Solution:

Luckily, not all plants attract bees. And while fake grass offers no environmental benefit, real plants offer shade, clean the air, and cool spaces down by transpiring water and covering reflective surfaces. I designed a garden for the clients that utilized all of these benefits.

I approached the bee/flower issue from multiple angles: Vines like Ficus pumila never or rarely flower. Other plants like Asarum caudatum produce flowers, but the nectar and pollen inside the flowers is inaccessible and/or unattractive to bees. Then there are plants like our native Aristida purpurea that use wind, rather than pollinators, to propagate. In the end, the clients’ backyard looked like any other: They had privacy hedges, vines growing over stucco walls, potted specimen plants, bunch grasses, even trees. And the only bees were ones that were lost or passing through.