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[bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

Everything you said is right, but some is not very practical for everyone.  I 
had two fifty year old ash trees in my front yard when I bought this house.  
I had to have them cut down and stumps ground out because one was completely 
dead and the other was almost dead.

  I even paid an arborist to come out first, and check out the trees befor 
ehaving them cut down and removed.  I couldn't take the chance of the trees 
or the large limbs falling on my house, cars, or me.  I replanted with 
brazilian pepper trees and citrus.  They take a while to grow.

Other ground covers look good, but most who have them also have rocks.  Tons 
and tons of little hot rocks.  If they don't put rocks(and even when they 
do); bermuda and other weeds grow in and compete with the ground cover.  You 
can drop water in the middle of the desert it seems and burmada and stickered 
clover will appear from nowhere.

I'm not a professional like you.  I jusy know what I have observed.....bobford


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--- On Sat, 11/8/08, VAN DELL JORDAN <vdjor AT yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: VAN DELL JORDAN <vdjor AT yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [Homestead] Water Crisis Coming Soon
> To: bobford79 AT yahoo.com
> Date: Saturday, November 8, 2008, 9:28 AM
> --- On Sat, 11/8/08, bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> 
> 
> > van Dell, you know the problems in places like phx, as
> well
> > as anyone could.  One of the biggest problems with
> grass and
> > lawn, is that they only allow two options.  Grass or
> desert
> > landscaping (tons and tons of little heat-sinking
> rocks) .
> 
> Grass is the only walk on ground cover so it is necessary
> if there is lots of foot traffic.  For most front yards this
> is not the case so there is a wide selection of ground
> covers, even the non arid ones use less water than grass and
> also don't have the weekly mowing requirement.  or low
> growing shrubs or a combination.  
> > 
> >   My houses faces west, the worst possible direction
> in
> > phx.  If I had desert landscaping the rocks would
> absorb the
> > western sun all afternoon , making my house/property
> hotter
> > during the already hot days, and then throw part of it
> > toward the house in the evening , making it even
> harder to
> > cool the house.....bobford
> 
> My personal choice in a case like that is to plant trees in
> the front yard.  In addition to shade trees have some
> cooling effect through evapotranspiration.  As far as
> I'm concerned the sun should never reach the ground for
> at least six months in Phx.  That is my personal extremism
> but trees and ground covers are great solutions.
> 
> The city water department used to have, I'm sure still
> does, a water conservation.  They advocate the concept
> ..Xeroscaping..  Which is a way to make the most use of
> landscaping water in dry climate.
> 
> Van Dell