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.

Just saying that using grey water to keep grass green (on a thread about not having green lawns) is not the most eco efficient way of using grey water. Though all our efforts are probably a drop in the ocean when you think of all those golf courses in the USA and elsewhere being kept green by sprinklers.

The problem in a lot of the South east in this particular hot spell has not been the typical water shortage / drought of previous times. The water companies have been sending out emails and letters because usage has gone up so much there just isn't the capacity in the system to treat and pump the water as fast as people were using it up. This meant there were people in some areas who were without tap water during the hottest days on record because people just down the road from them were using it up before it could reach them.

You can argue that the capacity should be increased, but this would be down to the regulator permitting the water companies to spend money on this. In order for this to happen, they need to demonstrate there is a problem, and this has now shown it. All the messaging has mostly been ignored. Average household usage in the last few weeks has gone up by 20% compared to a normal hot summer, and is up 50% on normal daily use. The result is plenty of water in the reservoirs etc, but with the level of usage as it has been, the water can't be treated and pumped out fast enough.

If you live in the South East, you will have received two letters asking you to not use a hosepipe.
That's the problem, being asked.

We shouldn't be filling up paddling pools or any type of pool.
But people just think that there's no harm if they just do it , quietly.

Lawns always recover. Use water carefully. If you have a wildlife/fish pond then you are allowed but people often take the piss .

By ‘adapting’ I mean adapting our mindset that green lawns are a given due to our climate. Now our climate is changing we have to adjust our expectations of what our gardens could/should look like.

if a few months of yellowy brown lawn is the new norm in some parts of the UK we need to stop thinking of it as ‘horrid’ or a ‘dust bowl’ as a poster upthread described it. Instead it is just as much a part of the natural cycle as leaving falling from trees in autumn or short daylight hours in December.

If your grass has deep roots it will happily go 6 or 7 weeks without water. If you have been giving it a quick sprinkle every other day the roots are probably quite shallow and it just won't be as robust.

Yanbu. Grass recovers.

YANBU. In SW here and we just got a letter asking us to be mindful of water usage. It suggested spending less time in the shower. The letter annoyed me a bit because I don't water my lawn or fill up paddling pools which are much more wasteful than a daily shower. (Naval Officer style). My lawn's actually not too bad at the moment but its got a lot of green weeds in it!

I'm in the south east and I haven't received any letters about conserving water or not watering plants.

I get what you mean and your neighbours sound quite obsessive over it. But we are getting fed up with ours, and I don’t think it is a matter of expectations as our neighbours lawns are green (they’re hardly even making any effort). The issue for us is it’s a new lawn of 1.5 years and hasn’t quite taken yet 😐
But YANBU to think they’re being ridiculous I’d they’re spending hours watering and it is a waste of water yes.

Grass is incredibly hardy and can withstand long dry periods. If it doesn't get watered it will start to grow longer roots and become hardier than it already was in an attempt to locate water in the soil.

Water companies are asking you not to use hosepipes to help alleviate the pressure on networks. It takes a long time to treat water to the appropriate level for use in the home, and a lot less time to waste it using a hosepipe on the lawn.

My water company hasn’t asked any such thing!

I live in SE and have not gotten any letters or texts or emails or any communication whatsoever asking me not to use a hosepipe.

I do too, but it’s not virtue signalling, it’s perhaps giving people an idea that they may try too. Saves money and is environmentally friendly.

I have to accept yellow grass . I have 7 acres and for me grass is to feed the horses so this summer has been particularly expensive

I'm not a gardener but my mum is and said there is no point watering lawns as they are just weakened at the roots. I would pull surprised face.

It's very selfish and blinkered.

NW here..... lush green lawn... we only had 3 proper hot days.

No, there is no need, but there is a need to water tomato plants and courgettes.

That's said we did moisten the lawn once last week when it was so exceptionally dry and hot that we were slightly worried about it going on fire.

July was very dry but even in the SE before that it was sun rain sun rain - a fantastic growing season, so we shouldn't be in a long term drought situation. And now it's the school holidays it will definitely rain - it did on the first day after weeks of sunshine!

I actually like the dry yellow lawn. Reminds me that it’s summer (and saves on mowing).
I’m in a new build with a tiny garden. I have no room for a water butt sadly which grates. I’ve gone for plants like Convolvulus and lavender which are going great guns this year.

Grass goes dormant in dry spells, the top will go brown and dry but the roots stay alive. I’m in east anglia so it has been weeks since we had a decent downpour. My lawns are dry except in the very shady areas of the garden. I have been watering some plants that need it, such as a sapling I planted last autumn as the leaves are browning. The lawn has had a little water from where the children have been playing.

I think that's not using hoses pipes is actually a red herring, and doesn't address the real issue.

As a country we need to rapidly improve our eco friendly status. Starting with a decent grey water recovery system for retrofitting into existing suitable houses ( that is affordable and viable long term. So shower and sink water is saved/recycled to toilet flushing and for the machines wash cycle (fresh used for rinse). Then remaining used water (not toilet obviously) goes to a 1sqm IBC to be treated and broken down and used for car washing, garden maintenance, windows etc

A move towards bathrooms like the Japanese, Bath water recycled, built in dehumidifier and retractable drying racks over the bath to reduce tumble usage, they really pack an incredibly multi functional space into a tiny bathroom.

More government grants for air pump heating, solar panels and alternative energy, triple glazing and home insulation. But the grants need to be run by a dedicated independent Committee and not botched like the previous ones I've seen.

Improved public transit and a push towards more eco friendly travel. I live in a very poor town in the nw and lots of low income people live within 2-5 miles of work. The amount of those Electric scooters on roads ( illegally) is mental but I actually think used correctly with high viz and registered and insured, they are brilliant. We have had ONE reported accident in the town and it wasn't severe. So a push to regulate these to reduce congestion and make small local journey easier .

Increase tax on higher engine capacity vehicles and make 1l car ownership the norm. Incentivise giving up a car, reducing from a 2 or 3 car household to a 1.

But let's be honest, we are fucked either way. The tipping point has passed.

Grass can’t go dormant indefinitely. It goes dormant after going without water 2-3 weeks. If no water for another 2 weeks, it begins to die off and no amount of watering will bring it back then. (Unless your grass is not a native U.K. species but a drought resistant Australian or US variety. )

Watering grass doesn’t “weaken the roots” that’s utter tosh. That’s not to say there aren’t wrong ways of watering which harm the plant more than help as there are.

I agree but do want the response to be to pave over any more gardens or any more of a garden. Support the use of grey water, also agree that taking some care/work on a garden is something that avoids any impression of an empty house or people away (invitation to burglars).

The generation of 1976 really ought to have this deeply engrained

It was part of the relentless government Public Information campaign that summer.

But has anywhere got a hosepipe ban yet this year? I mean, it would be better if people would abandon wasteful habits ahead of acute shortage, but even worse than watering lawns is the seemingly inexorable rise of plastic artificial lawns, that people ten hose down to clean

We're just in the middle of re-doing our garden.

Originally I was going to go for an English cottage garden style but I've actually decided to go with more drought hardy plants like palms and other tropical plants that can cope with high temps and potential summer droughts.

I'm also putting in plenty of shaded areas and a small-ish overground pool.

All basically because of the increasingly warm summers.

Same here ‘heatwave’ missed us