My neighbor called me out for watering my lawn in July

I live in Phoenix and I was out there with the hose every morning like clockwork. My neighbor Carol finally came over and told me I was wasting 50 gallons a day on grass that was never gonna be green in 110 degree heat. So I ripped out the front lawn last fall, put in gravel and cactus, and my water bill dropped by $40 a month. Has anyone else dealt with pushback from HOAs when trying to xeriscape?

2 comments

2 Comments

david_adams26d ago

Told my HOA I'd rather save water than look at dead brown grass.

luna_sanchez26d ago

My neighbors tried that too but then the city actually sent someone out to inspect and fine them 200 bucks for violating the xeriscaping guidelines we supposedly agreed to. We've got a specific list of approved plants and mulch colors in our HOA manual that's like 40 pages long. I get wanting to save water but letting the lawn totally die looks rough and honestly property values do take a hit when every other house looks like a dirt patch. Maybe a happy medium with some drought tolerant stuff could work.