The city or suburban lawn, although a delightful play place for pets and little people, is controversial -particularly in its water usage and run-off:
- The California city of Santa Cruz offers a lawn removal rebate to encourage water conservation.
- The US Geological Survey and others are studying how lawn fertilizer run-off may damage lakes.
Our family has been decreasing the size of our three areas of grass and creating drought-resistent gardens in their place.
John and I go for daily walks around our San Jose neighborhood of Willow Glen and naturally notice what our fellow-gardeners are doing. As we approach Easter, we now see the results of both fortunate and ill-advised Winter gardening efforts. As patchy as our back lawn is from enthusiastic dog wallowing, at least it is not the saddest lawn around! Some neighborhood notables:
Zebra-lawn (from uneven fertilizer distribution):
Dandelion crop (too long between weeding):
Bowling lanes (from mowing when wet):
Dirt (work in progress?):
Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
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