Comments on: When in Drought - Landscaping Lies

By: The Tao of Change » Blog Archive » Gray Water Bucket Brigade

The Tao of Change » Blog Archive » Gray Water Bucket Brigade — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 20:44:07 +0000

[...] my neighboring city of Raleigh had record water usage this month IN THE MIDST OF A RECORD BREAKING DROUGHT! The main water supply in Falls Lake will run ‘dry’ in January without a significant rainfall [...]

By: tao

tao — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 18:23:29 +0000

Hi BG,
Thanks for the reply.

I have great respect for the knowledge coming from the new breed of landscape professionals. Thanks for reminding us once again that lawns are only a misguided facade of our culture. It’s a comfort to know you are speaking out about it on your show and your blog and even ranting a bit. I will be following you!
(In fact, when I think back to horse and buggy days, I don’t believe they had lawns, did they?)
Yours in Change, Tao

By: Garden Wise Guy

Garden Wise Guy — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 01:37:03 +0000

Your post echos my feelings exactly. I’m here in the Santa Barbara area in So. California, and water has never been a luxury. As for the previous comment about the irrigation industry being in the horse and buggy days, quite the opposite. As a landscape architect and co-host of a local sustainable landscaping TV show, I know that there are some marvelous devices out there that can help people mind their irrigation needs.

But the key is to break this silly mindset that we need lawns around our homes. Even if water wasn’t a factor, what about the petrochemicals and herbicides we dump on our green patch of paradise and the pollutants that come with it? I heard recently that there are 80,000 lawn-related emergency room accidents a year, many related to flying debris like sticks and rocks from mowing.

My philosophy is that form follows function, and unless you’re playing catch with the kids or nude sunbathing, there are better, more sustainable surfaces to use as floors in our gardens. Stop by my blog for some rants about lawns, poor irrigation habits and gardeners who are asleep at the wheel.

I’ll peruse your blog in the near future (this is my weekend to move my home) and perhaps we can trade links? Thanks again for a stimulating post.

By: tao

tao — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 23:58:17 +0000

Interesting response. You must sell irrigation systems.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 18:00:12 +0000

While I do believe the only dependable irrigation system is a thoughtful gardener on the end of a hose, this is not realistic because in today’s world we need someone or something to do the work for us. We don’t have time to stand there with a hose and water every square foot of our lawn. We don’t even have time turn off the automatic irrigation controller when the sprinklers are running in the rain. This is why we need smarter, more technologically advanced irrigation products that do more of the work for us. The irrigation industry is still in the horse-and-buggy days and each year irrigation manufacturers are advancing their product line and making water-efficient irrigation devices. Give it time.