Did you ever stop to consider the legacy of the lawn and its origin? What does having a lawn mean to you personally? Would you keep your lawn even if you didn’t have pets or children? Brown has invariably become the new “green”, not by choice but by mandate in Southern CA as lawns that were never drought resistant in the first place manifest the inevitable dieback that is the consequence of only being able to water once or twice a week.

Believe it or not, dieback is not inevitable for all lawns. For one, you need the right grass species. There are some lovely CA natives that work well for smaller patches of lawn. For another, the lawn has to be “trained” to become drought resistant by slowly diminishing the amount of irrigation it receives. Not all species of grass are going to be appropriate for this training, which is not for wimps!

Change offers the valuable opportunity to reconsider what is valuable and necessary as we sift through the detritus of habit. I for one am voting for end of the era of ornamental lawns.

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