Keith Umbreit is no stranger to gardening. Back when he was living in Riverside, he was a devoted rose grower and member of the local rosarian society.
“I had 69 rosebushes in my yard,” he recalled. “Every kind of tea roses, and vining roses, and hybrid roses. I had them all.”
But when Umbreit bought his current home in an Oceanside suburb in 2013, he gave up roses. He basically had a triangular front lawn in between the driveway up to his garage and another driveway that led into his gated backyard. On the other side of his garage driveway was a single large palm, surrounded by a circle of bricks and a pad filled with large gravel.
But then, in 2017, an elderly friend of his who could no longer care for her plants — and knew he enjoyed gardening — asked him to come over and pick them up. He loaded up his pickup truck with pots of succulents, a group of plants he knew nothing about.
The retired electrical engineer started looking for books on them.
“The local library had two very old books,” he said with a laugh. “I then found the Palomar Cactus and Succulent Society had a large library with hundreds of books free to , so I ed. What I found was not only the books, but a lot of very knowledgeable people, eager to help me. From them I could get as many cuttings as I wanted for free. All you need is the cuttings, and you have a plant.”
Since that time, Umbreit pulled out the lawn along with two soaring Queen Anne palms (one in his backyard), gradually replacing them with a formidable collection of both familiar and unusual succulents. They’ve grown in to create an explosion of textures and colors ranging from light greens, blues and grays to vibrant oranges, pinks, purples, dark greens and magenta. Caring for them has turned into a hobby he makes time for, alongside his ions for square dancing, off-roading and sailboat racing.
This past year, his dedication to succulents earned him the city of Oceanside Water Utilities’ 2022 award for its WaterSmart Landscape Contest, for which he received a $250 gift card to Moon Valley Nurseries.
The inspiration
When Umbreit amassed his new succulent collection and ed the Palomar Cactus and Succulent Society, he discovered a cadre of people eager to help him. What he wanted to focus on was color and texture — not just the flower colors, but those of the leaves.
“With succulents, there is whole palette of colors. And all kinds of shapes and sizes. They are just fun to play with,” he said.
One of his new society colleagues spent time with him helping with placement of all these foreign objects. She understood which ones would be spreaders, which would grow tall and could be focal points, and which ones might not be visually or physiologically compatible with each another. She placed them on the ground. It was up to Umbreit to do the labor of getting them in the ground. While the front yard gets full, direct sun throughout the day, the house does provide enough shade that the plants don’t burn. Those that need full shade have taken up residence on the front porch.
Umbreit hasn’t installed any special lighting, and what little hardscape he added has been taken over by the succulents, but he did go through various iterations of irrigation — from sprinklers to bubblers to drip tubing. He uses it all occasionally, but a lot of the irrigation is covered by the plants. What little watering is needed, he often just does with a hose.
He’s been impressed by the impact these low-water plants are capable of.
“They’re much more interesting to look at with all the colors and textures. And then they get flowers, which brings in the hummingbirds,” he said.
The details
Umbreit started his landscaping project in May 2017 with the side yard, and in September 2017, he moved into phase two with the lower front yard. The upper part he originally planted in ice plant. Sometime in 2019, he planted both canna and calla lilies, as well as some Lily of the Nile and fortnight lily plants at the front of his house. They’ve spread and give him flowers year-round, the cannas in the summer and the callas in the winter. In July 2020, he launched his phase three, removing most of the ice plants and replacing them with other succulents, although some remain as groundcover. Along with the succulents, Ubreit also planted a decorative purple plum tree in the center of the central triangle plot. The garden remains an ongoing project as he changes out some plants for new ones.
In many ways, the succulents have come to dictate the look of the garden. Umbreit pointed out places where he had initially put down a boulder or colored gravel or pavers while the succulents were young and small. They’re now no longer easily seen because succulents have grown over them. He does prune or even remove them, but the “more is more” effect of a light gray silver dollar plant cozying up to a red and pink paddle plant has its charms, as does the petite, ever-creeping ‘Ocean Sunset’ ice plant. Umbreit joked about the straight line trim of another ice plant on his driveway being the effect of his truck backing over it. One less task to take care of.
Umbreit is worried about the effect the barrage of rain over the winter has had on the succulents, which don’t thrive in wet conditions, but most don’t seem any the worse for the soakings, and several have the beginnings of flowers setting. One agave in the side plot, a large spineless jade agave, has grown a flower stock that since December has soared to about 12 feet tall.
The colorful, lush garden has been a hit in the neighborhood, Umbreit said.
“Everyone likes it. I have found, many times, people taking pictures of the yard. And if they are out walking their dog, they will probably be walking home with a potted plant I gave them in hand,” he said. “A salesman came by recently to give me a bid on reroofing my house. He gave me the bid and I gave him a plant of his choice, which he took home. I give these plants away all the time.”
Costs
Umbreit’s landscaping project has been labor intensive but very low-cost. He’s done the labor on his own. When he ripped out the grass, he put it in his city green can for recycling instead of having to drive it to a landfill. The plants came mostly from his friend, originally, but the Palomar Cactus and Succulent Society has events in which can exchange plants. And he does make the occasional foray to a nursery.
A peek in his closed side yard and backyard reveal how dedicated he is to not tossing anything he prunes. There are rows upon rows of young succulents that he gives away or takes to plant sales or exchanges. All in all, he thinks he’s spent, at most, about $300.
Water saved
It’s hard for Umbreit to pinpoint how much water he’s saved since transitioning from a lawn to succulents, but he explained that he was watering the lawn four times a week for 15 minutes, year-round.
“Now I do not water at all for about six months of the year,” he calculated. “Twice a month for the spring and fall (two months each). And three times a month in the summer (two months).”
A closer look: Keith Umbreit
Plants used (in addition to those mentioned): black beauty (Aeonium arboreum), pinwheel plant (Aeonium haworthii), Aeonium ‘Kiwi,’ copper pinwheel (Aeonium ‘Sunburst’), , fox tail agave (Agave attenuate), quadricolor (Agave lophantha), Queen Victoria (Agave victoria-reginae), pregnant onion (Albuca bracteata), torch aloe candelabra (Aloe arborescens), torch plant (Aloe aristata), tiger tooth aloe (Aloe juvenna), rubble aloe (Aloe perfoliata), speckled aloe (Aloe pictifolia), mother of thousands (Bryophyllum delagoensis), Hottentot-fig ice plant (Carpobrotus edulis), pig’s ear (Cotyledon orbiculata), bear’s paw (Cotyledon tomentosa), ripple jade (Crassula arborescens), campfire (Crassula capitella), propeller plant (Crassula falcata), Crassula hystrix/Crassula hirtipes, zipper plant (Crassula muscosa), Gollum jade (Crassula ovata), miniature pine tree (Crassula tetragona), pickle plant (Delosperma echinatum), mother-in-law’s tongue (Dracaena trifasciata), Echeveria agavoides ‘Lipstick,’ Mexican hen and chicks (Echeveria ‘Blue Curls’), painted lady (Echeveria derenbergii), hen and chicks (Echeveria ‘Golden Glow’), Mauna Loa (Echeveria gibbiflora), morning beauty (Echeveria subsessilis), copper rose (Echeveria multicaulis), Echeveria ‘Paul Bunyan,’ red velvet (Echeveria pulvinata), Epiphyllum hybrid ‘Camp Robber,’ giant Gasteria (Gasteria acinacifolia), lawyer’s tongue (Gasteria baylissiana), Acevedo-Rosas (Graptopetalum pentandrum superbum), Graptoveria ‘Fred Ives,’ Duval (Haworthia retusa), felt plant (Kalanchoe beharensis), red lips (Kalanchoe luciae), chocolate soldier (Kalanchoe tomentosa), pink vygie (Oscularia deltoides), Madagascar palm (Pachypodium lamerei), elephant food (Portulacaria afra), mini jade (Portulacaria afra ‘Variegata’), ‘Orange Delight’ (Sedum nussbaumerianum), jelly bean plant (Sedum rubrotinctum), ‘Rosenteller’ (Sedum spectabile), swizzle sticks (Senecio anteuphorbium), blue chalksticks (Senecio mandraliscae), woolly Senecio (Senecio scaposus), string of pearls (Senecio rowleyanus), Echeveria ‘Party Dress’
Where are the plants from? Ninety-five percent from the Palomar Cactus and Succulent Society
Estimated costs: Umbreit estimated that, at most, he’s spent $300. He got most of the plants free; every so often he would buy something that looks interesting. He gets his compost free from Oceanside.
Occasionally, he needs to get an insecticide. He didn’t apply for a lawn removal rebate but did receive a $250 gift certificate to Moon Valley Nurseries for winning the contest.
Who did the work? Homeowner Keith Umbreit did all the work.
How long did it take? It’s ongoing but started in 2017. Succulents need to be reset after about four years. They just get too big, so you pull them out, take cuttings and start over. That’s also a good time to add more compost to the soil.
Water savings: When he’s not watering, Umbreit uses less than one unit of water per month.
Advice
- a club. They are everywhere. There you will get to know the nursery owners and get firsthand advice from them and from the other of the club.
- You do have to get out of the habit of watering. The easiest way to kill these plants is giving them too much water. With these plants, it is almost impossible to under-water them. They may die back some with no water, but as soon as they get water they come back.
- Don’t be afraid to make changes as the plants grow. Some get too big and need to be moved. You can then put something different in its place.
- Don’t neglect weeding. A succulent garden still needs maintenance. As with any kind of gardening, there will always be weeds.
About the series
This is the sixth in an occasional series on winners of the annual WaterSmart Landscape Contest, conducted in partnership with the San Diego County Water Authority. To learn about entering the next contest, visit landscapecontest.com.
For details on classes and resources through the WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Program, visit sdcwa.org/your-water/conservation/. Landscape rebates are available through the Socal WaterSmart Turf Replacement Program at socalwatersmart.com.
Golden is a San Diego freelance writer and blogger.
