The most water guzzling crop in America isn't something we need, like
corn or wheat. It's actually grass.
In fact, NASA says grass covers three times more space than anyone of
our irrigated crops.
And we don't know if maintaining it produces more greenhouse gases
than it absorbs. So I'm in drought stricken California to see how
folks are waging war against our obsession with the perfect lawn in
our region. We have droughts of six months or longer every year. Our
climate is not set up to have a plant that needs water three times a
week. Jody Cook is a sustainable landscape designer who helps people
like the Bursins transform their lawns into gardens with native
plants that are better for the environment.
Jody, you've got a beautiful landscaped garden here, but everything
here was chosen specifically for this area. Why? What you do here is
so critical, I think, of the infrastructure of the garden. So most
lawns which this used to be are graded to the street, a consistent
grade which does not allow rainfall to infiltrate. And so we had to
contour the land so that it would accept rainfall. So the first thing
we did was we built swales and rain gardens and we tried to bring
water into the landscape.
From the roof, this plant slows water down. It's for infiltration.
Native plants like these are more drought resistant than lawns, and
it takes significantly less water to keep them alive. Saving water
just happens because this landscape and all the plants in it evolved
in this climate. Just focus on mapping your landscape to your
climate. More and more water agencies are so desperate to cut down on
water use, they're offering big rebates to residents who replace
their grass. That could add up to thousands of dollars.
So when we look at customers who've taken out grass and gone to
California native plants, we see about a 70% reduction or more on
water use for those sites. Moving to California native plants helps
to reduce that outdoor water use so we can preserve that for indoor
needs for our customers just drinking, right, exactly. Doing the
day-to-day things that we survive on, right, exactly. So grass needs
a ton of water and we all know it's a ton of work, so.
Why did this become the gold standard of our front yard? Lawns became
synonymous with wealth and royalty in the late 18th century, and that
status symbol has carried over to society today. It's time we drop
the connection between the American dream and a perfectly manicured
lawn and place the focus squarely on the environment. Regardless of
where you live, native plants promote biodiversity and can reconnect
us with nature.
Wish that more people would do what we did. And I'm kind of
disappointed that some of our neighbors didn't kind of jump in and
say, yes, I want to do that too, regardless of where you live. Here's
a few ideas to get you started. Talk to a landscaper or local garden
center to see what plants are native to your area and require fewer
pesticides. Don't automatically go for artificial turf that's so bad
for the environment that even some California agencies have banned
its use. We never used the front yard.
In the past or anything, we walked through it, but with this we
developed a little sitting area and we'll have a glass of wine in the
evening and watch the birds and the butterflies.
There was a family of birds that can't take up residence really
anywhere else in the same way because this has food, it has shelter,
it has water, it has everything that they need. If the only person
that uses the lawn is the guy who mows it, why do you have a lawn?