Sometimes it takes a pro to design and implement a beautiful landscape, but sometimes a thoughtful amateur can also turn a sad front yard into — literally — an award-winning landscape.

Laura Lisauskas, the Olivenhain Municipal Water District’s 2020 WaterSmart Landscape Contest winner, has been in the design world since 1999, transitioning from commercial interior architectural design to landscaping. She redid her family’s street-facing side yard as a professional milestone and got a check as winner for $250.

Leslie Rush, on the other hand, the winner of the city of Oceanside’s 2020 WaterSmart Landscape Contest, had no experience in landscaping but gave herself plenty of time over the years and, through a major home renovation, to research and plan her front-yard landscape.

If you’re interested in how to transform a water-gulping landscape into one more appropriate to our desert environment, learn how these two women worked their magic in my newest story for the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Home and Garden section.