Avoiding outdoor water waste: Coping with Texas summers

Stepping out on the porch of our farmhouse on an already-hot May afternoon, looking out at our yard, I’m happy that we don’t have a lush outdoor landscape that begs for water in the dog days of a Texas summer. There’s no need to get out in the broiling sun to give thirsty plants a drink of water.

But many Texans do have extensive lawns and luxuriant landscapes that they try to maintain throughout the year. Whether or not those landscape choices are wise ones for our state, a lot of people go to great lengths to keep them green.

I’ve seen an elderly neighbor of my late parents, in a small city near our country home, run his sprinkler system even in the heat of a summer afternoon. He once told me that he had a $200 monthly water bill! By contrast, my parents – ever the frugal ones – probably never had water bills of more than about $20.

Expense aside, the really sad thing is that a lot of the water applied to Texas landscapes during the summer is wasted. Numerous studies have shown that people have a tendency to “over-water” – in other words, they […]

Full article: Avoiding outdoor water waste: Coping with Texas summers

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