The Dream Of Having Grass In Lubbock Is As Dead As The Grass Itself

As I look around my neighborhood, it seems the idea of grass lawns has gone away.

Sure everyone is trying to have grass, but everything is so dry and overrun with invasive weeds that don't seem to die with any preventative treatment. It's just an ugly brown patch after an ugly brown patch with a few sprouts of grass or mostly unwanted varieties.

So we have to ask ourselves, "Why do we have lawns?".  I'm betting that most of you have never stopped and thought about it. The only reason you have a lawn is probably because your house came with one, or maybe because you grew up with one.

Question number two is easy to answer as well, and that's "What purpose does this lawn serve?".  Seriously, as for myself, ONE time a year we go on the front lawn to watch fireworks that happen nearby. That's all the time I spend out front. So how often do you take a couple of chairs out front?

So is it really worth all of the time and money to try to have a good-looking lawn? I'm going to have to say no. My choice would be to replace the lawn with rocks, just like a new addition of houses down the street has done.

This is where a couple of phone calls come in.  I spoke to both a rock provider and the City Of Lubbock Codes Department.  The provider said there are no real rules to removing your lawn, while the City said it had to do with "Design Districts".  Within 30 seconds the good people with the City took my address and told me I was 100% cleared to replace my lawn with rocks.

Rocks, especially good-looking ones are not cheap, and yes, you will have weeds breakthrough that have to be treated or pulled, but no more long nights of watering, mowing, edging, or other nonsense makes it seem like an excellent trade-off.