I wear a lot of hats over here at My Landscape Coach, business owner, landscape architect, writer, IT tech, bookeeper, administrative assistant to name a few. One of the other hats I wear is I am a consultant for the Water Authority for their landscaping website 505Outside.com.

This month we shared this post over on 505Outside and I thought you’d be interested in it as well. For anyone on the fence about converting your high water use grass into a low water use desert friendly yard, here are some reasons that might get you wanting to do it now.

Water Authority customers have been inspired to convert their turf to sustainable, resilient xeriscapes that save water, time and money and provide habitat for wildlife and pollinators for many reasons.  Below are some of our favorites:

• “We just didn’t see the point of maintaining and paying to water the grass in the front yard. No matter how much we water and fertilize, the front lawn never looks good, and we don’t want to be the last house on the block with a not-so-great lawn.”
• “Now that the kids are out of the house and we no longer have dogs, we don’t want to have such a high water-use landscape that requires weekly maintenance. We want to do our part in saving water for future generations and create a beautiful patch of nature in our backyard, especially now that we’re into birdwatching.”
• “We may downsize someday, and our realtor said that having a beautiful low water use landscape is a good selling point.”
• “We just moved to Albuquerque from another part of the country where grass grows easily, and we spent several hours a week mowing and weeding. We are done with mowing. We want a landscape that is regionally appropriate, with native and low water use plants and trees.”
• “Our irrigation system seems to always need repair, and the grass never really looks that great.”
• “We needed to replace our sewer line which meant digging up the front yard. It seemed like a good time to ditch the grass and convert it to a low maintenance landscape with new drip irrigation.”

Qualifying conversion projects by Water Authority residential customers may receive $1.00 per square foot of converted turf grass. This rebate has a specific application process. Only projects that have completed the application and passed inspections will qualify for the rebate. For more information visit our rebates page.

Pro Tip: Are you ready to convert your lawn to a xeriscape? Here is what local landscape contractor Tyson Hafler, owner of Southwest Horticulture, wants you to know before you start.

“Make sure you start with a green lawn. It is important to have a green lawn for two reasons. Water Authority needs to see a currently cared for, in good living condition green lawn to quality for the rebate. A live, green lawn is much easier and speedier to get rid of than a brown, dry, dead and dying lawn.”