[photos via Jordan Valley Water Conservation Park]If you are from these parts (and that would be the Rocky Mountain West, Utah, to be exact) you have likely heard a lot about being "Water Wise". This is one of the major ways we can have a positive impact on our environment locally.
If you were not aware, Utah is considered desert. I know, I know, the parking strips and the big trees and the massive lawns that you see everywhere really do not paint this picture, but it's true! When those pioneers came over those mountains to the East, there was just one lone meager tree standing down in the valley of Salt Lake City.
Despite the weather so far this summer (it has been raining cat's and dogs all June long! Not normal.) we have pretty dry summers, and rely a lot on the snow pack of the winter to provide the water we need. Any ways, this is probably all stuff you all know, but it seems as though we so easily forget the water is a large comodity around these parts, when really it would only tke a few bad winters and we would be in serious trouble. So, how do we conserve this water that is such a valuable resource? Well, one way is to look out at that big fat square piece of green right out our door. That's right - I went there - I'm am talking about your GRASS! And before you tell me to step off your turf, let me pose some questions.
Question one - what is it about that Kentucky Blue that has you so sucked up into agonizing all over it? Where did this hold of the idea that a lawn is just how a front yard is supposed to look come from?
Question Two - what do you use your lawn for? Yes, I mean use, not sit from a distance and admire, I mean use, what do you use your lawn for? A trophy? Or do you honestly use it to lay, play, roll around in? This is a question I tend to ask every time I meet with a client, and I do get looks of concern when I do too. ("Oh know, she is going to take my lawn away!!!") But in most cases, while I know that the client is not prepared to let go of the tradition of a piece of grass to grace their front, I am just hoping to encourage people to think about turf as having a use, and if you are not using it, or if you do not need as much as you have to get use out of if - then get rid of it, or cut back on how much you do have.
Before going any further I do want to throw a disclaimer out there that I am not a turf hater, and you will likely see grass in most of the pictures I show here of yards I designed. My senior term paper for my Turf Management 2050 course (I know, nerd.) was all about how to care for the plant referred to as turf to water it less. Did you know that you could cut down on how much you water you lawn to only 2 times a week?! Grass has a purpose and I am happy to see grass grow and thrive when serving that purpose. But, did you know that some landscapes using native and drought tolerant plants can go with out ANY supplemental water?! This means that while you are spending lots of money on your water bill to keep that piece of lawn alive that you hate to mow, that gets crab grass or mushrooms that makes you want to cringe, you could be spending nothing, AND have a beautiful BLOOMING landscape. I did the all cap thing on blooming because a lot of people think this kind of landscape is all lava rock and dead cow skulls (ewe) when really you can have something truly beautiful and not water it at all.
I have something like 3 posts happening in 1 here. The main point. Grass is OK, but we should have it if we are going to use it, not to just go with this weird expectation that has been set. Grass when used can be watered more efficiently(whole other post - but if you are anxious to learn more now visit slow the flow.). And finally, xeric (and its xeric, said zeeric, no zero, drives me batty when people call xeriscaping zeroscaping, ugh!) landscapes using native and drought tolerant plants can be beautiful, and a whole other post will have to be dedicated to how you care for a xeric landscape as it is like learning a new gardening language for a lot of people that have come accustom to watering every single day.
That yard down there in the first post of this here blog - that yard, while it has grass in the front yard (mind you we cut it down by about 25% and the reason there is lawn is because the kids play on it and run from the neighbors lawn to their lawn) is designed with mostly drought tolerant plants and the entire front yard can be trained to take 2 watering's in a week. Pretty isn't it? Does it fit your expectation of what a lower water yard would look like?
Dig focuses on sustainability, and in these parts that means low water use. My designs are focused on water wise landscapes at varying levels. If you are intersted in learning more about how you can cut down on your water use have me out to give you a consultation, or contact your local extension office, or schedule a water check.
