The back door garden without a lawn.
That was a wise decision.

Way back we reached a point where keeping the lawn healthy and green became too much of a task. At that point we received notice of water restrictions - that was the last straw.
We dug up every piece of grass. The photo below was taken after a few month's work has been done and planting the aloes have already started. June 2005.

The aloes - blooming or not - are much prettier than a
half-dead lawn and the bonus is that it needs a lot less work and we do not water at all, the rain is enough.

The scene on this photo above is at the opposite side of the tree. One of the portions planted first. The aloes are from left to right:- Aloe ferox x Aloe arborescens, Aloe mutabilis x Aloe arborescens and Aloe cryptopoda

This planting is next to the tree. 

The aloes are Aloe petricola x Aloe globuligemma hybrids which Rudi raised from seeds (far left side on the photo). The close-up below shows more detail. Rudi planted a group of five plants which shows off very well when blooming together.  Aloe petricola has an upright raceme and the raceme of Aloe globuligemma is horizontal. The hybrid plants seems to be somewhat confused which pattern to follow, but I am quite happy with that, it gives an interesting effect.

The hybrid come in two colors. Dark orange
opening to yellow and red-pink opening to a creamy white, both with black stamens.