Current Photo Friday theme: Heatwave
Sitting outside during the dogs’ midmorning recess, iced coffee and a coloring page next to me, but staring at my poor scorched grass. It’s 87°F before 10 AM, partly cloudy, with afternoon showers in the forecast. I hope the forecast is accurate.
ETA: The forecast wasn’t accurate. We got a few minutes of a very light drizzle.
At least you have/had real grass. Don’t use plastic turf. It’s harder to scrub clean, it bakes plastic in the sun, it burns paws, and you can’t sit on it in the summer. Sure, you “save” water by not watering it, but you need chemicals and water to clean, sanitize, pet deodorize and create a heat island when nature’s trees, shade, rain and grass bring the temperature down.
The dentist here in the desert had a beautiful (rich, expensive) grass lawn with probably water rights to keep it. They chopped it all out, tried to grow “smart” plants meaning low water but failed because they didn’t water them and so the bishes didn’t establish themselves. And so, the fake carpet grass and metal plant statues were broght in. Their beautiful canary palm trees are now turning yellow because they drip lined insufficiently and surrounded them with plastic green carpet that frankly stinks.
But the pumped up water situation here is highly political and like covid, plenty of people here think there is an infinite ocean of safe, human drinkable water under the desert even with a minerals mine and other sources of pollution that have to be managed. LA owns the nearby river, and they are extremely greedy about it. So, unless the people here wake up to the need to buy water rights and have that water shipped into the desert, it’s all doomed.
The humans are turning the planet they live on with the rest of life into a toxic hot Venus for dollar signs.
I very much agree with you.
I understand why people in hot climates want pretty grass, but no on the plastic. I’ve had some friends go that route, and it didn’t look good, and yes, it’s HOT! Not in a good way. All that plastic can’t be good for the ground, either.
We need to get over our obsession with “country club appearance” grass and choose options, including friendlier grass options, more suitable for the habitat.