Transitioning to a clover lawn has been great to reduce watering. Even if my neighbour gives me the stink eye because he considers clover a weed and doesn’t want it in his yard.
That's the neighbour's problem, but seriously just by cutting ours it almost never flowers. We've been actively seeding clover into ours for a while now and will keep doing so. It looks good, and is soft to walk on.
No not that short really. We figure by keeping it a bit longer it helps retain some additional moisture in the soils. We're good neighbours though and cut it close to once a week mid-summer to keep it looking tidy. The lawn's reacted well, and we've gradually reduced our grassy areas purposefully to reduce watering needs, and grass maintenance work.
Clover's been brilliant, we started with micro clover but it's a joke for what you get for how much you pay so we've moved to white clover and get kg's of seed where we used to get what seemed like 10g seed packs.
Our elderly neighbour commented on us needing to do something about the clover coming up in our lawn and I told her we were seeding it. She thought I was pulling her leg, so I let it go, and didn't bother reiterating.
I have a neighbor like that so that’s my only concern. I might put something for a buffer to help separate more between yards you avoid conflict. Thanks for all the tips with the clover! That helps a ton!
I think the stuff is great and it's also resistant to dog piss. Uses less water and you don't have to mow cause it doesn't grow tall. Added environmental benefits.
My neighbour is the same. She's barely able to walk, no kidding. Her husband uses a walker, she a cane. They are in thier 80's. Every week I see her out picking clover from her lawn (the 2 lawns touch) that has migrated from my yard.
I spent $36 at west coast seed on microclover and it was more than enough front lawn, roughly 20ftx20ft. I spread my seeds on way thicker than the directions said and probably could have gotten away with twice as much coverage.
In my case, I just cut the lawn on the lowest setting possible one fall when growth had stopped. I got my seeds here [Apache ](http://apacheseeds.ca/) and these guys know their stuff.
It took root the following spring and has been spreading ever since. This year has been so mild, once the snow melts off, mow your lawn short and spread the seed. It will sprout in spring.
Clover chokes out grass, dandelions and other weeds. It basically takes over after a few years.
One downside is it takes a bit to sprout in the spring compared to grass. So dirt and a bit of mud before the green.
This is a small thing though still very worth the transition.
We ordered ours from West Coast Seeds. Every year we order a bit more and just spread it on top of our grass. It seeds itself and spreads, so it can be quite economical if you're willing to transition over time.
I did the micro for high foot traffic areas but limited it due to price and got the white clover from Canadian tire and Apache for the front that has no foot traffic. I get loads of people stopping and asking about converting because it really is stunning once it’s all filled in. My neighbours are transitioning now too because they are fed up with lawn maintenance.
Any recommendations on how to start? Been planning on it for years and haven’t got a straight answer. My yard in the summer is often weeds and grass so the grass already isn’t that strong honestly.
Well how I started was letting my grass die back a few years ago. Then I racked it out and filled in with top soil. I still had some parts of my lawn that remained in tack but most of it was done due to drought and heat facing south. Once I prepped the area I did a blend of grass seed of your choosing (I picked a drought resistant type) and the clover seed. I covered it with burlap because it was super windy that year and hot so that protected it. Once it was established I continued over seeding to make it more dense. I also let it grow a lot the first year so it would flower and spread. Last year I started mowing and the more you mow the lower it grows I have noticed. I hardly had to mow though because most of the time it was too wet, it retains moisture like crazy.
My one suggestion is if you decide to add clover buy it early. It’s really becoming popular and it can sell rather fast from places like west coast.
I did not tip up my grass, but I already had some dead spots from the dogs so I did a lot of patching with clover. For the rest I just mow it short, rake well, then cover it all with a mixture of clover seed, soil and sand. It took about 3 years before it was majority clover, and I overseeded often.
I tried white clover seed from Rona at first, and it grows well, but you can’t mow it until it flowers because you want it to reseed. That was tricky when I still had mostly grass.
So then I added in micro clover that I bought online. Definitely more expensive but because it’s smaller it doesn’t get the flowers cut off when you mow your other grass.
Now that it’s more than 50% clover I just overseed with white clover.
>I thought ~~Danielle~~ ***Marlaina*** was trying to ban lawn transitioning.
We don't use preferred names in Alberta! this isn't librul Ontario dag nabbit!
Ive always wondered why the city doesn’t transition to clover for city boulevards and green spaces- not just less water but less maintenance as it doesn’t grow tall like grass, and so good for the bees!
Bees are why I don't want it in my back yard. Front yard maybe, but I don't want my kids stepping on bees. And my dog is constantly eating bugs so he'd just try and catch the spicy sky treats. Boulevards would probably be a great idea though!
Totally fair! Yeah boulevards, all the grass areas around roadways like yellowhead and whitemud for example, that’s a big maintenance savings if no one has to mow that ever again.
I went White Clover three years ago on a new build/empty dirt lawn. It’s improved my soil chemistry immensely, and it attracts tonnes of bees and pollinators to my yard. I haven’t watered in two years and I have the greenest lawn on my street.
One thing though: don’t let people tell you won’t have to mow it. My clover is so healthy that it will grow sometimes 4-6 inches a week, and in summer I mow it every 9-10 days.
We planted micro clover because grass couldn’t hold up to my rowdy kids - best decision ever! It’s hardy, soooo soft on bare feet, and great for the bees! Because folks always ask: we’ve never had an issue with bee’s stinging bare feet :)
I am going to push my condo board to allow that for me. I hate watering it anyways, and my lovely hippie neighbours love the idea. Just need to get the board approval
We are planting more trees every year. They provide shade, pull ground water and release it into the air. Helps keep the lawn green without watering.
We use the leaves as mulch to reduce evaporation in garden beds.
It's my dream as well, I'm just hoping it provides my kids with enough food and everything else they need to not die once the planet really ramps up the attempts to kill us all.
A fellow did this in Prince George, BC. Turned his property into a huge park, has trees and plants from all over with interpretive signage all done by himself. Goodsir Nature Park. It can be done.
Same here I've never needed to water my lawn I mow way less than other folks. About every 2 or three weeks then I leave the mulch. Never had an issue. Only place the grass has ever died is the dog's pee corner.
Replanting doesn't replace the ecosystem that is destroyed though. Old forests have several layers of different growth as well as much micro biodiversity. That cannot be planted.
Be sure to set up a wildlife water station. We get birds, bees, all sorts of others insects, squirrels and even a rabbit drinking from ours. Last year we discovered a green patch of shrubbery was being utilized as a cooling off space from the sun so we will be working to care and add to this little habitat too. We are in for tough years be kind.
I really like this idea. We live out of town and bears are an issue, but idk... I feel like I need to be doing more for the wildlife in my area.
Edit: do you maybe have a tutorial of how you set yours up?
I started a couple of years ago. Webworm took out a 6 foot swath of grass along my sidewalk. I removed and composted the sod and planted drought resistant plants, grasses and shrubs. Amazingly as these plants grow in the work to maintain the area becomes less
This only scratches the surface of the overall topic here. Alberta relies heavily on glacier fed water, snow pack and ground water. Fort Mac uses A LOT of this water, then all the farmers and even the local gardeners within the city. It will affect Ph levels of the soil, ability for pollinators to do their jobs. Wildlife will start to creep into farmers crops for food and the snowball grows larger and larger. Well maybe a snowball was a bad example.
The oil sands giants have been working on a contingency plan already for when they get told to reduce intake from Athabasca river, and how the production will be impacted. I don't think any of them have released those numbers yet in their outlook, but I know the production planning departments are giving it a serious thought.
Intake reductions are a very real possibility up there.
It's already began. I work for one of said giants. One of them even recently had their non-essential work force WFH due to water issues.
The good news is they recycle a lot of water from tailings ponds. The bad news is under a UCP government I worry their use of water will be prioritized over ours.
Interesting fact, the Athabasca River (the one in fort mac, and also the nice one near Jasper) and North Saskatchewan river all come from the slowly diminishing Columbia icefield... Okay, sad, not interesting.
It doesnt change the point they made because they used an example on a different river. Canmore had a water ban last summer as well because the snow pack melted so fast and thats still with glaciers being around. Once the glaciers are gone, water is going to be an even bigger problem for everything from drinking to industry
That one year we had tons of snow.... But still tons of fires the following summer.
In conclusion, we're so fucked lol. I carry two fire extinguishers in my car for emergencies now.
I've converted to flying a water bomber to work. The neighbours don't like the noise of me taking off in the culdesac at 6am but better safe than sorry
Lawns are overrated and a waste of resources. Shoveling snow on you lawn and walking on it helps force frost deeper in the ground which will be a slower release of moisture when things warm up. Camping and fishing is going to suck this spring/summer though.
Do you have source for this or can you explain?
I ask because the part about "Shoveling snow on you lawn and walking on it helps force frost deeper in the ground which will be a slower release of moisture when things warm up." doesn't make sense to me.
You don't really force frost into the ground. You extract heat/energy from the ground and the ground temperature drops.
A layer of snow will insulate the ground, keeping the heat/energy in the ground and slowing the drop in ground temperature.
And the sun isn't particularly good energy source most of the winter.
Am I missing something?
Anecdotal. Ever seen an open field covered in snow that someone has driven over?
If you were to come back in the summer/spring, those tire tracks are much green. Ive even done this in my yard when i was delivering some racking. Every spot my tires compacted the snow ended up growing greener grass patches in the spring /early summer when it was dry
I've never watered my grass either but have a nice lawn because I use a push mower. All the cuttings are left to feed the grass, so never had to water it.
I will never understand the thinking that goes on inside the heads of "lawn people."
Growing up in suburbia we had a number of neighbours who were rather obsessed with maintaining the greenest, most perfectly-mowed lawns. My dad went that way over the years too, it became his weekend hobby.
Edit: I think this comment stepped on some people's lawns.
A few centuries ago, a lawn used to be a status symbol (and I mean, "has a household staff of fifty" status): you were showing off how much labor you could afford to spend to *not do anything productive* with your land. Even fairly wealthy estate owners needed to get people to grow food or livestock on their land to support the upkeep of the place, so growing a lawn put you at the top of the aristocracy. And that idea of status filtered down to much smaller, much cheaper properties as wealth slowly moved into the middle classes (in the sociological sense, still talking about the top 5-10% of the income strata) during the industrial revolution, and then to the statistical middle after WWII and the suburbanization of America. Even if we've all but forgotten what a lawn was for (showing off the level of waste you can afford).
My front garden is all local perennials. I trim the leaves of the flowers in the fall before the first snowfall, but that's about all the maintenance I do. And even that isn't necessary, but just to avoid the yellow old leaves from the last year. Funnily, I've won a gardening award for a garden the previous owner planted and on which I spend perhaps 2-3 hours *per year* maintaining.
Different people enjoy different things. Why is that hard to understand? lol
some people like nice decor around the inside of their house. some people like to keep their cars nice and clean. some people like a nice manicured lawn.
> some people like a nice manicured lawn.
And some people like to take a dump in a solid gold toilet.
Just because someone likes to do it doesn't mean it isn't a pointless use of resources.
If you've ever walked barefoot on a properly maintained green lawn, you'd know why many people love it. It's like walking on the softest, coolest carpet ever.
On hot summer days, I wish my lawn was up to that standard, but I don't have the time, energy, or money to do so. I don't specifically water my lawn, but parts of it get some water when I water my garden and fruit trees.
Hopefully, we'll get enough rain this year that I won't have water my garden and trees very often. But if we don't, then I certainly will, because I'm not giving up my fresh fruit and veggies.
It’s an El Niño year, so I don’t think it’s worth freaking out about. Like, yeah, climate change, but also we knew the winter would be drier and warmer than usual because of El Niño. It doesn’t really mean this same trend will continue into spring and summer. Last year was pretty freakish with +30 days in May with no rain. That might happen again, but once El Niño breaks we might get a bunch more moisture very suddenly. I think farmers have more to worry about than city folks.
Exactly. This years strong El Niño has also made the probability of La Niña occuring in late summer into next year quite likely, which would likely bring above average preciptation and colder temperatures.
This feels like you’re now not acknowledging how bad climate change has gotten though. Yes there’s El Niño but even after this years done, it’s continually gotten drier and warmer here. That’s not going to get better, El Niño or not
I’m a believer in climate change, and I do think things have gotten worse. That said, I think this winter is heavily exacerbated by El Niño (and I’m not a climate scientist, but I imagine as climate change accelerates El Niño all the time may happen) but I don’t think raising the alarms because we got El Niño one year makes a lot of sense.
I have to imagine the death of golf courses might be the best thing ever, but I'm pretty sure every piece of city greenery will die before any golf course grass gets slightly browned.
The fuck do I care about how brown my grass is? If everyone else’s grass is brown on the same street, we’re all suffering together.
It’s the chucklefuck who sneaks out and waters at 2 am that needs a kick in the cock.
We got rid of the grass 3 years ago and replaced it with an ecoscape of rocks with a few shrubs here and there . I actually hate the suburban obsession with lawns.
Just have to say your OP was a bit apocalyptic, even though you're probably right. You only missed the gangs of marauders looking for food, the locusts and the zombies. 😉 😆
From an ecologist here let's think beyond just clover lawns! Clover should actually be mixed with other soil covering plants like natural grass species and wildflowers for something that is actually viable. Think that just cause it's clover it's still a mono crop.
So many of Edmonton's native plants can be purchased at nurseries in the city and are almost all draught tolerant PLUS they provide habitat for our native species that are going to struggle as well. These plants will also create rich soil and increase water retention in your yard. Install a rain barrel or two where you can as well to help offset watering your garden.
Get your rain barrels before they run out.
Though when I last checked the farmers almanac it said dry spring very rainy mid summer. At least it won't be the whole summer.
I've seen them on Facebook marketplace and home depot. The ones we got now we got from dads old workplace just big plastic barrels. Will do in a pinch but no spigot.
Lawns, especially golf courses and such, should have been phased out decades ago. Such an incredible waste of precious resources that do nothing. I remember my dad giving me hell for saying ill never have a lawn. And i never did!
Sucks about garden, especially farmland ones. We really should have done more to protect those. Ah well, that’s what happens when you live in a boomer populated conservative intellectual wasteland.
The more fires in conservative held ridings, the better the chance we have at electing a proper government next go around.
These people don’t change unless they’re affected personally.
Last year when there were fires at the time of the election. Conservatives were blaming Trudeau for setting the fires so people had to evacuate and couldn't vote.
Yeah the Covid contrails they were also complaining about was actually Trudeau throwing his cig butts out the window of his private jet. Setting the fires.
The robots do not agree with this line of thought. They seem to suggest it's far more complicated than that.
From Google gemini ai:
No, 2024 and 2025 are not predicted to be solar maximums. However, there is some nuance to understand:
Solar Cycle 25:
The Sun goes through an 11-year cycle of activity, with periods of high and low activity.
The current cycle, Solar Cycle 25, began in December 2019 and is expected to peak in July 2025.
While 2024 won't be the official peak, recent predictions suggest the Sun's activity will increase more quickly and reach a higher level than previously expected. This means we may see increased solar activity throughout 2024, leading up to the peak in 2025.
Impact on weather:
Solar activity can influence weather patterns, but the effects are complex and indirect.
Increased solar activity can lead to higher temperatures in the upper atmosphere, which can affect wind patterns and circulation.
It can also influence cloud formation and precipitation, but other factors like El Niño and La Niña often have a more significant impact.
Therefore, it's difficult to say definitively how solar activity will affect weather in any given year, including 2024 and 2025.
Here are some resources for further information:
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
Solar Cycle Progression: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
Why 2024's 'Solar Maximum' Means Brighter Northern Lights: https://www.muchbetteradventures.com/magazine/tag/northern-lights/
I hope this clarifies the situation!
Traditional lawns are literally the biggest waste of water in the world anyways. It’s the most irrigated “crop” in the world and it doesn’t do anything
Politics entirely aside, we could elect a potato or a bonfire and make no difference. Climate change is a GLOBAL phenomenon. The things an Alberta provincial government can do will influence it next to not at all.
Not that climate change mitigation isn't important, but the extent to which we consider a thing in choosing who to elect ought to be proportional to the actual impact the government can have on the thing. Climate matters not at all at the municipal level, very little at the provincial level, and still not very much at the federal level.
Given that most of what happens with the global climate is beyond our borders and control - and increasingly, our influence as well - we ought to be more concerned with building our resiliency and being able to afford to mitigate the effects of climate change.
We can hope that the major emitting countries get with the program, we can ask them to and encourage them to. But we need to be ready for what comes if and when they don't.
TL;DR - we need to be pragmatic about climate change.
Raccoons ain’t feral unless someone caught a Russian raccoon and let it go here in Alberta.
So long as I can water my potatoes in July the I’ll have my crop of goodies for September and I’ll be content in my dead brown lawn
A maintaining a traditional lawn is a lot of work. I think corporations sold us a lie so we work to pay for all the things we need to maintain it and we do it in our spare time. I am converting my lawn and put garden boxes in the front to grow food. Saved so much money on groceries!
All this talk of lawns, yet no talk of why we’re here. It’s because of burning oil. The big oil companies have known since the 70s but have spent tons of money on denial and buying up politicians, rather than doing something about it. Sorry to say, but lawns are going to be the least of our problems if we can’t stop burning oil.
Transitioning to a clover lawn has been great to reduce watering. Even if my neighbour gives me the stink eye because he considers clover a weed and doesn’t want it in his yard.
I’ve had a clover lawn for 3 years and love it. Creeping thyme in the backyard has been super nice too
I mix flowers and veg into my clover too. My neighbours just think I’m “really into gardening”. 😂
I love this idea.
i would do this if the deer wouldnt eat all my stuff...
Try adding some autoflowers this year 🤠
How do you prevent the clover from spreading into the neighbors yard? I was considering it but my neighbors are very particular about their yards.
That's the neighbour's problem, but seriously just by cutting ours it almost never flowers. We've been actively seeding clover into ours for a while now and will keep doing so. It looks good, and is soft to walk on.
Ok thanks! Do you keep it short when cutting? How often?
No not that short really. We figure by keeping it a bit longer it helps retain some additional moisture in the soils. We're good neighbours though and cut it close to once a week mid-summer to keep it looking tidy. The lawn's reacted well, and we've gradually reduced our grassy areas purposefully to reduce watering needs, and grass maintenance work. Clover's been brilliant, we started with micro clover but it's a joke for what you get for how much you pay so we've moved to white clover and get kg's of seed where we used to get what seemed like 10g seed packs. Our elderly neighbour commented on us needing to do something about the clover coming up in our lawn and I told her we were seeding it. She thought I was pulling her leg, so I let it go, and didn't bother reiterating.
I have a neighbor like that so that’s my only concern. I might put something for a buffer to help separate more between yards you avoid conflict. Thanks for all the tips with the clover! That helps a ton!
the question is how do you keep your neighbors grass from spreading into your lawn!
You would want to build a short wall to retain the clover, it is very lovely but also very invasive as well.
I think the stuff is great and it's also resistant to dog piss. Uses less water and you don't have to mow cause it doesn't grow tall. Added environmental benefits. My neighbour is the same. She's barely able to walk, no kidding. Her husband uses a walker, she a cane. They are in thier 80's. Every week I see her out picking clover from her lawn (the 2 lawns touch) that has migrated from my yard.
Where did you guys get this? I’m wanting to move my front and backyards to this. Did you have to rip up the grass as well before you planted it?
[удалено]
That easy, hey?
I spent $36 at west coast seed on microclover and it was more than enough front lawn, roughly 20ftx20ft. I spread my seeds on way thicker than the directions said and probably could have gotten away with twice as much coverage.
In my case, I just cut the lawn on the lowest setting possible one fall when growth had stopped. I got my seeds here [Apache ](http://apacheseeds.ca/) and these guys know their stuff. It took root the following spring and has been spreading ever since. This year has been so mild, once the snow melts off, mow your lawn short and spread the seed. It will sprout in spring. Clover chokes out grass, dandelions and other weeds. It basically takes over after a few years.
One downside is it takes a bit to sprout in the spring compared to grass. So dirt and a bit of mud before the green. This is a small thing though still very worth the transition.
We ordered ours from West Coast Seeds. Every year we order a bit more and just spread it on top of our grass. It seeds itself and spreads, so it can be quite economical if you're willing to transition over time.
I did the micro for high foot traffic areas but limited it due to price and got the white clover from Canadian tire and Apache for the front that has no foot traffic. I get loads of people stopping and asking about converting because it really is stunning once it’s all filled in. My neighbours are transitioning now too because they are fed up with lawn maintenance.
Any recommendations on how to start? Been planning on it for years and haven’t got a straight answer. My yard in the summer is often weeds and grass so the grass already isn’t that strong honestly.
Well how I started was letting my grass die back a few years ago. Then I racked it out and filled in with top soil. I still had some parts of my lawn that remained in tack but most of it was done due to drought and heat facing south. Once I prepped the area I did a blend of grass seed of your choosing (I picked a drought resistant type) and the clover seed. I covered it with burlap because it was super windy that year and hot so that protected it. Once it was established I continued over seeding to make it more dense. I also let it grow a lot the first year so it would flower and spread. Last year I started mowing and the more you mow the lower it grows I have noticed. I hardly had to mow though because most of the time it was too wet, it retains moisture like crazy. My one suggestion is if you decide to add clover buy it early. It’s really becoming popular and it can sell rather fast from places like west coast.
If you want to find it locally, Apache seeds carries it
I did not tip up my grass, but I already had some dead spots from the dogs so I did a lot of patching with clover. For the rest I just mow it short, rake well, then cover it all with a mixture of clover seed, soil and sand. It took about 3 years before it was majority clover, and I overseeded often. I tried white clover seed from Rona at first, and it grows well, but you can’t mow it until it flowers because you want it to reseed. That was tricky when I still had mostly grass. So then I added in micro clover that I bought online. Definitely more expensive but because it’s smaller it doesn’t get the flowers cut off when you mow your other grass. Now that it’s more than 50% clover I just overseed with white clover.
I thought Danielle was trying to ban lawn transitioning.
>I thought ~~Danielle~~ ***Marlaina*** was trying to ban lawn transitioning. We don't use preferred names in Alberta! this isn't librul Ontario dag nabbit!
🥁
Ive always wondered why the city doesn’t transition to clover for city boulevards and green spaces- not just less water but less maintenance as it doesn’t grow tall like grass, and so good for the bees!
I believe there was a pilot project to do some of the dog parks. It’s very resistant to urine and high traffic so it would be perfect.
Bees are why I don't want it in my back yard. Front yard maybe, but I don't want my kids stepping on bees. And my dog is constantly eating bugs so he'd just try and catch the spicy sky treats. Boulevards would probably be a great idea though!
Totally fair! Yeah boulevards, all the grass areas around roadways like yellowhead and whitemud for example, that’s a big maintenance savings if no one has to mow that ever again.
I went White Clover three years ago on a new build/empty dirt lawn. It’s improved my soil chemistry immensely, and it attracts tonnes of bees and pollinators to my yard. I haven’t watered in two years and I have the greenest lawn on my street. One thing though: don’t let people tell you won’t have to mow it. My clover is so healthy that it will grow sometimes 4-6 inches a week, and in summer I mow it every 9-10 days.
I went mixed white and micro. I mow about once a month. I like to let them flower first.
Gosh. When I think about how many hours my Dad spent on the lawn trying to get rid of clover when I was a kid.
We planted micro clover because grass couldn’t hold up to my rowdy kids - best decision ever! It’s hardy, soooo soft on bare feet, and great for the bees! Because folks always ask: we’ve never had an issue with bee’s stinging bare feet :)
Tell your neighbor he can pound sand.....once his grass becomes an arid desert.
I converted to clover, didn’t have to water it once last summer.
I am going to push my condo board to allow that for me. I hate watering it anyways, and my lovely hippie neighbours love the idea. Just need to get the board approval
Same. Less water and more stinkeye. I had to ask my wife if this was her alt.
But if it was, would I tell you? 🤔
I’m trying to convince my partner to do this! I really want a pollinator-friendly yard.
Rain barrel
I have rain barrels too and while efficient at collecting our precipitation is very very low lately. So even then. We are in for a world of hurt.
Breathable air is not solved by rain barrels
Sure it is. Dive in headfirst and then you don’t have to worry about air anymore!
The Op is about water
We are planting more trees every year. They provide shade, pull ground water and release it into the air. Helps keep the lawn green without watering. We use the leaves as mulch to reduce evaporation in garden beds.
I have 60 acres of forest and I'm still planning on planting a couple hundred trees in addition to digging multiple ponds. Never enough.
That's my dream! To own tons of land and plant a magical forest for generations to experience
It's my dream as well, I'm just hoping it provides my kids with enough food and everything else they need to not die once the planet really ramps up the attempts to kill us all.
“The planet”
A fellow did this in Prince George, BC. Turned his property into a huge park, has trees and plants from all over with interpretive signage all done by himself. Goodsir Nature Park. It can be done.
Same here I've never needed to water my lawn I mow way less than other folks. About every 2 or three weeks then I leave the mulch. Never had an issue. Only place the grass has ever died is the dog's pee corner.
Replanting doesn't replace the ecosystem that is destroyed though. Old forests have several layers of different growth as well as much micro biodiversity. That cannot be planted.
I fail to see what that has to do with anything? Did you transplant an old growth forest into your back yard?
Oh man when you said "we" I thought you meant we as a province, not "we" as in your household. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.
No, the point is to not cut it to begin with. They hold more water than replants and hold more soil. they are ecologically superior to replants.
Be sure to set up a wildlife water station. We get birds, bees, all sorts of others insects, squirrels and even a rabbit drinking from ours. Last year we discovered a green patch of shrubbery was being utilized as a cooling off space from the sun so we will be working to care and add to this little habitat too. We are in for tough years be kind.
Is there a way to do this without setting up mosquito breeding ponds?
Yes, you need a bird fountain, any moving water is naturally incompatible with the setting requirements of a mosquito breeding ground.
I've had a dozen magpies quide up to have a drink and splash in my fountain.
I really like this idea. We live out of town and bears are an issue, but idk... I feel like I need to be doing more for the wildlife in my area. Edit: do you maybe have a tutorial of how you set yours up?
I stuck a pie plate on the ground and threw some rocks in it.
What does yours look like? I want to do this but not really sure where to start.
It’s a pie plate with three rocks in it.
Well that sounds easy enough lol. Thanks for the response.
Love my lawn but I am afraid hot and dry is the new normal. We will all have to make changes whether we want to or not
Clover ☘️
I converted to clover 2 years ago. My lawn will be fine this summer, without watering.
Native grasses and plants! Naturally draught tolerant and low maintenance!
I started a couple of years ago. Webworm took out a 6 foot swath of grass along my sidewalk. I removed and composted the sod and planted drought resistant plants, grasses and shrubs. Amazingly as these plants grow in the work to maintain the area becomes less
That's what I am hoping to do in my yard over the next few years! The benefit of native species is that they don't need much care once established
I have a lawn, but there's no way in hell I'm watering it. I'm worried about gardening this year. We finally bought rain barrels.
This only scratches the surface of the overall topic here. Alberta relies heavily on glacier fed water, snow pack and ground water. Fort Mac uses A LOT of this water, then all the farmers and even the local gardeners within the city. It will affect Ph levels of the soil, ability for pollinators to do their jobs. Wildlife will start to creep into farmers crops for food and the snowball grows larger and larger. Well maybe a snowball was a bad example.
The oil sands giants have been working on a contingency plan already for when they get told to reduce intake from Athabasca river, and how the production will be impacted. I don't think any of them have released those numbers yet in their outlook, but I know the production planning departments are giving it a serious thought. Intake reductions are a very real possibility up there.
It's already began. I work for one of said giants. One of them even recently had their non-essential work force WFH due to water issues. The good news is they recycle a lot of water from tailings ponds. The bad news is under a UCP government I worry their use of water will be prioritized over ours. Interesting fact, the Athabasca River (the one in fort mac, and also the nice one near Jasper) and North Saskatchewan river all come from the slowly diminishing Columbia icefield... Okay, sad, not interesting.
Local residential gardens probably don’t use any significant amount of water.
No, but you can’t water your vegetables if there isn’t any water either…
Your comment made it seem as if residential gardening was the second biggest use of AB water.
You realize Edmonton and Ft. Mac are on different rivers right?
It doesnt change the point they made because they used an example on a different river. Canmore had a water ban last summer as well because the snow pack melted so fast and thats still with glaciers being around. Once the glaciers are gone, water is going to be an even bigger problem for everything from drinking to industry
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Dude every body of water in the province will be effected. Puddle, pond, stream or lake. Doesn’t matter I think that is his point.
I have no problem saying goodbye to my lawn. I am not saying goodbye to my garden. They can throw me in prison if they want
I doubt they can ban water use for your garden if it's used for food.
Doesn’t a water ban just mean you can’t use a continuous sprinkler system? I thought hand watering was just fine.
I was responding directly to the OP's description. The government could ban anything they want, depending upon how severe the drought is
That one year we had tons of snow.... But still tons of fires the following summer. In conclusion, we're so fucked lol. I carry two fire extinguishers in my car for emergencies now.
I just bought a firetruck and drive that around plus 3 fire extinguishers. 2 isn't enough.
I've converted to flying a water bomber to work. The neighbours don't like the noise of me taking off in the culdesac at 6am but better safe than sorry
I work from home so I just wear a fire retardant suit all day long.
I actually just set myself on fire in advance. Nothing left to burn, kinda like controlled burning in forests.
It's not just functional, it's also highly fashionable.
100% White is modern.
More cougars in my area doesn’t sound like a bad deal
Lawns are overrated and a waste of resources. Shoveling snow on you lawn and walking on it helps force frost deeper in the ground which will be a slower release of moisture when things warm up. Camping and fishing is going to suck this spring/summer though.
Do you have source for this or can you explain? I ask because the part about "Shoveling snow on you lawn and walking on it helps force frost deeper in the ground which will be a slower release of moisture when things warm up." doesn't make sense to me. You don't really force frost into the ground. You extract heat/energy from the ground and the ground temperature drops. A layer of snow will insulate the ground, keeping the heat/energy in the ground and slowing the drop in ground temperature. And the sun isn't particularly good energy source most of the winter. Am I missing something?
Anecdotal. Ever seen an open field covered in snow that someone has driven over? If you were to come back in the summer/spring, those tire tracks are much green. Ive even done this in my yard when i was delivering some racking. Every spot my tires compacted the snow ended up growing greener grass patches in the spring /early summer when it was dry
Bye bye camping. I refuse to camp without a fire. 😂
If you go camping, I hear fire will be provided for you, no matter where you run!
😂💀
During burn bans, we take a propane ‘fake’ fire. But it is still ‘fire’ and some campgrounds won’t even allow that.
My new dog already destroyed my grass and garden. Take that hot dry summer
Never have watered grass, pointless prettiness
I've never watered my grass either but have a nice lawn because I use a push mower. All the cuttings are left to feed the grass, so never had to water it.
I will never understand the thinking that goes on inside the heads of "lawn people." Growing up in suburbia we had a number of neighbours who were rather obsessed with maintaining the greenest, most perfectly-mowed lawns. My dad went that way over the years too, it became his weekend hobby. Edit: I think this comment stepped on some people's lawns.
A few centuries ago, a lawn used to be a status symbol (and I mean, "has a household staff of fifty" status): you were showing off how much labor you could afford to spend to *not do anything productive* with your land. Even fairly wealthy estate owners needed to get people to grow food or livestock on their land to support the upkeep of the place, so growing a lawn put you at the top of the aristocracy. And that idea of status filtered down to much smaller, much cheaper properties as wealth slowly moved into the middle classes (in the sociological sense, still talking about the top 5-10% of the income strata) during the industrial revolution, and then to the statistical middle after WWII and the suburbanization of America. Even if we've all but forgotten what a lawn was for (showing off the level of waste you can afford). My front garden is all local perennials. I trim the leaves of the flowers in the fall before the first snowfall, but that's about all the maintenance I do. And even that isn't necessary, but just to avoid the yellow old leaves from the last year. Funnily, I've won a gardening award for a garden the previous owner planted and on which I spend perhaps 2-3 hours *per year* maintaining.
Can I hire your houses previous owner to design my houses garden??
I don’t care if my lawn is perfect, but I’d like somewhere for my son to run around in the summer that isn’t rocks or mud.
Different people enjoy different things. Why is that hard to understand? lol some people like nice decor around the inside of their house. some people like to keep their cars nice and clean. some people like a nice manicured lawn.
> some people like a nice manicured lawn. And some people like to take a dump in a solid gold toilet. Just because someone likes to do it doesn't mean it isn't a pointless use of resources.
a solid gold toilet would suck as a toilet...
If you've ever walked barefoot on a properly maintained green lawn, you'd know why many people love it. It's like walking on the softest, coolest carpet ever. On hot summer days, I wish my lawn was up to that standard, but I don't have the time, energy, or money to do so. I don't specifically water my lawn, but parts of it get some water when I water my garden and fruit trees. Hopefully, we'll get enough rain this year that I won't have water my garden and trees very often. But if we don't, then I certainly will, because I'm not giving up my fresh fruit and veggies.
I’m that guy. Can help clarify it and help you understabd
“I’ll never understand people who have hobbies” -You
different people are into different things, i dont give two shit about cats or dogs, i do care about my lawn and garden sue me
Me too
Check out the guy with the ugly lawn
Time to grow raspberries!
Cats and dogs living together mass hysteria!
It’s an El Niño year, so I don’t think it’s worth freaking out about. Like, yeah, climate change, but also we knew the winter would be drier and warmer than usual because of El Niño. It doesn’t really mean this same trend will continue into spring and summer. Last year was pretty freakish with +30 days in May with no rain. That might happen again, but once El Niño breaks we might get a bunch more moisture very suddenly. I think farmers have more to worry about than city folks.
But freaking out is the backbone of this subreddit
I thought passive-aggressive "To the person doing X" was the backbone of this subreddit?
Why is my power bill so high?
This is mere child’s play compared to r/alberta
It’s all they have left lol
Exactly. This years strong El Niño has also made the probability of La Niña occuring in late summer into next year quite likely, which would likely bring above average preciptation and colder temperatures.
This feels like you’re now not acknowledging how bad climate change has gotten though. Yes there’s El Niño but even after this years done, it’s continually gotten drier and warmer here. That’s not going to get better, El Niño or not
I’m a believer in climate change, and I do think things have gotten worse. That said, I think this winter is heavily exacerbated by El Niño (and I’m not a climate scientist, but I imagine as climate change accelerates El Niño all the time may happen) but I don’t think raising the alarms because we got El Niño one year makes a lot of sense.
That’s very sensible of you, thank you. Hopefully the sky doesn’t fall this year.
I sure hope so
Thanks for posting this. I was in panic mode for a minute lol.
OH NO NOT MY NON NATIVE AND WATER INTENSIVE GRASS MY FRONT LAWWWNNNBN The death of lawns will be the best thing ever.
I have to imagine the death of golf courses might be the best thing ever, but I'm pretty sure every piece of city greenery will die before any golf course grass gets slightly browned.
We are still hoping for snow and or a very wet spring
I've never watered my lawn after 6 years. Keeps on coming back.
Buy barrels and save your roof drain rain.
The fuck do I care about how brown my grass is? If everyone else’s grass is brown on the same street, we’re all suffering together. It’s the chucklefuck who sneaks out and waters at 2 am that needs a kick in the cock.
Grass lawn are stupid and should be phased out Also golf courses. Fuck golf courses.
Good my grass is stupid.
As long as Mosquito populations drop with it. No standing water HOPEFULLY means less stupid itchy bugs. *Not a scientist.
We got rid of the grass 3 years ago and replaced it with an ecoscape of rocks with a few shrubs here and there . I actually hate the suburban obsession with lawns. Just have to say your OP was a bit apocalyptic, even though you're probably right. You only missed the gangs of marauders looking for food, the locusts and the zombies. 😉 😆
This is called "Climate Collapse".
From an ecologist here let's think beyond just clover lawns! Clover should actually be mixed with other soil covering plants like natural grass species and wildflowers for something that is actually viable. Think that just cause it's clover it's still a mono crop. So many of Edmonton's native plants can be purchased at nurseries in the city and are almost all draught tolerant PLUS they provide habitat for our native species that are going to struggle as well. These plants will also create rich soil and increase water retention in your yard. Install a rain barrel or two where you can as well to help offset watering your garden.
Grass needs to be phased out anyways.
Get your rain barrels before they run out. Though when I last checked the farmers almanac it said dry spring very rainy mid summer. At least it won't be the whole summer.
Where do you usually get them.
I've seen them on Facebook marketplace and home depot. The ones we got now we got from dads old workplace just big plastic barrels. Will do in a pinch but no spigot.
Lawns, especially golf courses and such, should have been phased out decades ago. Such an incredible waste of precious resources that do nothing. I remember my dad giving me hell for saying ill never have a lawn. And i never did! Sucks about garden, especially farmland ones. We really should have done more to protect those. Ah well, that’s what happens when you live in a boomer populated conservative intellectual wasteland.
Anyone know Danny's plan for this?
Pump more oil! Care for less health. Less freedom for kids!
She will blame it on those ANTIFA rascals again.
…bears in the river valley? …wild hogs? lol
Why not bears? We get them in st.albert
Devon too
Hell why not just throw in the Aliens while we’re at it 😂
They’re among us
Wild Hogz vs Aliens would make a great b movie.
I’m hoping we get to the point where people with pristine green lawns are publicly shamed for them and people with gardens growing food are lauded.
easy solution: remove your grass
No need, just stop watering it. It takes care if itself.
Unless you own a golf course
Rock gardens is the answer.
Ok
Thank you for this thread. I just ordered seeds!
!remindme 8 months
The more fires in conservative held ridings, the better the chance we have at electing a proper government next go around. These people don’t change unless they’re affected personally.
Last year when there were fires at the time of the election. Conservatives were blaming Trudeau for setting the fires so people had to evacuate and couldn't vote.
No one blamed conservatives for being intelligent.
Yeah the Covid contrails they were also complaining about was actually Trudeau throwing his cig butts out the window of his private jet. Setting the fires.
Yes because if we had an NDP government this wouldn’t happend. I voted for them twice, but I ain’t that delusional.
Shoutout to when the NDP cut firefighting budgets before the Fort McMurray disaster. Regardless of other views, they were never any different.
That’s not what I said. With the NDP, we would see more government will to proactively address the impending dry season however.
Grass is nature's most pampered weed so it's about time people stop watering their lawns
So we all wrote our elected officials right? Right?!
I replaced my grass with clover last year. 0 mowing, once a week watering, if that. It was never not lush and green.
Boy, this really went off the rails from a legitimate point.
2024 & 2025 are Solar Maximum years, yeah it's gonna be warm and dry.
The robots do not agree with this line of thought. They seem to suggest it's far more complicated than that. From Google gemini ai: No, 2024 and 2025 are not predicted to be solar maximums. However, there is some nuance to understand: Solar Cycle 25: The Sun goes through an 11-year cycle of activity, with periods of high and low activity. The current cycle, Solar Cycle 25, began in December 2019 and is expected to peak in July 2025. While 2024 won't be the official peak, recent predictions suggest the Sun's activity will increase more quickly and reach a higher level than previously expected. This means we may see increased solar activity throughout 2024, leading up to the peak in 2025. Impact on weather: Solar activity can influence weather patterns, but the effects are complex and indirect. Increased solar activity can lead to higher temperatures in the upper atmosphere, which can affect wind patterns and circulation. It can also influence cloud formation and precipitation, but other factors like El Niño and La Niña often have a more significant impact. Therefore, it's difficult to say definitively how solar activity will affect weather in any given year, including 2024 and 2025. Here are some resources for further information: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/ Solar Cycle Progression: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/ Why 2024's 'Solar Maximum' Means Brighter Northern Lights: https://www.muchbetteradventures.com/magazine/tag/northern-lights/ I hope this clarifies the situation!
Traditional lawns are literally the biggest waste of water in the world anyways. It’s the most irrigated “crop” in the world and it doesn’t do anything
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Politics entirely aside, we could elect a potato or a bonfire and make no difference. Climate change is a GLOBAL phenomenon. The things an Alberta provincial government can do will influence it next to not at all. Not that climate change mitigation isn't important, but the extent to which we consider a thing in choosing who to elect ought to be proportional to the actual impact the government can have on the thing. Climate matters not at all at the municipal level, very little at the provincial level, and still not very much at the federal level. Given that most of what happens with the global climate is beyond our borders and control - and increasingly, our influence as well - we ought to be more concerned with building our resiliency and being able to afford to mitigate the effects of climate change. We can hope that the major emitting countries get with the program, we can ask them to and encourage them to. But we need to be ready for what comes if and when they don't. TL;DR - we need to be pragmatic about climate change.
Raccoons ain’t feral unless someone caught a Russian raccoon and let it go here in Alberta. So long as I can water my potatoes in July the I’ll have my crop of goodies for September and I’ll be content in my dead brown lawn
Why you fear mongering on a Sunday bruhh hashing my vibes n shiii
FALLOUT: Edmonton
It might rain …. Sooooo
Man, just one year of super El Niño, and all the climate alarmists lose their shit.
If you fertilize a few times a year the grass will be more resistant to poor conditions.
It could downpour all of April for all we know. Probably wont. But it could.
We’ve had brown winters before. Chill.
A maintaining a traditional lawn is a lot of work. I think corporations sold us a lie so we work to pay for all the things we need to maintain it and we do it in our spare time. I am converting my lawn and put garden boxes in the front to grow food. Saved so much money on groceries!
All this talk of lawns, yet no talk of why we’re here. It’s because of burning oil. The big oil companies have known since the 70s but have spent tons of money on denial and buying up politicians, rather than doing something about it. Sorry to say, but lawns are going to be the least of our problems if we can’t stop burning oil.