There is a large-scale change happening nationwide, but especially in desert communities like Las Vegas and Orange County, to remove natural grass and replace it with artificial grass. You might not think that Orange County is a desert community, but the entirety of Southern California is actually part of the desert. The reason that Orange County does not look like a desert is years of manmade installations of plants that are not natural to the environment. This includes the widespread installation of sod and grass that happened over the past few decades. These are not natural, but the consistent warm weather combined with the ability to create artificial water supplies allowed people to remake their environment in the method they wanted. Unfortunately, this was a little irresponsible due to the fact that we are wasting a natural resource that is in limited supply, assuming that there is enough to go around. Los Angeles’ population has swelled over the years to create a situation where there are just too many people for the public water supply to adequately feed, and the dwindling supplies combined with a drought has brought the area to a crisis point. Because of the lack of available water for people and animals to drink, it has been made mandatory that residents do not waste the water they have. This means that the artificial supplies have been shut off to landscaping and other areas, ones that are deemed as decorative. People are simply more important than your grass.
Because there is no assurance that the drought conditions will not return this summer, many people are taking the wise step to simply not re-install or repair their grass that died last year. Instead, they are allocating that money towards the installation of water-smart landscaping. These are items that do not rely upon water to remain looking good, and will not require the upkeep that plants do either. These kinds of installations might use desert plants, pavers, crushed rock or even artificial grass. The artificial grass installation will resemble a traditional lawn and have all the same features, but it will be made of plastic blades of grass that are adhered to a backing material. This mimics the look and feel of many different types of grass, and can create many different types of looks in your living spaces. It is perfect for children and pets to play on due to it being soft and cushioned, as well as being friendly to pet urine as it is water penetrable.
When you decide to make the switch to water saving grass, you will not only be reducing the amount of work that you have to do and money that you have to spend on the grass in your yard, you will also be being a good neighbor and steward of the community. You will be participating in a great endeavor, saving water for living beings in our area so that nobody has to worry about not having enough to drink. Isn’t that more important than your grass?
