Thanks for a very fine column! I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. Kerouac called it the City of Lawn Sprinklers. Wish my folks had thought like your dad!
If only this could become the norm, yet perhaps it will as we face the challenging changes to our planet. Another beautifully written and entertaining ; quite a man your father was!
Thanks so much Susan. I hope this is the way the world goes, sooner rather than later. I guess eventually, we will run out of water and it won’t be a choice. And yeah Dad was hoot! I miss him still.
So fun. What a shmart man! He knew the most efficient way to make weeds disappear is to call them plants. Did he ever consider a goat-mower? Thanks for your post.
OMG I forgot to mention his goat idea!! Can't believe you mentioned it because of course he thought about getting a goat, had one as a kid and was always threatening to get one. So funny.
This article resonates! After metropolitan Cape Town almost ran out of water due to a prolonged drought a few years ago, it was almost a relief to disconnect from the idea of trying to maintain a lush green English garden at the tip of Africa, where we already have the most amazing floral biome that has stood the test of time long before we settled, and arrogantly attempted to change our natural surrounds. And now we enjoy the wonderful bird-life that has flocked back to the wild garden...
As much as I love raising my 2 daughters (now 14.5 and 16), I imagine my true rewilding happening when they’re out of the house. Lol…how does your average Joe have $ once you’ve put 2 kids through college. We’ll figure it out but cannot wait for wanderlust to encompass me again. Loved this rewilding piece Susanna ♥️
Loved your story today. After adding a deck and sewer line three years ago, our yard has been a mess! We’re in our 70’s so repairing the lawn is no easy task. We’re in the middle of Wyoming prairie so we have lots of natural seeds blowing in…I think it will be total prairie in a few years…yeah…NO watering!
Nice story about the family's lawn gone to wild prairie, thank you for it! I've been thinking seriously about turning my Denver-area front lawn into xeriscape--thanks to replacement of a sewer line, turned about 1/3 of it into a wide strip of bare dirt, a good start. Haven't done anything serious with it yet, though. Will keep a back lawn patch still as lawn--for playing croquet, relaxing on... Neither is real large; most of the rest, front & back is already shrubs & trees and flowers, gets by without too much watering... 👍
Xeriscaping, a common thing out west, not so much talked about back east in the land of abundant water I guess! Using native vegetation, low water demand shrubs, tall grasses, yucca, rocks, gravel, mulch. Can grade into what is sometimes derided as "zeroscaping", all rocks and gravel and very little vegetation to make it look and feel inviting. My own property so far isn't really xeriscaped, just semi-natural looking perennials, annuals, shrubs and flowering & fruit trees that collectively don't need as much care or water as grass does. I guess it's pretty wild, actually!
My addendum; after reviewing the neighborhood, I went to a nearby area that had been built up much more recently, in the last few years. The homes are larger, more expensive, and with fewer trees. My expectation was that xeriscaped yards would be more common here, in the new construction. I was wrong! That had at least just as much lawn area as the older neighborhood, and likewise had a similar mix of semi-xeriscape landscaped zones + regular grass lawns. In fact, I really saw no "fully xeriscaped" properties at all there. So, overall, for both neighborhoods, I'd say that only 5-10% of the lots were what one would call "xeriscaped", but probably the average residential lot was perhaps half or 2/3 lawn, the rest "moderate xeriscaping". This is just our area here in the Denver metro region, of course. I know that in most of Albuquerque, Tucson, or Phoenix, xeriscaping is becoming the norm now. A few pictures will follow.
Susanna, I'll send you a photo or two. You understand, I'm not any kind of expert on any of this, either landscaping or water use or ecosystems--I'm just an earth science and "citizen" who cares about and understands a bit about land use, water resources, some aspects of ecology. So, I did a little walking tour of my neighborhood, to see if I could photograph a good example(s) of xeriscaping, and to kind of survey how common it is here. I found about what I expected--full xeriscaping is pretty rare here; most homes have front lawns, though not huge ones, usually (like) just occupying a part of the property. Now, "my neighborhood" is an older, established area of single-family homes, with many trees, in Wheat Ridge, a suburb adjoining Denver on the west, and the homes are typically 50-70 years old. All would have probably had lawns originally, and it takes a lot of work to convert an established lawn into xeriscaping. One thing I did learn, though. The "front yard" area of most homes could be counted as "partly xeriscaped", because more often than not, they have strips or patches of rocks/bricks/gravel/mulch planted lightly or heavily with tress, bushes/shrubs, native plants & grasses, or flower beds. A few that I looked at incorporated very few plants, and could almost qualify as "zeroscaped". ... I'll add a followup part 2...
Thanks for a very fine column! I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. Kerouac called it the City of Lawn Sprinklers. Wish my folks had thought like your dad!
Hi Paul, a belated thank for this kind note. Land of Lawn Sprinklers! ha.
If only this could become the norm, yet perhaps it will as we face the challenging changes to our planet. Another beautifully written and entertaining ; quite a man your father was!
Thanks so much Susan. I hope this is the way the world goes, sooner rather than later. I guess eventually, we will run out of water and it won’t be a choice. And yeah Dad was hoot! I miss him still.
So fun. What a shmart man! He knew the most efficient way to make weeds disappear is to call them plants. Did he ever consider a goat-mower? Thanks for your post.
OMG I forgot to mention his goat idea!! Can't believe you mentioned it because of course he thought about getting a goat, had one as a kid and was always threatening to get one. So funny.
This article resonates! After metropolitan Cape Town almost ran out of water due to a prolonged drought a few years ago, it was almost a relief to disconnect from the idea of trying to maintain a lush green English garden at the tip of Africa, where we already have the most amazing floral biome that has stood the test of time long before we settled, and arrogantly attempted to change our natural surrounds. And now we enjoy the wonderful bird-life that has flocked back to the wild garden...
That sounds gorgeous Leon, thanks for writing. Send a photo of your new garden, I'd love to share in the next edition!
I can send a pic ( incl the resident ginger cat - people love cats... )
- however beware, the garden currently resembles more of a disheveled weed patch at present, as opposed to the idyllic meadow it aspires to...
Is there an email address I can use?
Wonderful ! Send to Susanna.notjustyou@gmail.com
If only my own father did this, I wouldn't have had to rake so many leaves on our hilly NJ lawn. This is one of my fave INJY pieces so far!
haha! Thanks Aaron
As much as I love raising my 2 daughters (now 14.5 and 16), I imagine my true rewilding happening when they’re out of the house. Lol…how does your average Joe have $ once you’ve put 2 kids through college. We’ll figure it out but cannot wait for wanderlust to encompass me again. Loved this rewilding piece Susanna ♥️
Thanks so much for the kind words, Dianne. My kids will both be graduating college in May and, well, it'll be a brave new world for me. :)
Loved your story today. After adding a deck and sewer line three years ago, our yard has been a mess! We’re in our 70’s so repairing the lawn is no easy task. We’re in the middle of Wyoming prairie so we have lots of natural seeds blowing in…I think it will be total prairie in a few years…yeah…NO watering!
Thanks Sue. What a lovely vision, just natural prairie. Isn't that the dream?
Nice story about the family's lawn gone to wild prairie, thank you for it! I've been thinking seriously about turning my Denver-area front lawn into xeriscape--thanks to replacement of a sewer line, turned about 1/3 of it into a wide strip of bare dirt, a good start. Haven't done anything serious with it yet, though. Will keep a back lawn patch still as lawn--for playing croquet, relaxing on... Neither is real large; most of the rest, front & back is already shrubs & trees and flowers, gets by without too much watering... 👍
Thanks Pete. That sounds lovely. And what is a xeriscape? I must ask. How intriguing.
Xeriscaping, a common thing out west, not so much talked about back east in the land of abundant water I guess! Using native vegetation, low water demand shrubs, tall grasses, yucca, rocks, gravel, mulch. Can grade into what is sometimes derided as "zeroscaping", all rocks and gravel and very little vegetation to make it look and feel inviting. My own property so far isn't really xeriscaped, just semi-natural looking perennials, annuals, shrubs and flowering & fruit trees that collectively don't need as much care or water as grass does. I guess it's pretty wild, actually!
Send a photo and I'll include in the next edition!
👍
My addendum; after reviewing the neighborhood, I went to a nearby area that had been built up much more recently, in the last few years. The homes are larger, more expensive, and with fewer trees. My expectation was that xeriscaped yards would be more common here, in the new construction. I was wrong! That had at least just as much lawn area as the older neighborhood, and likewise had a similar mix of semi-xeriscape landscaped zones + regular grass lawns. In fact, I really saw no "fully xeriscaped" properties at all there. So, overall, for both neighborhoods, I'd say that only 5-10% of the lots were what one would call "xeriscaped", but probably the average residential lot was perhaps half or 2/3 lawn, the rest "moderate xeriscaping". This is just our area here in the Denver metro region, of course. I know that in most of Albuquerque, Tucson, or Phoenix, xeriscaping is becoming the norm now. A few pictures will follow.
Susanna, I'll send you a photo or two. You understand, I'm not any kind of expert on any of this, either landscaping or water use or ecosystems--I'm just an earth science and "citizen" who cares about and understands a bit about land use, water resources, some aspects of ecology. So, I did a little walking tour of my neighborhood, to see if I could photograph a good example(s) of xeriscaping, and to kind of survey how common it is here. I found about what I expected--full xeriscaping is pretty rare here; most homes have front lawns, though not huge ones, usually (like) just occupying a part of the property. Now, "my neighborhood" is an older, established area of single-family homes, with many trees, in Wheat Ridge, a suburb adjoining Denver on the west, and the homes are typically 50-70 years old. All would have probably had lawns originally, and it takes a lot of work to convert an established lawn into xeriscaping. One thing I did learn, though. The "front yard" area of most homes could be counted as "partly xeriscaped", because more often than not, they have strips or patches of rocks/bricks/gravel/mulch planted lightly or heavily with tress, bushes/shrubs, native plants & grasses, or flower beds. A few that I looked at incorporated very few plants, and could almost qualify as "zeroscaped". ... I'll add a followup part 2...