Now, however, with increased emphasis on water conservation, it's best to save the grass for areas where enough can be planted to make it visually beneficial, he says. From a practical standpoint, eliminating small areas of turf is a good idea because small areas are typically difficult to water and maintain anyway, he says. To begin the turf reduction project, Swartzell sought the help of UNLV architecture professor Mark Hoversten and his landscape architecture students. Eight students worked on the project two years ago, dividing the campus into eight segments. I think most people have a misconception about water-efficient landscaping.
People think everything is gray, thorny and boring.
The first conversion project tackled was the removal of a small piece of turf located just east of the Lilly Fong Geoscience Building. Two other areas have been tackled as a result of the donations - one near the Beam Engineering Complex and another north of Wright Hall. Swartzell predicts that the majority of the targeted grass can be removed and replaced with plants or groundcover without most people even noticing. Yet, the change will save water, money, and maintenance time, he says. When the conversion to perennial flowering plants was done outside the geoscience building, Swartzell's workers installed a water meter so that the difference could be measured.