I agree that using things like astroturf, native plants, xeriscape, etc. is the way to go. Going forward, I think we will have no choice up here in Temecula and we’ll be better off without all this grass in the desert.
I wanted to do something along these lines when I owned my house but my wife wanted a tropical look. After a few hot summers and some big water bills, she started to change her mind. Our rental house has a very small yard so there isn’t very much grass to water – at least it’s a step in the right direction.
Aside from the water usage, lawns cause a lot of environmental damage due to fertilizer and pesticide runoff. Plus there’s the hassle of having to mow it, fertilize it, fix sprinkler heads, etc. The less grass, the better.
Plants should be suited to the climate as well. I can’t believe some of the plants that Lowe’s and Home Depot sell up here. Almost everyone that moves up here from San Diego has a story about how they spent a couple hundred bucks on plants that all burned up in the summer heat. I did that but I brought them all back (I had saved the pots) and got a store credit. After that, I started researching what types of plants, trees would do well up here before buying them.
