty !
Will have a sprinkler system to keep it green? Looks beautiful.
Beautiful! Will it have a sprinkler system to keep it green?
Excellent decision. Looks too fabulous for words !!!
A axing difference, can’t wait to see the progress as you go
Lovely! I am all for lawns, too. We battle with tree roots in Kentucky interrupting the landscape on ours, and the wooded areas around us often change the way it grows. But the bluegrass of Kentucky is hard to beat. Your née lawn is stunning!
Love it! Really opens up your home and I’m with you on green grass!
When we built our home in AZ 15 years ago, the back yard was not landscaped, only dirt. As excited as I was about our new home, I could not stand looking outside of our large windows to dirt. My husband told me we would landscape in a year. Long story short we ended up having 1000sf of sod laid four weeks later! No regrets, it’s still beautiful & no regrets or artificial turf!
Oh my goodness…. what a beautiful improvement y’all have made! I Love it!! I know you & Jeff are going to have the inside & out of your home loving gorgeous and I’m happy to be able to see it all come together💕
Hi Kristy, What an amazing improvement! The love and care that you and Jeff pour into your homes is inspiring. I am truly enjoying the transformation of an already beautiful home and property into a place that’s even more beautiful and special.
Thanks for sharing it all, cheers!
Jennifer 💗💗💗
It is a beautiful transformation! I also love a lot of green grass. My husband thinks its a competition on our street to see who has the greenest grass. I am so enjoying following your renovations. Thank you for sharing! Wishing you, jeff & Maggie much love and happiness in your new home.
Kristy! You and Jeff have done such an awesome job!! The new grass is beautiful!! I’m sure Maggie loves it too!! :)
Looks beautiful Kristy. We laid down 10 sq ft of sod around our pool and pool house this summer in northern virginia and I’ve spent countless hours watering. Hope you won’t have the same issues!
Kristy & Jeff,
I love what you did with the new house. Getting rid of the buffalo grass & replacing it with the marathon grass is a huge improvement…. Can’t wait to see what you do with the deck stain!!
Love following along!
Tina 🤍😀
soooo beautiful. can’t wait to see what you do with your new home :)
It looks great! I had never seen the buffalo grass before and this transition is awesome! Love tagging along 💚 I love pretty grass!!
Loving the beautiful sod!! I always look forward to seeing your Instagram photos and videos to follow you on your renovation journey, It’s such a pleasure to see you and Jeff decorate your beautiful homes.
Hi Kristy, I just love the sod lawn. How will you maintain it in the CA heat. Do you have underground sprinklers for water? Tell Jeff to sharpen his mower blades 😂😂😂.
Your place is really coming together, love love your new lawn . I do see a pool one day, but most important I see a new outdoor kitchen, to entertain and enjoy the CA weather , in my very humble opinion . Going to be beautiful