Had a note this morning from a Scott Varner of Xeriscape New Mexico He shared this brief article by Peter Gleick, one of our keynote speakers at this week’s Xeriscape Conference in New Mexico.
As someone once said, blogs are derivative. Occasionally that may be true, and this time I am happy to play along and share this with you:
Turf wars
I am participating this week in the 15th Annual Water Conservation and Xeriscape Conference and Expo, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and I’ve been thinking about grass. Those of us who work on water issues in the western US and elsewhere know that a part of our water quantity and quality problems is the consequence of the vast amounts of water consumed by ornamental grass, or turf, or lawns. When early immigrants to this country came over from Europe, they brought with them their ideas of landscaping, mimicking the grand English gardens with sweeping expanses of green, manicured lawn. And when those early Americans moved west, that idea came with them again, into a climate that was completely unsuited for grass and a landscape that couldn’t afford the water.
Water Number: 3 to 5 acre-feet per acre. This is how much water, in hot, dry western climates, that turf grass can suck out of our rivers, streams, and groundwater aquifers to evaporate into the air. As Amy Vickers, a leading water conservation expert and anti-lawn crusader has put it, “America’s biggest drinking problem isn’t alcohol: It’s lawn watering.”
Today, more than half of all urban water use in most western states goes to landscaping, and most of that goes to trying to maintain green turf. In places like Las Vegas, as much as 70% of all residential water use goes to outdoor landscaping. Along with that water demand comes all sorts of other problems, including over-fertilization, excessive use of pesticides, air-quality contamination, and a heavy carbon footprint associated with the energy and pollution of lawn mowers.
Study after study shows that water savings from properly designed xeriscapes can be 30 to 70% or even more over badly managed turf lawns, while still producing beautiful gardens. A study by the Irvine Ranch Water District in Orange County, California found a savings of over 50% (1.4 acre-feet per acre) in homes landscaped with native plants rather than turfgrass. The Southern Nevada Water Authority concluded in a five-year study that converting turfgrass to water-efficient landscaping save 76% of the water. And an Arizona study concluded that while a 3,000 square-meter turfgrass lawn used 9,000 to 15,000 gallons of water per month, that same area covered with native plants, shrubs and trees used only 800 to 1,300 gallons per month.
My wife and I removed all the grass from our backyard, replaced it with beautiful plants, flowers, shrubs, and hardscape. We have plum, lemon, persimmon, and apple trees, and our total water use (indoor and outdoor) is under 50 gallons per person per day — far less than half what the average Californian uses. And believe me, I don’t miss mowing.
A lawn-free, low-water using garden.
More and more communities are exploring how to get away from the intensive water demands of turf. The East Bay Municipal Utility District’s WaterSmart program offers a rebate for removing lawn, as does the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Built Green in Colorado requires landscape design to follow xeriscaping principles. Sunset Magazine recently published an article entitled “Lose the Lawn” with 14 designs for water-efficient gardens. There are many other ideas and practices for limiting the area of turf, reducing the amount of water remaining turf consumes, and reducing the overall water implications of lawns in hot, dry climates. Google “xeriscape” or visit the resources of the Xeriscape Council of New Mexico, which is hosting this week’s conference and expo.
Maybe it’s time to put the residential turf lawn in the same category as smoking on a plane: socially irresponsible, undesirable, and ultimately, eliminated. There are beautiful alternatives available for our gardens.
That reminds me of when I lived in North Central Oregon where dry is REALLY dry along the Columbia River. I removed my entire front yard of its lawn 50′ X 30′), started lavender from seed, planted it out, laid a soaker hose back and forth to all the plants, and mulched with wood chips. I watered for 30 minutes once a month. I must say my heart sank when I returned to look at the house and yard after selling to find lawn with a sprinkler system. It sadens me still!
We have a VERY small patch of turf on our property, but I would love to convert it to something–anything–more water-thrifty. We don’t have auto sprinklers, so in addition to being wasteful, maintaining that darn grass is a huge pain. Last year, my husband and I were thisclose to letting the whole thing dry out and die, and spray painting it green.
I absolutely love Catherine’s idea of planting the whole thing with lavender – I may propose that to my husband (he loves the smell of lavender). I, too, live in a place where dry is REALLY dry.