Turfgrass Doesn’t Waste Water

Once again, Denver Water is misleading the public about how much water turf grass really uses, while ignoring the benefits turf grass has to the environment.  Propaganda like this does nothing to help homeowners learn to better use and conserve water in the urban and suburban areas around Denver.

It is clear Denver Water feels that the best thing home owners can do to save water is remove their lawns, and they’re not giving credit for the many benefits of turf grass in an urban environment. On a hot summer day, a lawn will be 30 degrees cooler than asphalt and rock and 15 degrees cooler than bare soil. In hot weather, the front lawns of 8 homes have the cooling effect of about 70 tons of air conditioning.  So your lawn will keep your home cooler, while lowering your energy bill.

Emerald Sod in Aurora Colorado

Your lawn also improves the air around your home.  A 2,500 square foot lawn can absorb enough carbon dioxide and release enough oxygen for a family of four to breathe.  Less grass can potentially cut your air quality.

Grass also absorbs noise and makes your home quieter.  It filters and slows runoff from your home and improves water quality entering streams and rivers.

Where do you want your kids to play?  A rock garden or your lawn?

How much water, from rainfall and sprinkling, does your lawn really need?

• Kentucky bluegrass will normally use 24-26 inches of water per growing season to produce a lawn of good to excellent quality with no brown spots.
• Kentucky bluegrass can be grown with only 15-20 inches of water per growing season to produce a lawn of lower, but acceptable quality with some brown spots.
• Kentucky bluegrass can become dormant and survive prolonged periods (1-2 months) without any precipitation or irrigation.

In the urban and suburban areas of Colorado, turf grass plays an important role in cooling our homes, filtering water, and producing oxygen to off-set pollution. Grass doesn’t waste water and educated homeowners will be able to support a healthy lawn while conserving water if they water wisely!  Given the many environmental benefits of grass, Denver Water should help educate its customers to conserve and use outdoor water responsibly, rather than tell people to remove their lawns.

Related articles

• Kentucky Bluegrass Can Be Water Saving – Turfgrass Sod Denver Colorado (emeraldsodfarms.com)
• Where to Buy Sod? – Emerald Sod Farms Serving Denver, Aurora, Parker CO (emeraldsodfarms.com)
• How to Install Sod – Turfgrass for Denver & the Rocky Mountain Region (emeraldsodfarms.com)

Emerald Sod in Aurora Colorado

Emerald Sod Farms has been providing high quality turfgrass sod for projects around Denver and the Rocky Mountain region for 25 years.  If you have questions about using grass sod for your project, please call Gail at 303-654-0202.

With publicity about the challenges of maintaining adequate water supplies in Colorado in the face of growing population, there are people and landscaping companies that promote no grass or zeroscape yards.  Kentucky bluegrass is often mislabeled by these folks as “water wasting.” However, Kentucky bluegrass is used for over 90 percent of the grass applications in Colorado because it has a high tolerance for wear and its ability to regenerate itself to recover any damaged areas of your lawn.  It’s a great turfgrass for Colorado applications!

If your Kentucky bluegrass lawn is properly established, the scientists at Colorado State University have found that it’s not the bluegrass that uses lots of water, it’s actually the gardener’s management style to use more water than the grass actually needs.  In fact during periods of drought, the CSU scientists found that if the bluegrass is allowed to go dormant, it makes a great minimal input lawn.  Kentucky bluegrass can be a low water use grass.

In fact there are many benefits to using grass in landscaping and a Colorado State University Extension pamphlet summarizes them.

Healthy grass is an aesthetic asset and a factor in property value.  It provides a backdrop for other landscape elements pulling the landscape design together.

The growing body of evidence points to the positive health and environmental contributions made by lawns and other grassy areas.  A healthy, vigorous lawn with high plant density provides the following benefits:

• Conversion of carbon dioxide into oxygen– Twenty-five square feet of actively growing grass produces enough oxygen for one person per day.On a global basis, grasslands of the northern hemisphere are second to the tropical rain forests in the carbon dioxide to oxygen conversion.  Grasslands serve a major role in reducing global warming.

• Pollution breakdown – Microorganisms found in the soil of actively growing turf breakdown organic pollutants, including air contaminates, pollen, and pesticides.

• Wind erosion – Grass cover prevents wind erosion of soil, trapping dust and pollen.

• Water quality – Turfgrass areas play a significant role in reducing surface water runoff, a key factor in non-point-sourcepollution in the landscape setting.
  • An average golf course of 150 acres can absorb 12 million gallons of water during a three-inch rainfall.
  • A thick turfgrass allows 15 times less runoff than does a lower quality lawn.
  • A healthy, dense stand of turfgrass can reduce runoff to almost zero.
  • Compared to a garden or field planted to row crops, grassy areas reduce soil erosion by 84 to 668 times.
  • To protect surface water quality, direct surface runoff onto grassy areas allowing for natural filtering in the biologically active turf soil.

• Soil structure – Actively growing grass supports soil organism activity that improves soil structure.

• People space – Turf is basic “people space” with a cool, dirt-free activity space for children and adults.

• Element of landscape design – Turf brings unity to a landscape design and provides a neutral background to set off flowers and shrubs.

• Property values – Turf quality influences property appeal and marketability.

• Fire defense zone – Irrigated mowed lawns is an important aspect of fire management in communities.  Dry, unmowed grass/weeds become a major fire hazard.

Emerald Sod Farms grows a blend of four of the Kentucky bluegrass cultivars best suited to thrive in the Denver area, and throughout the Rocky Mountain region.  We’ve used our ESF Four Way Blend in projects from Big Sky Montana to Las Vegas with great success, and the grass won’t waste water if you don’t waste it on your lawn.  With proper site preparation and after your grass sod is established, you’ll confirm the findings of those CSU scientists that Kentucky bluegrass can be a water-saving grass.  Call us at 303-654-0202 for a quote today.