Pasco orders residents to water
lawns
06/27/2001
By Scott Miller, KING 5 News
PASCO - In a year when most
of us are being asked to
conserve water, some residents
in the Eastern Washington city of
Pasco are being told to use
more.
Carol Coker grows native plants on her property to
save water in Pasco's desert climate.
A few months ago, she got a letter from the city,
ordering her to rip out these drought-tolerant plants
and put in a water-guzzling lawn instead.
Carol Coker isn't alone. All around the neighborhood,
people are being told to plant grass on the strips along
the road.
It is clear the city means business. Over the past few
weeks city crews have hauled away gravel and
landscaping rocks, and the city council passed an
ordinance authorizing a hefty fine for people who don't
plant grass here.
The stated reason is that grass filters pollution from
scant storm water and in the eyes of city leaders, it
looks better.
"We want to give a neighborhood a nicer appearance
than you would find if it was just dry," said Richard
Smith, City of Pasco.
Of course, dry is natural around Pasco.
Scott Wilburn figures his water use will go up by 10
percent if he has to replace his grassless parking strip
with a lawn.
"They'll send the yard police after me if I don't
comply," he said.
And so on block after block, people are installing
sprinklers - another city requirement - or soaking their
new grass with hoses - precisely what most of us
being told not to do.
But in Pasco, it's the law.
Pasco gets some of its water from wells and some
from the Columbia River, where projected flows this
summer are among the lowest in a hundred years.
-- Anonymous, June 27, 2001
...a nicer appearance...
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
While we have grass growing in our easement, we didn't plant it, and
we don't water it. I hate mowing it, but it looks really SHTy
if I don't.
Some of our neighbors have planted trees in their easements, but rest
assured they will have problems down the road because of the roots.
The water and sewer lines are there, water on our side, sewer line
across the street.
I'm not sure, but I think that the street was originally lined with
ficus trees, which grow very big and send roots all over the place,
but mostly in the top 2-3 feet of soil, which is why they tip so easy
in hurricanes. They also send roots down from the branches, so as to
stabilize themselves as they grow wider and wider. The sap, a white
milky fluid, stains everything it touches, and is quite sticky and
hard to wash off. The little beans that the trees drop can eat right
through paint on cars, and I imagine if left long enough, through the
metal as well. LOL Great shade trees, but major maintenance.
This is a small
one.
See more types here. These are
mostly closeups, but you get the general idea.
Again, a young tree, I would say about 5 years old.
-- Anonymous, June 29, 2001
That last picture came from here.
""The world's largest tree is a ficus growing in India covering an
astonishing 550 acres !!""
Most of what we plant as landscaping is sold as houseplants to people
up north. LOL
Master Gardener Landscaping
of Fort Lauderdale
Nice site that I thought I had lost.
-- Anonymous, June 29, 2001