Record snowfall in recent years has not been enough to offset long-term drying conditions and increasing groundwater demands in the U.S. Southwest, according
California in particular – with large population centers in arid landscape – has seen some movement on xeriscaping, doing landscaping that still looks nice – even if it’s not as tolerant of being walked on. But it’s still really not a norm.
Colorado and large parts of Texas join California in this. In Colorado it’s especially galling to see huge lawns of grass because a.) native flora are very attractive and b.) it is so god damn dry most of the year that it makes California look like wetlands, which exacerbates the issue since grass doesn’t shade the ground as effectively from the harsh sun as native plants do, resulting in the need for more frequent watering. And this is on top of summers that regularly reach the hundreds, and winters that regularly get down into the negative double digits.
This is somewhat mitigated by two things: there are of course fewer people in Colorado than California, and much more importantly, fewer celebrities.
it’s especially galling to see huge lawns of grass because a.) native flora are very attractive
Even if someone really wants the sort of “meadow” look that lawns provide, as long as it doesn’t have to tolerate the kind of foot traffic that typical lawn grasses do, you can get grasses and grass-like plants that are okay with a lot less water.
Colorado and large parts of Texas join California in this. In Colorado it’s especially galling to see huge lawns of grass because a.) native flora are very attractive and b.) it is so god damn dry most of the year that it makes California look like wetlands, which exacerbates the issue since grass doesn’t shade the ground as effectively from the harsh sun as native plants do, resulting in the need for more frequent watering. And this is on top of summers that regularly reach the hundreds, and winters that regularly get down into the negative double digits.
This is somewhat mitigated by two things: there are of course fewer people in Colorado than California, and much more importantly, fewer celebrities.
Even if someone really wants the sort of “meadow” look that lawns provide, as long as it doesn’t have to tolerate the kind of foot traffic that typical lawn grasses do, you can get grasses and grass-like plants that are okay with a lot less water.