Going All the Way for Totally Native Grass

LA is famous for its wasteful lawns. Palm Springs, a desert, is so lush with golf courses and green lawns that it can be like crossing into another dimension when you arrive. But everyone knows it’s wrong, the water will run out. Responses vary. Some stick their heads in the lawn. Others re-landscape. A recent drought exacerbated the concerns. Residents started to shame each other for over-watering. “Drought-shaming” became a minor media sensation.

Replacing a lawn is not easy. A local landscape architect gave us this example to think with: what do you do if you want a totally native grass meadow instead of a water-hogging non-native lush green lawn? At the center of the story is an emblem of sorts: the newspaper. Like water, newspapers used to be so abundant. Today, they are a hot commodity. Maybe the newspaper wars are coming before the water wars are over.

She had a lawnmower only for that lawn.