In Dry Bakersfield, Xeriscaping Is Hot

If water restrictions and the ravages of a long Bakersfield summer have homeowners fantasizing about ripping out their lawns and trying something new, there's never been a better time to get out the rototiller. For local homeowner and botany enthusiast David Schwartz, that mood never passed. Beyond eliminating all lawn in both the front and backyards of his northwest Bakersfield home, Schwartz, over a six-month period 12 years ago, planted low-water-use shrubs and trees for a "xeriscape," or drought-friendly, yard.