Keep Off the Grass

A Meditation on Mulch

This is an episode devoted to an organic superstar– mulch! This a layer of material that’s derived from carbon-based life forms like trees, shrubs, bark, and leaves. I’ll talk about the wonderful things that mulch can do for your yard and the plants in it, and explain how you can get mulch. Includes a special guest appearance by a wood chipper.

Keep Off the Grass

With the Southwest suffering through a long-term drought – and Colorado River cutbacks looming – it’s time to take a hard look at that thief in the yard. I’m talking about those water guzzling lawns, and why it’s time to remove them. Cities like Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Tucson are offering grass removal rebate programs. I’ll explain how these programs work.

Garden Gambler

After many weeks of saying that I wouldn’t plant my spring/summer garden until monsoon season, I relented. Because there’s nothing that looks sadder than an empty garden. In this episode, I talk about dry season garden setup, what I’m growing, and, of course, where that garden water is coming from. I also discuss the long-term weather forecast that motivated me to plant this garden.

Goodbye, Backyard Swimming Pool

There was a time when backyard swimming pools were synonymous with life in urban Arizona. Nowadays, one in six pool owners surveyed say they’d like to get rid of their pools. This statistic comes from PoolRemovalHelp.org [https://poolremovalhelp.org/], a website that guides pool owners through the removal process. In addition to summarizing the features of this website, this episode also takes a look at pool removal rebates available to residents of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Extreme Water Conservation

Ready to take your water conservation efforts to the next level? This episode is for you! It starts with a plug for landscaping with the drought-tolerant native plants that have been surviving and thriving in the Southwest for thousands of years. It then moves into a more extreme measure–dispensing with irrigation systems that are tied to a municipal water supply. Rainwater storage and laundry water recycling are also featured.