My trip to desert gardens made me doubt the need for grass everywhere.

Most folks say a yard needs green grass to look good. I saw stunning rock and cactus setups that felt full of life. Why do we still push for lawns in dry places?

4 comments

4 Comments

beth_reed29d ago

Vera514, I get where you're coming from but I really do see it different. The whole "litter box" thing isn't about the plants themselves, it's about how we set them up. My neighbor has a full desert garden with decomposed granite as the ground cover instead of loose sand, and the cats don't bother with it at all. She's got a mix of agave, barrel cactus, and some low growing succulents that spread out but stay tidy, and it looks way more alive than any lawn in our HOA. If you pick the right base material and keep the layout intentional, it feels like a real habitat not a mess. The problem isn't the concept, it's mostly that people throw in plants without thinking about the whole ecosystem of the space.

vera5143mo ago

Totally get this. My one attempt at a cactus garden mostly attracted the neighborhood cats. Pretty sure my yard looked more like a litter box than a desert oasis.

maxf543mo ago

Does cost stop people from ditching grass?

diana_ramirez3mo ago

That "litter box" look might not be the cacti's fault. Cats are mostly drawn to low, soft plants like sedum, not spiky ones. They were probably just using any loose sand or dirt you put down.