Say Goodbye to Grass

By Michele Orecklin

Few things in Las Vegas are actually meant to be there. Not the ersatz Eiffel Tower at the Paris casino, not the white tigers from India that frolic nightly with Siegfried and Roy, and certainly not the lush residential lawns that grow emerald-green year round in the desert region. But while the landmark replicas and exotic felines draw tourists and dollars, the well-coiffed lawns drain the city's resources because of the amount of water it takes to maintain them. That's why the Southern Nevada Water Authority has started offering homeowners money--40[cents] per sq. ft., with a $1,000 maximum--to rip up all or part of their lawn and replace it with less water-dependent indigenous flora.

For years the American lawn--which gardening writer Michael Pollan has described as "nature under totalitarian rule"--has sprouted in inhospitable climates from coast to coast, seeded, fertilized, doused with water and pesticides, and mowed to within an inch of its life. But in Las Vegas and other communities, the ground is quite literally, if slowly, shifting. Whether because of water restrictions, an increased concern about pesticides or simply a backlash against the unending labor required to keep lawns pruned to perfection, more homeowners are questioning whether the grass's being greener is necessarily a good thing.

Las Vegas residents Jane and Peter Gillespie pocketed $1,000 for reducing their lawn by more than half, to 2,000 sq. ft., and are looking forward to decreased water bills. But both say they would have relandscaped for aesthetic reasons even without the financial incentive. Though they left some patches of grass, today they look out on a landscape of desert flowers and plants. The onset of summer may have other gardeners pouncing on brown areas with water and fertilizer, but the Gillespies' garden requires little additional sustenance. Since Las Vegas launched its water-conservation program in 1998, 3 million sq. ft. of lawn have been upended, and more soil is likely to be turned. "It looks like this year we're going to double what we did last year," says Doug Bennett, the water authority's conservation manager.

Other states, including New Mexico, California and Arizona, have instituted similar financial-incentive plans to save water. The National Wildlife Federation offers an official backyard wildlife habitat seal to those who curtail their lawns in favor of native plants that feed and shelter indigenous wildlife and require less pesticide and water. Applications have increased nearly 20% in the past three years. "Lawns can serve as a play space for children or a psychological barrier between homeowners and the street," says N.W.F. spokeswoman Mary Burnette, "but many people have more lawn than is good for the environment."

Another of the trend's advocates is Gordon Geballe, associate dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University and co-author of the 1993 book Redesigning the American Lawn, which is being reprinted in an updated version this month. Geballe in his book criticizes the "industrial lawn," composed only of grass and expunged of any extant weeds. He advocates the "freedom lawn," which allows a diversity of plants to crop up naturally. Since 1993, Geballe says he has witnessed an increased willingness to let lawns grow wild, as well as a greater appreciation of regional differences. "People are realizing that the Southwest is the Southwest, and its wildlife has its own beauty," he says.

Margery Winters is a Connecticut resident who has turned over a new leaf. Winters, who works with groups trying to save Long Island Sound from pollutants often generated by fertilizers, recently loosened the reins on her two acres. In one section, she has let a reckless meadow flourish where grass once stood at attention. When a group of 600 garden-club members visited her property on a tour, it was not the well-tended flower beds but the meadow that generated the most excitement. "Many of the women just stood in the middle of it," she recalls. A visitor said she was envious of the unfettered habitat but admitted that she doubted her neighbors would allow it. Suburban homogeneity, it seems, can be harder than lawns to uproot.

--With reporting by David Schwartz/Phoenix

With reporting by David Schwartz/Phoenix