Daily Gripe

Hello, my name is Stu. Today my gripe is with watering restrictions. I know we have to conserve our resources and I do. I have rain barrels at all my downspouts to water my flowers, herbs and to add water to my ponds. When I have to drain my ponds (I use the old water on plants) I use the rain barrel water to replenish the pond water. I also recycle my dish and bath water whenever possible.

When it comes to watering the lawn - I don't or can't. I have my dedicated one day a week to water the lawn. The time schedule to water one's lawn is not conducive to those that work. I choose not to water my lawn because I cannot afford the excessively high bill. Therefore my lawn is brown and dead. When it rains it washes away my remaining soil due to no grass or huge sand deserts in my lawn. I have patches in my front lawn that resemble the Sahara Desert.

If I could water my lawn (at a reasonable price) it might have a positive impact on the environment. Right now I am surrounded by a sandpit that is slowly rolling down the gutters in my street. I am stuck in a lose/lose situation. If we had a national recycling water system perhaps I would have a little grass in my front yard. An alternative would be to pave over my front Sahara Desert or put those awful stones down instead of pricey sod. I have seen some home owners spray paint their white stones green for faux lawn. I could replace my worn out grassless front yard with Brady Bunch turf, although someone tried to do that and they were sued by the city.

My deed restrictions state that I am required to have grass (a specific type of grass) in my front yard. A front yard filled with flower and plant material is prohibited. We could use some updating on these deed restrictions. This code was written when water was not scare or costly. Something needs to change. Right now I will accept the state of my disappointing front yard but I will not be happy with it.

Green with envy,

Mr. Pid