This Storybook Cottage’s Native Plant Wonderland Shows How Gorgeous No Grass Can Be

Once upon a time, under Universal Studios’ watchful Minion eye, there was a Storybook house in Studio City with a steep, sagging roof, a towering, tottering chimney and a yard so boring and prone to flooding that its charm was pretty much negated.

The front yard was mostly dead grass; the driveway was cracked and broken from runoff whenever it rained; and the funnel-shaped backyard was overwhelmed by a rotting wood pergola.

No longer. Today, the yard of Khoi Pham and his fiancé, Michael Solberg, is a wonderland of native plants, water-conserving bioswales, a patio mosaic made from recycled concrete and permeable gravel paths with a delightful crunch. And throughout the garden are little riots of succulents spilling from pots, baskets and even the fanciful nook built into their chimney, dotting the garden with jolts of color like fancy embellishments on a cake.

There are lots of little signs identifying the plants too, to feed Solberg’s vision of educating passersby about the beauty, practicality and sustainability of native plant landscapes. The signs “make you feel like you should stop and pay attention,” said Solberg.