Replacing grass with drought-resistant lawn.

We would like to replace our traditional grass lawn with a drought-resistant, low-maintenance "walkable" lawn. Our area is Southern California (La Jolla). The back yard receives sun all day; the front yard has good sun with partial shade from two large trees.

Because of balance problems, I cannot plant anything that mounds or has tendrils...nothing "spongy" underfoot...or grows higher than average grass. Our local Armstrong nursery occasionally offers flats of what they label as "walkables" or ''stepables", but I do not know how well they work as a full lawn replacement.

If anyone has found a lawn replacement as I have described, would you mind letting me know how well it does?

St. Augustine is pretty drought tolerant as compared to some other grasses, and should do well there, BUT it will build up thatch and can get a bit spongy to walk on in time. None of those "stepables" that I've seen would be a lawn replacement. They are nice between stepping stones.
I would suggest you go to some classes sponsored by the city or water district, or tis the season for garden tours. If you insist in something green, just keep in mind that "drought tolerant" plants are NOT tolerant until established. They do take a season after planting before they become acclimated and grow a good root system.

Can't beat Carol's advice. :-)

It's official, DH is letting his lawn die. After seeing how nice the new mulch looks on my side of the yard, my Eldest Son decided to his yard. Now my Youngest is spreading the mulch on his yard, and when all the grass dies on DH's lawn, we'll be putting the mulch there. We decided that since we currently can't have a lawn, and since the ground is pretty degraded from 100 years of people living here, it's time to give back. Give the ground some mulch, over time, it will decompose and become good dirt. It'll also replenish the nutrients in the ground. It's time to let the earth go fallow, and rest.

Good luck in finding a grass that works for you. I appreciate the effort a nice lawn takes, usually from a distance due to my grass allergies.

WIB~
SW