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Landscaping that Makes Sense for the West |
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When I moved here from Ohio twelve years ago, I cared for my lawn the way
I did in Ohio--rather the way I didn't care for my lawn in Ohio. In southern Ohio,
I never had to water my half acre of Kentucky bluegrass. And although I never
sprayed my lawn with herbicide (weed killers), the neighbors all did and the
grass grew so thick that I had very few weeds. What I did do was mow, and
mow constantly! There was never a summer evening or weekend when I
couldn't hear the roar of a lawn mower somewhere in the neighborhood.
When I practiced this level of lawn care on my bluegrass here in Fort Collins,
I ended up with a sorry-looking, balding brown patch of weed-infested
turf. You see, southern Ohio borders Kentucky and that is where Kentucky
bluegrass grows. It and other high-maintenance turf varieties are not
meant to be grown in northern Colorado. In spite of this, we in Fort
Collins persist in our quest to have these traditional lawns.
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It is time for us to rethink our landscaping practices.
In our arid Western climate and poor soil, the traditional lawn takes too much water,
time, and harmful chemicals to maintain.
We can measure the cost not only in time
and money but also in risk to our health and to the health of the environment.
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In Fort Collins, we must use herbicides when growing these foreign turfs.
The local weeds are much hardier and there are city ordinances and homeowners'
covenants against noxious weeds. But the chemicals we use to eradicate them run
off into the water supply where they cause problems. Americans dump over 70 million
pounds of herbicides and pesticides onto our lawns each year. This does not even include
the amount of chemical fertilizers we use. Most of these chemicals run off into the
water supply, where contamination causes problems for our health and safety
(Bormann, Balmori, and Geballe 208).
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Concern grows over the effects these expensive chemicals are
having on our health and the health of children, pets, and lawn
care workers. In my Ohio neighborhood, chemicals were sprayed
in a lawn somewhere almost daily. I remember their distinct
smell and the irritation they caused when the wind blew them into
my children's eyes as they played outdoors. In response to
concern about the safety of these irritating chemicals, little yellow
warning flags now dot Fort Collins lawns after spraying. These flags
picture cross marks through silhouettes of children and pets. What
do these warnings mean? Don't walk across the lawn? Don't let kids
and pets play here? For how long? It does not make sense to continue
using varieties of plants that require so many risky chemicals to keep
them weed and bug free.
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Varieties of grass that are more resistant to pests, disease, and weeds
and are better suited to the West make this risk unnecessary. Buffalo
grass is one example. Terry Riordan, Ph.D., professor of horticulture
at the University of Nebraska, said this about buffalo grass: "Buffalo
grass is pretty new and just starting to be used, but people who try
it like it because it requires less maintenance than those other two
species [Kentucky bluegrass and turf-type tall fescue]" (qtd. in Bucks 40).
Turf species such as buffalo grass and crested wheatgrass tolerate
the poor soil and dry conditions of the West and stay green with little
or no irrigation (Meyer 60). These grasses are prairie grasses meant
for our area. They are low growing and require little mowing. Riordon
reported that some people only mowed their buffalo grass once during
the season (qtd. in Bucks 40). We only have to water them a little to
keep them green and not at all to keep them alive.
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Choosing a variety that requires little or no watering also saves Fort
Collins homeowners money. Water in the West is scarce and becoming
more expensive. My summertime water usage increases by over 100
percent, from around 4,500 gallons per month to between 10,000 and
12,000 gallons per month. The average water use in Fort Collins rises
by almost 150 percent to 14,500 gallons. Even with only one watering
per week, 33 percent of my total yearly water usage is for my lawn.
Most Fort Collins residents water more often, reflected in the higher
average water usage of 55 to 58 percent. (See the chart on the following page.)
In the West, 60 percent of urban water goes to watering lawns (Bormann,
Balmori, and Geballe 107). In a telephone interview conducted March 24,
1997, Laura D'Audni of the Fort Collins City Water Utilities reported the
yearly outdoor water use of Fort Collins residents is between 50 and 55
percent. If we choose turf varieties that require little or no watering, we
could cut our water bills by this percentage.
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More appropriate species of grass would save time and money by making
fertilizers and amendments obsolete. Our soil is not suited to bluegrass.
It is poor, arid, and alkaline and must constantly be boosted with chemical
fertilizers and amendments. Lawn care experts recommend that fertilizer be
applied to bluegrass three to four times per growing season. They say we
should aerate and thatch as well. I spend much more time and money to
maintain a lawn in Fort Collins than I did in Ohio--and my lawn here is only
one-third of my Ohio lawn.
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If I could afford it, I could hire this service done. There are companies
who would come to my home four times a season to spray my lawn with
"liquid fertilizer and weed control" for only $43.97 per application, plus $50.60
for yearly aeration. So let's add that up: the chemical pesticides and herbicides;
the fertilizer; the water; the cost of a mower, gas, and its maintenance; and hoses
which constantly sprout leaks, get chewed up by the dog, or run over by the mower
(or factor in the more expensive irrigation system). Consider this:
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Basic Cost per Season for Care of Bluegrass
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| Four chemical applications
| $175.88
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| Aeration
| $50.60
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| 55-58 percent of yearly water bill
| $183.60
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| Mower maintenance and gas
| $35.00
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| Total
| $445.08
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Time Spent per Season in Basic Lawn Care
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Hours mowing and trimming
(2 hours per week x 5 months) |
43.3 hours
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Hours monitoring and moving hoses *
(6 hours per week x 5 months) |
129.6 hours |
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Total |
172.9 hours |
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*This time could be cut down with multiple hoses going at the same time.
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I can think of plenty of other things I'd rather do with this money and time.
I am probably not alone in thinking there has to be a better way. It is well past time
that Coloradoans gave up their old-fashioned Eastern lawns for landscaping that makes
sense in the West. So why aren't we hearing about alternatives from the lawn care industry?
Because they have a lot to lose--billions of our dollars.
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Since the cost of maintaining an alternative is so low, lawn care experts have
no stake in keeping us informed about more appropriate species or in making
them easy to obtain. We get most of our information about lawn care and
gardening from the lawn care industry itself. This is a conflict of interest.
Most of the varieties of plants stocked in local nurseries require a lot of care
and water to thrive. However, low-maintenance varieties are available and
we can get the information we need to make good choices. We would do
better to call our county extension office for information on species suitable
to our area. In Fort Collins, an agent, referred to as a master gardener,
can be reached at (970) 498-7400. They have been advocating alternative
landscaping for some time.
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The most impartial information comes from sources that do not
stand to gain monetarily from our choice. The Coloradoan's
real estate section reprinted an article on landscaping from Popular
Mechanics that stated, "Turf grasses are the foundation of every
landscape plan, even when part of the plan is to reduce the percentage
of grass in your yard. The only worthwhile suggestion here is to avoid
traditional, short-root bluegrass varieties. These traditional turf grasses
are notorious for their susceptibility to diseases and their reliance on
huge quantities of water." It went on to describe a new variety of
zoysia, Meyer Z-52, which was low maintenance, deep-rooted, less
cold-sensitive, and stayed green longer (F1).
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If Fort Collins nurseries do not stock alternative types of seeds, they can
be ordered and are comparable in price to other lawn seeds.
(Buffalo grass is about $8 per pound.) To spare the expense of putting
in a whole new lawn, these seeds can be used to overseed and to repair
bare patches. In this way, they will gradually fill in and reseed themselves.
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Hardy trees, shrubs, groundcovers, and flowers that require
almost no attention once they are established can be a beautiful
alternative to turf, or a lovely compliment to smaller areas of an
appropriate variety of turf. Flowers and shrubs that thrive in desertlike
conditions and still produce beautiful foliage and blooms are available
in local garden stores. The key is to plan, get good information, and
choose plants appropriate to our region. A hardy groundcover like
Snow-on-the-Mountain will take over an area in a season or
two and requires no maintenance to achieve a carpet of variegated
green foliage. Flowers like cosmos and dianthus thrive on poor soil
and dry conditions to produce their delicate and colorful blooms
throughout the spring and summer growing season. There are
many beautiful wildflower mixes that do well in the Rocky Mountain West.
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The cost of switching to less hungry and thirsty landscaping can quickly
be made up in the cost saved on water and maintenance. Initial costs
can be kept to a minimum by overseeding with these new types of grass
seeds, seeding bare patches with them, and letting them take hold
gradually. Lawn space can gradually be shrunk and given over to heat
and drought-resistant varieties of flowers, trees, shrubs, and groundcovers.
These new plants can be bought with the money saved from not having
to buy chemicals and water. Choosing varieties that are perennial or that
reseed themselves will also keep cost and maintenance to a minimum.
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With a little thought, planning, and creativity, we who live in Fort
Collins can have beautiful landscapes that serve as restful retreats
for ourselves and our families without the cost and the effort of trying
to maintain an Eastern water-hungry lawn in the arid West.
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Works Cited
Bormann, Herbert F., Diana Balmori, and Gordon T. Geballe. Redesigning the American Lawn. new Haven and London: Yale U P, 1993.
Bucks, Christine. "The Right Grass = A Great Lawn." Organic Gardening May/Jun. 1995: 38-42.
D'Audni, Laurie. Phone interview. 24 Mar. 1997.
Meyer, Scott. "10 Common Lawn-Care Questions." Organic Gardening Feb. 1996: 58-61.
Wasowski, Andy. "Cutting the Grass." Sierra Oct. 1996: 18-19.
"Year-round Interest Important in Landscaping." Fort Collins Coloradoan 30 Mar. 1997: F1. |
