Aibu to think people in the UK need to start accepting they can’t have green lawns all year?

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We’re in southern England, it’s been very hot and dry for the last few weeks. Unsurprisingly our lawn is now a yellowy brown colour. I expect when it rains enough later in the year it will return to being more green. But to me this is just how things are at the moment due to the changing climate.

Yet our neighbours on both sides seem to be in a panic about their yellowy brown lawns, and are spending hours each day watering their lawns with hosepipes in an effort to make them more green.

This seems like such a massive waste of water (and of time and effort). Yes I know there’s no hosepipe ban so they’re not doing anything illegal, but it feels like their behaviour is really misguided. The world is heating and the UK’s climate is changing incredibly quickly. Surely everyone is going to have to adapt their mindset, and part of that is accepting that your garden won’t look like it did 40 years ago?

Water is such a scarce resource, some countries already have wars and conflict brewing due to shortages, and these are only going to worsen. To be using so much water to artificially turn lawns in the UK green when we no longer have a climate that naturally supports this seems madness to me.

Discovereads

Bit more a general recognition that the climate is changing and we are all going to have to make changes too. My lawn is dry dust and will stay that way until it next rains which looks like weeks away. It's immoral to water grass esp in the SE right now

@Discovereads You don’t need to go anything in solidarity with Menorca or wherever! You do need to work with and adapt to the climate that we currently have, rather than the one you want and/or used to have.

We haven’t watered ours this year. As an added bonus we haven’t needed to cut it either.

Mines under snow and ice from October to April. Still comes back green.

Agree. We live in the med and if people have a 'lawn' here it's a sort of drought resistant springy green plant. It's not massively pleasant to sit on mind, but there are chairs. If people are desperate for the look there are other plants that will be drought resistant. Generally I'm in favour of gardens that will soak runoff so wouldn't advocate for paving everything either.

Watering lawn isn't technically wrong, especially when it is very hot. You don't necessarily do it to just get grass greener.but you can cool the surface which helps your body and soul when you spend evening time there. We water terrace in the hot evenings in India and enjoy sit-out times with neighborhood.

Totally agree. There has been another thread about this recently though, and as ever, everyone on MN has some justification why they can't use a watering can on the plants that matter (lawn not being one of them).

Would it be virtue signalling to say we use grey water (from a bucket in the shower) to save a flush of the toilet?

I don't want to look out at or sit in a dustbowl. I've been watering my lawn every ten days or so and it's kept it mostly green and the garden really enjoyable. There is no hosepipe ban so I am permitted to do this freely. I want to keep my sanctuary garden alive and green and the wildlife appreciate it too and the garden is full of lovely birds. My neighbours gardens look horrid and they aren't out in them nearly as much due to the horrid dry scratchy lawns. It's all very well saying they will be green when it's raining but Im not going to be sitting out and playing with the kids in the rain am I.

One heat wave doesn’t a drought make, so I don’t see how not watering is “adapting” to the current climate? Adapting implies taking some action, not doing nothing and letting plants die.

Yes that's a big advantage! We've had a bit of rain in the last 48 hours, but not enough to make it grow significantly.

Why is it immoral to water grass? Baffled. Thou shalt not water thine grass?

Would it be virtue signalling to say we use grey water (from a bucket in the shower) to save a flush of the toilet

That is a very good idea. Not virtue signalling at all. Or people could collect shower water to water the plants!

We have two large water butts that fill quickly because of the way we’ve got the guttering.
I use the water on my veg. It ran out a few weeks ago

Why is it immoral to water grass? Baffled. Thou shalt not water thine grass

It's not immoral but it's a waste. The lawn may look brown and horrible but the first significant rain we have will turn it back to green. It won't die. We should not waste water, it is a finite resource. And saying "I am paying for it" isn't good enough.

Grass can die, it can only handle 3-4 weeks without water before plant death.
’waste’ is very subjective, I don’t think it’s wasting water to keep plants alive.

I'm always pleased when the lawn goes brown and stops growing. No need to mow😀
Sparrows make dust baths and our resident blackbird sunbathes for hours, with spread out wings and mouth open.

YABU. My grass is green most of the time. I never water it. It's currently pissing it down, which will help. Not all the UK is in southern England, for pity's sake.

We have pipes under our lawn with holes in, attached to a computer. It drips for an hour or so a day. It's lovely and green

don’t think it’s wasting water to keep plants alive.

We were talking about grass though and as people keep telling you it won't die.

I remember you from the threads on climate change, don't 'believe' in it do you ...

We should not waste water, it is a finite resource.

It's finite but recycles naturally. I've seen it just fall out of the sky. 🙂
The waste is in pumping it and treating it to make pure-ish drinkable water, and in what clean water leaks from the pipes to our houses.

It is when you're shoe-horning it into a thread that's clearly about something else.

It was the do you have a problem with that? nonsense. If you think it's a good idea, just say that.

Where are you???

I'm with you. We leave the grass to wither...

People are wrong. Grass can’t go without water for more than 3-4 weeks without starting to die off.

No, I know climate change is a fact. (Believe is a strange word for you to use as it’s not a religion). I’ve never stated otherwise. But honestly one heat wave doesn’t = climate change. Saying that isn’t saying climate change doesn’t exist, it’s questioning the leap of logic.