St. George • During a meeting a year ago, Karen Goodfellow didn’t want to throw water on Washington County water managers’ success in getting people to replace grass with more drought-tolerant landscaping.
After all, in the two years since the start of its Water Efficient Landscape Program, which pays businesses and homeowners up to $2 per square foot to replace grass with landscaping that uses less water, the Washington County Water Conservancy District has helped hordes of people kick their grass habit.
All told, roughly 1.5 million square feet of grass — more than 25 football fields — in the area have been replaced with water-efficient landscaping, according to the district’s calculations, resulting in a yearly savings of about 65 million gallons.
Still, Goodfellow told Doug Bennett, who oversees the district’s water conservation efforts, at the meeting that the rebate program could use some more “sizzle.” To her delight, Bennett not only didn’t take offense but also joined her in launching a new offensive in the district’s ongoing “Get Off Your Lazy Grass” campaign to persuade people to give grass a pass.
The result is the first-ever Parade of Gardens Southern Utah, an event now underway aimed at educating people how to replace their lawns with more desert-appropriate landscaping. Hosted by Conserve Southwest Utah, in league with the district and a number of area businesses, the garden tour, loosely patterned after the popular Parade of Homes, is set to become an annual affair.
“The whole purpose is to let people living in southwest Utah see that there are lots of creative ways they can be more waterwise and water-conscious, and we all want to conserve water for this and future generations,” said Goodfellow, Conserve Southwest Utah’s vice president and water team manager.
Show and sell
Contrary to one common misconception, xeriscaping is about more than ripping out a lawn and replacing it with rocks. It can include installing koi ponds or water features, planting cactuses and other succulents, and growing desert willow, mesquite and other trees that use less water.
“Tours like this show everyone that the only thing they need to sacrifice by putting in water-efficient landscaping is excess water use,” said Cynthia Bee, director of community engagement for Utah Water Ways, a nonprofit dedicated to optimizing use of water resources. “They don’t have to choose between having beautiful landscaping and conserving water. They can have both.”
Other than merely telling people to save water and plant differently, organizers said, it is better to show and sell them on what they need to do to achieve a beautiful, water-efficient landscape. To that end, Goodfellow, Bennett and fellow committee members selected 10 homeowners, who were culled from scores of applicants across the county, to put their yards on display for the garden parade.
(Molly Graf) A cactus from the yard of Molly Graf, one of 10 homeowners being featured in this weekend’s Parade of Gardens Southern Utah, which is aimed at showing people how to replace lawns with more water-efficient landscaping.
One of them is Molly Graf, who will be showcasing the mature yucca, agave and desert flora in her yard.
“I thought it would be helpful for people to see what an older established desert garden can look like,” the St. George resident said, “and how much fun it can be as a contrast to a lot of the newer landscapes.”
Other gardeners will feature less-traditional landscapes, including one that is a “permaculture yard” filled with edibles and plants for healing. For Bennett, the event underscores the need to beautify the landscape while ditching grass that serves no function.
“We might have as much as 40% of lawn grass [in the county] that we consider nonfunctional,” he said. “These are areas where the only time someone walks on them, they are pushing a lawn mower. And in some cases, they’re not even accessible. It’s hard to even get the lawn mower to them. They are purely decorative, and they use four times as much water.”
The garden tour wraps up Sunday at noon. For more information or to buy tickets, consult the Parade of Gardens Southern Utah website.
(Molly Graf) Vegetation from the yard of Molly Graf, one of 10 homeowners being featured in this weekend’s Parade of Gardens Southern Utah, which is aimed at showing people how to replace lawns with more water-efficient landscaping.
