Having a lush green lawn is becoming a thing of the past in the western part of the United States. Not only is it not environmentally practical, its time consuming, resource intensive, boring, very expensive, and sometimes a real pain in the rear. Here I will list out my top 10 reasons why going xeric is a better choice not only for the environment but for your own sanity.
10) Save the Frustration– How many times have you started to notice that dead spot in your lawn? Did you know urine from dogs can be a common problem but not the only problem? I’m sure you have had more dead spots than you can count. Lawns can have many common problems. Stress from high heat and drought, diseases that can take out an entire lawn, the need for fertilizing and other chemicals, issues with thatch and compacted soil are just to name a few reasons. The list of issues that can happen with a lawn go on. Then when it gets too out of hand, you’ll have to replace the lawn. Installing new sod can cost thousands of dollars to have done and use tens of thousands of gallons of water to establish.
9) Saving Money – The upkeep on a lawn isn’t cheap. Have you seen the price of a bag of fertilizer? It’s a five-star dinner for one. Also, with many states moving towards electric mowers, those new mowers aren’t cheap either. Let’s also not forget one of the biggest dollar savers, the reduction of water that is being used. It’s almost just common sense.
8) Water Savings – It’s estimated that 60% of urban water usage is used on our lawns in Colorado! Disgusting. Did you know that roughly 50% of that water used on lawns is lost due to evaporation, wind, or runoff caused by improper watering methods? Puke. Its estimated that a single 500 square feet of lawn uses 67,500 gallons of water per year. Holy smokes! In just the city of Denver, not the metropolitan area, just the city of Denver, Denver Water department calculated that people use 120 million of gallons PER DAY (2020) just to water the lawn. I think America has a real problem here. Water is becoming scarce in our rivers, lakes, and underground and we waste almost half of it on grass.
7) Increase Water Quality – Rain and irrigation causes runoff into streams, rivers, lakes, and seepage into ground water of all the pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers that we use. It’s one of the biggest causes of algae blooms. Plus, these toxins get in our food supply including fruits, vegetables, and animal products. Not only do you eat it, but you go swimming in it at our lakes or rivers. Lets not even start on why cancer is rampant compared to the 1900s.
6) Reduces Air and Noise Pollution – Not needing to run the lawn mower every week or two will reduce the amount of gas you need to use or the noise that it creates. How many times have you been out reading a good book when you neighbor has to fire up their mower because its time to mow? Imagine how much quieter our neighborhoods would be without mowers, weed eaters, and leaf blowers constantly running.
5) You’ll Enjoy More Birds – Since 1970 we have lost over 30% of our bird populations and even more in urban areas, and this number continues to grow. Lawns don’t provide the proper habitat to support birds. Many plants that are xeric to your area are of course native plants. Native plants bring back lost seeds and an entire host of wildlife that support bird populations. Did you know that Hawaii is the only state in the United States where there are no hummingbirds? In several states hummingbirds have become rare to see, especially in urban environments due to the lack of food resources. Hummingbirds don’t just consume nectar, they consume mosquitoes, spiders, gnats, flies, and other insects. Plus, they are my favorite bird to watch! Bring back the the birds!
4) Enjoy More Butterflies – Have you ever noticed that you hardly see butterflies anymore? There is a reason for that. Since the 1990s we have lost over 50% of our butterfly populations! At the time of this writing in 2023, over 20% of butterfly populations are endangered. Butterflies can’t survive in lawns and on non-native plants. While I am not a native plant purist, I do believe in having several natives that support butterfly populations to thrive. Its amazing at how quickly you’ll see butterflies once you remove the lawn and bring in some native plants. While habitat loss is to blame, one of the biggest causes is pesticides. Many pesticides don’t list all the insects it kills, that’s marketing at its worst. Many people think they are killing gnats or mosquitos, but they are also killing butterflies and bees. Conventional agriculture is one of the biggest threats through their use of pesticides.
3) Enjoy the Outdoors More – Ever since I have started converting my lawn, I am outside more just enjoying the beauty of the garden. I’ve seen wildlife I never knew even existed in my yard. It’s fascinating to watch the hummingbirds dance, the butterflies go from plant to plant, plus the amount of different species of bees that we have. I get to enjoy all the fragrances I have from my yard and I can cut flowers to bring them inside for a nice display. One perk is that I get several comments from my neighbors. I’m slowly converting them. One has almost demanded my assistance at the nursery this Spring and thinking of remove the rest of their super small front lawn.
2) Your Yard Will be More Beautiful – I enjoy having colors in my life. Just having a sea of flat green is boring in my opinion. There is very little interest, texture, or variety of anything including life itself. I would just rather enjoy reading a book, sipping a glass of my favorite beverage, eating dinner, or just sitting outside taking in the sunrays in my garden than on a grass lawn. There is only one thing to smile at in a monocultured lawn, and that’s just the single species of monocultured lawn. Yawn to the lawn! There is a time and place for a lawn, but we really need to consider how much we need, and the type of grass that is used. When I was a kid, I enjoyed playing in the garden more than I enjoyed playing in my grass lawn. When I wanted to kick a ball around, I ended up going to the park or a nearby school to do that since the field was just that much more vast and I was less likely to break another window (inside real story/joke 😉 Plus imagine building your kids sandbox surrounded by plants and wildlife. Amazing!
1) No More Mowing! – I didn’t say no more yardwork, I said no more mowing. I still have Spring clean up and weeding to do. Pulling weeds in the garden is easier than getting rid of weeds in the lawn by far. You also don’t need to do yardwork every single week. One of the biggest fears I had was the number of weeds I might have without a lawn to smother them out. The first year or two I had quite a few weeds popup due to dormmate seeds. I spent about an hour a week pulling weeds by hand and I live on almost a half an acre. By my third year, I get the occasional weed that needs to be pulled before it blooms and produces seeds. I can go 2-3 weeks without having to pull weeds, give or take more or less depending on the amount of additional irrigation or rain and it generally takes less than hour. Most of the time, I do go out and just walk the yard a couple times a week and pull them as I see them. With no mowing and less yard maintenance, that just means longer vacations and more weekends out having fun!!