Ditch your lawn this year (with state-provided incentives) and start saving money and water (Opinion)

Apparently it s No Mow May Keeping up with these new official additions to the yearly calendar is hard I struggle to remember the usual holidays Fortunately No Mow May is a no-brainer for me Every month is a holiday away from mowing because several years ago I removed my lawn and replaced it with plants that do not need to be mowed Better yet they require less water and fertilizer than grass Even with a large drip-irrigated vegetable garden fruit trees and a small pond I use substantially less water than I did when I had a lawn The year I rid myself of the last of the grass I sold off my lawnmower and leaf blower I not only save on my water bill but also on my electricity bill A sparse other advantages of reducing or eliminating turf and replacing it with water-wise plants more visiting birds and butterflies no need for energy-consuming ozone-producing lawnmowers edgers and blowers and greater curb appeal Also since Japanese beetle grubs eat grass roots I m no longer feeding the spawn of Hell A minimal of my favorites are larkspur yucca blanket flower sunflower sea kale Artemisia Colorado four o clock poppy potentilla sage spirea salvia downy serviceberry cactus California mallow honeysuckle wine cup and sedum All of these are perennial or reseeding annual plants Don t take my word for it Learn more about plants suited to Colorado s state by visiting the websites of Colorado State University the Denver Botanic Gardens Denver Water and other city utilities Oasis West Wash Park Wild Ones Front Range Reserve Central and the Colorado Native Plant Society Additionally several of these organizations also provide grants to help with the cost of buying new plants These grants are supported by funds authorized by the General Assembly and requested by the Colorado Water Conservation Board CWCB This year legislators authorized million for urban turf replacement programs The money does not come from the state s general fund Rather it is generated through severance taxes sports betting revenue and interest on CWCB loans Related Articles Congress almost sold off acres of Western inhabitants lands What could that mean for Colorado Threatened lawsuit aims to stop elephants from performing at Renaissance Festival Dire wolf scientists should know de-extinction is a fool s errand Opinion It s peak bird migration season in Colorado But their populations are in a steady decline Critically endangered penguin chick hatches at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo When shopping at garden centers look for the Plant Select label These plants were developed by the Denver Botanic Gardens Colorado State University and other professional horticulturists and partner organizations to thrive in high desert conditions This is the time to get new plants into the ground before it gets hot The higher the temperature the more hard it is for plants to acclimate and thrive in a new context Want to keep particular lawn but still use less water Two decades ago Supply Central one of the above-mentioned organizations launched a Slow the Flow venture to provide on-site sprinkler system evaluations to optimize use and reduce waste Last year they discovered that of home sprinkler systems had correctable efficiency issues Fund Central estimates that by optimizing water use they have saved more than million gallons of this precious reservoir over the past years That s another way to lower the water bill After all why spend money on water and power when you don t have to There are better uses for that hard-earned income National Donut Day is just around the corner Krista Kafer is a Sunday columnist for The Denver Post Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns editorials and more To send a letter to the editor about this article submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail