This family gardens – and grows – together
By Debbie Arrington
Ditching the lawn isn’t just for grown-ups; kids like water-wise gardening, too.
The Dal Ben family of East Sacramento are all green thumbs, with both parents and kids nurturing their own slice of nature. “Our front yard has been a labor of love for many years,” says dad Anthony Dal Ben. “The whole family is involved.”
The transformation from traditional turf to flower-filled garden started simple:
“We had a lawn we didn’t use,” Dal Ben explains. “It was difficult to mow. At the State Fair, they had a low-water landscape design display. I always looked at that section. Everybody has a lawn. I thought it would be cool NOT to have a lawn.”
Like many people, home ownership prompted Dal Ben to think more about plants. “When we bought a house, we got interested in gardening,” he says. “We rebuilt our entire Craftsman house. We took everything down to the bones. We wanted to make the property look really nice, too.”
Dal Ben, his wife Maria and three children – son Bradlee, 11, and daughters Vianna, 8, and Camilla, 5 – became an active gardening family.
“We’re constantly doing something,” says Dal Ben, who also creates videos of their gardening adventures. “It’s been really fun.”
At their home, a funky strip of turf next to the street became a forest of 6-foot sunflowers every summer.
“Sunflowers reseed, so the park strip has been solid sunflowers,” he says. “We have an intense amount of bees; that’s really cool.”
In addition, the garden is studded with lavender, geraniums, two large crape myrtles, hollyhocks, poppies, naturalized bulbs and much more.
“It really looks so beautiful,” says Dal Ben, who works as a stationary engineer for Sutter Health. “We get so many complements from neighbors or people walking by. (The garden) gives our yard personality.”
The garden makeover evolved slowly; it’s three years and counting, says Dal Ben, who did all the heavy work himself. All plants were bought at discount, keeping his costs down.
Dal Ben also got big savings on a Rachio smart controller for his new drip irrigation, thanks to the City of Sacramento (his water provider) and the Regional Water Authority.
Taking care of the old lawn wasn’t fun for anyone, he notes. “I’m no longer mowing the lawn! That’s a big time saver. As for water, we’re now all on drip, so there are savings there, too. There’s still work but it’s not bad. We enjoy gardening.”
Dal Ben urges other families to find their inner gardeners and create a yard that reflects their style. “Make it unique, make it your own. Instead of just plain lawn, there are all sorts of cool plants to match your personality.”
