I approached Chad with my idea to run a mini session at his farm day about Xeriscape. It stemmed from a very intimate relationship with our front yard in Sunnyvale. My relationship with this front lawn was so intimate that I let it die. It's death was not cold hearted at all. I even paid my respects by letting California poppies hop my neighbor's fence and take over a quarter of the front yard. It's beautiful in the spring after a long California summer ends with life giving rains and a carpet of orange flowers! Letting the lawn turn brown has not been an easy task. I now know this to be the natural cycle of grasses, but this was not what was hard to grasp. The cultural cornerstone of a green green grass out front has been my toughest lesson.

As far as I can make of it, the concept of Xeriscape, or any other low water landscape practice, is to be a steward to the natural, native landscape. The practice of the green green lawn is something very different. I've read somewhere that an average lawn in California uses 40,000 gallons of water in a summer(there are lots of different stats, but this isn't far fetched to me). And most of this water is clean/potable water from our houses! A nice lawn is great for kids and adults alike to play on, but parks can more than fill this limited use. In a world where fresh water is becoming one of our most precious resources, this some how feels very wrong. This is not a cornerstone we need to hand to our next generation in it's entirety.


Where ever this cornerstone of our culture came from and however it remains, I believe this to be a giant hurdle to sustainability. Xeriscape (or other low-water, water cycle sensitive practices) is one part of our trajectory to sustainability, and we are the hurdlers. I believe we have to reach out to our neighbors and collectively practice and teach each other the practice of a smart, sensitive landscape.

Xeriscape

Xeriscape and the logo were registered as trademarks by Denver Water in Colorado in 1978. This practice is also called drought tolerant, smartscape, water conserving, or zeroscaping. What ever you want to call it, these practices always emphasize using native species, retaining annual rain fall on site(permeable hardscape), and using efficient watering systems such as a drip system.

Some further links

http://www.xeriscape.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeriscape




Please share some ideas by adding a comment at the bottom of the page about:

• What does the green green lawn mean to Us?
• Why is it so hard to let it brown?
• What are some alternative ground covers?
• Any good resources for natural landscaping.
• Spread the word, Santa Clara County Water District pays you to remove your lawn!
• Point out any native species you see here in the garden and tell someone about it.
• Any creative material re-use in the garden(ie. wine barrel planters)
• Veggie garden out front?