September 9th

By Mutt Mulligan

Lessons learned from the California drought

We all can agree that the drought in the West is serious business, and that water must be conserved. But as TurfMutt knows, we should not sacrifice a living, breathing landscape and the benefits it provides for deadened rock, mulch, gravel and fake grass.

Just a few weeks ago, Kris Kiser, TurfMutt’s human and the President and CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI), was in Los Angeles. He met a family there who took advantage of a government-funded program to rip out their front lawn, but then regretted it.

They wished instead they had installed drought-tolerant grasses and plants. After their lawn was removed, they were left with a dead mulch-like surface that sadly looked like compact dirt.

Now, their children and pets have nowhere to play, and they’ve lost the outdoor living space they enjoyed. Additionally, they’ve lost the benefits of oxygen production, carbon sequestration and urban heat island dissipation that a living landscape provides.

Sadly, all too often those who took the rebates and could afford to do minimal improvements were the economically disadvantaged. Meanwhile, the wealthy could afford to pay the water fines and keep a lush landscape.

TurfMutt is on a mission to encourage a more common sense approach centered around the idea that everyone deserves a living landscape. Even in a drought, you can keep your living landscape. You just have to put the right plant that fits your individual climate zone in the right place.

To learn more about the benefits of living landscapes visit LivingLandscapesMatter.com.