{"id":5110,"date":"2024-04-03T13:05:21","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T18:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hydropoint.com\/weathertrak\/blog\/goodbye-non-functional-turf-hello-sustainable-landscaping\/"},"modified":"2024-04-03T13:05:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T18:05:21","slug":"goodbye-non-functional-turf-hello-sustainable-landscaping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hydropoint.siteproofs.com\/weathertrak\/blog\/goodbye-non-functional-turf-hello-sustainable-landscaping\/","title":{"rendered":"Goodbye Non-functional Turf, Hello Sustainable Landscaping"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In an era where every drop of water counts, using this precious resource to irrigate non-functional turf no longer makes sense \u2013 and hasn\u2019t for a while <\/em>now. Non-functional turf<\/a> is typically defined as grass that is predominantly decorative and not used for civic, community, or recreational purposes\u2026think of a patch of grass in a parking lot, vs. a field of grass at a park that is regularly used for sports games and community events. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve all been hearing for years now about either getting rid of lawns or watering lawns less. But do you know why <\/em>this decorative grass is so detrimental \u2013 and have a solution for what to replace it with? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Southern California alone<\/a>, there are about 218,000 acres of turf \u2013 23% of which is non-functional. It\u2019s estimated that it takes nearly 98 billion gallons<\/em><\/strong> of water annually to sustain this grass \u2014 and that\u2019s just one small area of the entire country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the nation faces increasing droughts and water scarcity issues, conserving water in any way we can is critical \u2013 and replacing areas of non-functional turf with native plants and sustainable landscaping is a great start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Replacing non-functional turf with water-efficient landscaping<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When starting from scratch designing the landscaping on a new site or simply re-evaluating what\u2019s already there \u2013 it\u2019s important to consider how the landscaping has been or will be used. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it purely for the site\u2019s aesthetic?  
Is it capturing rainwater and runoff? 
Is it for recreational purposes \u2013 will people be walking and playing on it? 
If turf were to be laid down\u2026would it serve a purpose, or would it be solely for appearance and end up using a massive amount of water at the detriment of both the environment and <\/em>the client\u2019s water bill?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A smart approach is to work with<\/em> the landscape, instead of against it. If the site is in a region that struggles with severe drought \u2013 turf isn\u2019t the right choice. If the landscaping is purely for the looks, turf isn\u2019t the right choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless you\u2019re working on a sports field or a park, it\u2019s likely that the site doesn\u2019t need <\/em>grass and will thrive with a variety of water-efficient plants that are sustainable and look just as good! Use native, drought-resistant plants<\/a> and group plants together in zones based on how much water they need, to improve irrigation efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to do if non-functional turf can\u2019t be replaced<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re working on a site that does <\/em>need turf to be laid down, or already has turf that can\u2019t be replaced, a great way to improve its water efficiency is to explore alternative water sources<\/a>. Instead of using a high-volume of our limited domestic water to irrigate the grass, consider using recycled water such as captured rainfall, water from a nearby pond, greywater, and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This conserves water and can keep landscapes just as healthy. With the right smart irrigation system<\/a>, you can even seamlessly switch between multiple water sources within the same landscape!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having too much non-functional turf is a problem in many areas of the country, but thankfully, we have solutions in sustainable landscaping, alternative water sources, and smart, efficient irrigation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the nation faces increasing droughts and water scarcity issues, conserving water in any way we can is critical \u2013 and replacing areas of non-functional turf with native plants and sustainable landscaping is a great start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5111,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[61,130,15,131],"class_list":["post-5110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-landscape-design","tag-non-functional-turf","tag-smart-irrigation","tag-water-efficient-landscaping"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hydropoint.siteproofs.com\/weathertrak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hydropoint.siteproofs.com\/weathertrak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hydropoint.siteproofs.com\/weathertrak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hydropoint.siteproofs.com\/weathertrak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hydropoint.siteproofs.com\/weathertrak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hydropoint.siteproofs.com\/weathertrak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hydropoint.siteproofs.com\/weathertrak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hydropoint.siteproofs.com\/weathertrak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hydropoint.siteproofs.com\/weathertrak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hydropoint.siteproofs.com\/weathertrak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}