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If you are xeriscaping a lawn from scratch, your best bet for preparing the lawn is to work with a xeriscaping specialist in your area. The most common first step to making the transformation, however, will be to remove the turfgrass from your lawn. The subsequent steps will often include amending the soil to support new plants and installing low-drip or drip irrigation systems.

Pea gravel is a type of gravel that is generally smaller and rounder than regular gravel. It's usually made from river rock and is available in a wide range of colors. Thanks to its soft, round shape, pea gravel is more comfortable to walk on compared to standard gravel, which can have sharp edges. A drawback of pea gravel is that it can scatter more easily than other gravel types.

A light layer of mulch can help protect a tree, retain moisture, and keep the soil healthy. However, it’s important to avoid over-mulching or piling the mulch up around the trunk of a tree, a practice notoriously called “volcano mulching.” That piled mulch can increase the chances of rot and disease on the tree trunk as well as overwhelming the soil, which needs access to a certain amount of air. Topped trees have it hard enough: mulch sparingly while they heal.

If you’re using crushed stone or gravel as a base material, then yes, you should compact it to prevent movement of the top layers. For instance, if you don’t compact crushed stone or gravel and you lay pavers on top of them, the pavers will shift over time. However, if you’re using gravel or crushed stone as a top layer for aesthetic purposes, you might not want to compact the materials.