*Poof* - Grass Be Gone!

In the first week of August I finished up a month-long project of converting our front yard to desert landscaping (xeriscape if you want to get technical). Of course I had to pick the hottest part of the year (the project started with a bang on the 4th of July). I would weigh myself in the morning, go out and work for 10-12 hours in the sun, consume lots of water to keep hydrated and check my weight at the conlcusion of the day to find that I had lost 8lbs.

Water is expensive in Vegas and for good reason - we live in a desert. The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) maintains that 41% of all water used in the Las Vegas Valley goes to residential landscaping and about a quarter of that amount is wasted due to poor/wasteful watering practices (watering at noon, broken sprinkler heads, etc.). So in order to curb consumption and lengthen our water supply SNWA provides a rebate of $1.50 for each square foot of grass that residents 'xeriscape'. The rebate will cover all of our costs (my time/labor and all materials and rentals) and we actually stand to make a pretty penny. This doesn't account for the fact that our water bill for August 2008 was $30 cheaper than August 2007. Nice. The other benefit - it only takes me 5 minutes to mow the backyard and I'm done. Rocks don't grow.

Here's a before and after. Click here to see some other photos