One of the things I've come to like about Arizona when I'm out there is that most of the houses have desert landscaping. No lawn. No mowing, no watering, minimal weeding . . . ya just rake it out once in a while and it's all good.
yeah, we visited friends in Tucson. they had lots of cactus and other interesting plants with drip irrigation set up. But the land was mostly rock and scrub. What I'm doing is totally obsessive and not cost effective, by the way. Clover is a better ground cover.
St. Augustine and Zoysia seem to be the two most popular grasses for lawns around here. When we moved into our house 22 years ago the front and back yards were mostly the former. Drought conditions and the resulting water restrictions in subsequent years caused most of it to die off, with the backyard now being entirely clover and the front yard being mostly clover until recently, when the remaining sections of St. Augustine started making a comeback on their own.
okay since nobody local carries the lawnmower blade I need I had to order it online. Now the funny part: ten minutes after researching blades, finding a vendor and ordering the blade I was FLOODED - flooded I tell you - with lawnmower related advertising on every web site I visited!
update on the mower blade: Ten minutes into the blade's maiden voyage I hit something in the tall grass and dinged the blade. Not a show-stopper but it was frustrating. At least I know where to get another blade when I need to so no big deal. Regardless of the nick, the mower cuts clean and smooth and the yard looks great.
