The War on Turf Grass

[Queen K]

I turfed my turf grass when I bought this place 20 years ago. It's a bee//moth/butterfly haven in a desert other than my neighbour's place across the street. Thousands of sunflowers, flowers, vegetables flowering later I still love it. But am cutting down a wee bit of work in one area though. Sadly getting 20 years older shows.

If anyone wants violets for their bee haven DM me here. We'll meet at the local A&W.

[ash71]

We could start charging appropriately for residential irrigation in a desert valley with cacti growing in the hills.

Metered residential irrigation.

You like your pool at 85F then you pay for it.

You like a cool lawn so your dog can use it as a toilet then you pay for it.

We already are metered.... what are you speaking about??

My North Rutland neighbourhood isn't metered. I could leave the taps running 24/7 and my quarterly BMID bill would still be $169.50. We should be metered, there are alot of houses in my area with very green & plush lawns. Except then I'd be paying a small fortune desperately trying to keep our cedars alive...they give us privacy from our neighbours.

[Bsuds]

If anyone wants violets for their bee haven DM me here.

That's OK, the dandelions in my yard make the Bee's very happy.

[Grandan]

Absolutely nothing wrong with having a lawn! There is no shortage of water here and and if the cries of some touchy/feely group want to continuously berate lawn owners into feeling bad.........knock yourselves out.

As far as I am concerned, if the orchards can POUR water on their land to make some money, so can I to enjoy my property.

The orchards can pour water on their land for 1/5 the cost that most residences do. If you are rich and can afford horses, then you are a farm and can get your water cheaply. The city of Kelowna encouraged people to buy trees during neighbourwoods week, we bought trees through their system and enjoyed their presence for years. Trouble is, you don't get a break when you water them. You pay 5 times what the orchardist pays per cubic meter.
Why should I be subsidizing an orchardist so he can send his crop to China where it fetches a premium price?
As far as master planning goes, there are many many different water purveyors so how do you get them to agree on best practices?

[lesliepaul]

Absolutely nothing wrong with having a lawn! There is no shortage of water here and and if the cries of some touchy/feely group want to continuously berate lawn owners into feeling bad.........knock yourselves out.

As far as I am concerned, if the orchards can POUR water on their land to make some money, so can I to enjoy my property.

The orchards can pour water on their land for 1/5 the cost that most residences do. If you are rich and can afford horses, then you are a farm and can get your water cheaply. The city of Kelowna encouraged people to buy trees during neighbourwoods week, we bought trees through their system and enjoyed their presence for years. Trouble is, you don't get a break when you water them. You pay 5 times what the orchardist pays per cubic meter.
Why should I be subsidizing an orchardist so he can send his crop to China where it fetches a premium price?
As far as master planning goes, there are many many different water purveyors so how do you get them to agree on best practices?

!

Many local orchardists here are making BIG money from the Chinese but in typical Okanagan fashion they cannot stop there........many of them are charging MORE to locals.

.........maybe getting a brown goat for my yard will get me their deal on water usage?

[Lady tehMa]

I have been eating away at the lawn with garden beds. I may have been a bit too ambitious because I'm finding it a bit harder to keep up with as I age. I follow the alternate-day watering schedule, and in high summer I tend to water just the gardens. I also water either first thing in the morning or in the evening to avoid too much evaporation. But even though I try to be a good steward of my own lands, I see so many City areas being a) watered during the day and b) how they don't adjust their spray so they end up watering concrete.

Over the past couple of years, I've been building up an irrigation system. Tubing isn't too expensive, and a battery-operated water timer can help keep regular schedules and be adjusted to the different stages. I have mine set for 4 AM and only run it for only 45 mins which is enough to give the plants a good soak with time for the water to seep down before the sun rises.

I have an irrigation system for my gardens (I need to hook up my side yard again, Husband was doing renos in that area and cut it off to get it out of the way - fortunately most of that stuff is drought-tolerant), but not my lawn. I'll need more money to spend on it, and I have a few garden projects ahead of it (purple grape arbour, finally laying the back patio - have had the bricks for 10 years, and rebuilding my garden boxes - this time with cedar).

[CrystalCity]

The clover is fertilizing my dwarf lilac and loganberry bushes. Both are doing very well. The lilac is full of leaves and the blossoms are starting. The loganberry is just starting to sprout leaves on 20 ft canes. As it is a biannual this will be my first year getting fruit on it *exciting*.

[seewood]

The orchards can pour water on their land for 1/5 the cost that most residences do.

If the community had the foresight and included non potable water infrastructure for irrigation, ag water is cheap by comparison.

Water is pretty much free, a small stipend is paid to the province if you are on a water licence from the lake for example, but the expense is the infrastructure, pipes, valves, treatment, staff, replacements to keep it all functioning properly.

I love turfs, for a few reasons .. It feels so good to walk barefoot on it, looks pleasing, awesome for kids to play on, helps in the summer heat, and it's really easy to maintain (fertilize-water-cut).
However, the worst thing you could do to your yard is to put in that "desert" type landscape (ie gravel). Heavy on maintenance, a huge heat sink (feels like the oven in summer), let alone the cost.

Resurrecting a couple of sections of our lawn is on the menu today. We love the grass, as do the dogs. Thatched the crap out of it, set the lawn mower on the lowest setting and after raking the thatch up, the mower picked up the rest. Bit of top soil then seed then more top soil over the seed to try and hide the seed from the quail.
A section is getting torn up and replaced and a small patch is green and growing.
Just wish I could find an inexpensive powered rotary mower like we had from Eatons 55 years ago...

[BC Landlord]

If the community had the foresight and included non potable water infrastructure for irrigation, ag water is cheap by comparison.

Agreed, but I would also argue that it's not just a matter of foresight (or the lack of it). The government WANTS you to use municipal water ($$). As I mentioned earlier, I live by the lake, and tried to draw water from it for irrigation. A few days later I was threatened by the government with some hefty fines if I didn't shut it down immediately. That's not a lack of foresight.

[alanjh595]

If the community had the foresight and included non potable water infrastructure for irrigation, ag water is cheap by comparison.

Agreed, but I would also argue that it's not just a matter of foresight (or the lack of it). The government WANTS you to use municipal water ($$). As I mentioned earlier, I live by the lake, and tried to draw water from it for irrigation. A few days later I was threatened by the government with some hefty fines if I didn't shut it down immediately. That's not a lack of foresight.

I am curious, what if you had a well?

[BC Landlord]

Agreed, but I would also argue that it's not just a matter of foresight (or the lack of it). The government WANTS you to use municipal water ($$). As I mentioned earlier, I live by the lake, and tried to draw water from it for irrigation. A few days later I was threatened by the government with some hefty fines if I didn't shut it down immediately. That's not a lack of foresight.

I am curious, what if you had a well?

You would need a special permit from the provincial government for a well. And it needs to comply with potable water standards, too. That's expensive. For watering the lawn ... Go figure.

[alanjh595]

I am curious, what if you had a well?

You would need a special permit from the provincial government for a well. And it needs to comply with potable water standards, too. That's expensive. For watering the lawn ... Go figure.

Okay, thanks. I have been wondering about that for for years. I appreciate the info.

[Bsuds]

What about for a golf course. I know of at least 1 that has it's own source of water for irrigation.

[alanjh595]

What about for a golf course. I know of at least 1 that has it's own source of water for irrigation.

They are considered "farms" and receive their untreated water from agricultural water sources.

[OhMyDarlin]

As I mentioned earlier, I live by the lake, and tried to draw water from it for irrigation. A few days later I was threatened by the government with some hefty fines if I didn't shut it down immediately.

The reason you are not allowed to draw raw water from the lake for irrigation is because there is the possibility you will create a cross connection with the drinking water system. As soon as you create a situation where raw, untreated water from the lake has the potential to mix with the drinking water system, there is the potential for contamination.

So, yeah, your reasoning is faulty. Pumping raw water for irrigation is not allowed for health and safety reasons.

Back in 1996 Kelowna experienced a cryptosporidium outbreak that left thousands of people sick. While the cause was never confirmed, there is a very high probability that water was being drawn from Mill Creek for irrigation, and there was a cross connection with the City system, so people ended up drinking raw water from Mill Creek. Nasty stuff with all those farms upstream.

About Cross connections:

https://dnr.mo.gov/document-search/cros ... s%2C%20etc.).