Published in the Oct. 1-14, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Erin Gil

Erin Gil

Erin Gil

During the past 25 years, water conservation has been linked to changing plant pallets and restricting certain materials with restrictions and/or rebates on removal. As a turf grower, I work with living plant material and as such I have always looked toward new varieties or variety improvements to make up the conservation aspect of the water footprint of the urban landscape. But what if you could install a new technology in water delivery for the plant material in question and were able to save upwards of 70 percent of applied waters and benefit from you lawn?

Obviously the first question for the business savvy would direct attention to the cost of the system and the return on investment. If an entry level system for 800-square-feet of turf costs $700, would that be feasible? Would 88 cents per square foot scare off the most cost conscious of us?

The benefits we receive from our lawns has been measured and verified in many ways. Trees and turf are primary in battling the “heat island” effect. If we continue to add population and decrease our landscape to hardscape and artificial plant material, we will continue to see our ambient temperatures rise. Here are a few ways our lawns benefit us:

• Pollutants, such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, are absorbed by turf grasses, thereby rendering the air fit to breathe.

• Oxygen generation by turf grasses has a major impact in making our environment habitable. A 50-foot by 50-foot lawn produces enough oxygen for a family of four.

• Noise is absorbed by grass areas which cut down on excessive sound, a growing problem in urban areas. Grass also takes in carbon dioxide, hydrogen fluoride and peroxyacetyl nitrate, the worst group of atmospheric pollutants.

• Healthy turf areas absorb rainfall six times more effectively than a wheat field and four times better than a hay field.

• The cooling properties of turf are so effective that temperatures over turfed surfaces on a sunny day will be 10 to 14 degrees cooler than over concrete, artificial turf or asphalt.

• Turf grass filtration properties also are the reason that turf grass is used to help recycle reclaimed water.

• Lawns serve as a firebreak.

• The total amount of erosion runoff, compared with bare soil, is decreased by 61 percent for turf grass, 25 percent for straw, and 16 percent for jute.

If we take advantage of the new technologies and balance our landscape and water responsibly we will not have to face other future problems.

Erin Gil is the co-owner of Grass Farm and Garden Accents. He sits on the Landscape Committee for the Santa Clara Valley Water District.