Thesis
Questioning the use of lawn in the arid West: Testing personal preferences and analyzing turf use in Utah
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2005
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/322
Abstract
The lawn is a ubiquitous landscape element all over the US and is also one of the biggest drains on city potable water supplies. Water resources in the arid West are under considerable strain, which brings into question current water use patterns and the prevalence of lawns as an ornamental feature. Lawns in residential front yards and around commercial properties are typically ornamental in nature and not intended for functional use. Americans seem to exhibit great reluctance to change their use of and preferences toward lawns despite the vast resources that they require to maintain. This research attempts to probe personal preferences of lawn in residential front yards of the arid western United States. The Salt Lake City, Utah metropolitan area was chosen as the study site for this research because it has many qualities that are representative of cities and towns located in the arid regions of the intermountain West. Common to these areas is higher than average population growth and limited potable water supplies to serve new and existing residents. Residents from the study area were surveyed to determine their preferences toward residential front lawns. Subjects were asked to look at images representing the same house with varying percentages of lawn in the front yard. They were asked to rank the images according to visual and maintenance preferences. It was found that preferences toward the front yard lawn vary widely ranging from 25% lawn to 75% lawn. The data showed a strong trend for preferences for a yard to drop off significantly when the lawn covers around 100% of the yard. Also, there is a substantial shift in preference between visual preferences and maintenance and ownership preferences. Homes that had 25% and 50% lawn had a much higher visual preference than others. When looking at what people want to maintain and own the preference shifted to homes with 50% and 75% lawn. There are many possible avenues to improve water conservation in the arid West. Reducing the amount of the traditional lawn that serves a purely ornamental purpose is one such method that would prove helpful in conserving Western water resources. Taking actions like implementing government ordinances to cap the amount of lawn while offering incentives to explore other equally decorative but more resource efficient landscaping options would be effective in conserving water and could still allow landscapes to fall within the aesthetic and practical preference levels of the public.
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Details
- Title
- Questioning the use of lawn in the arid West
- Creators
- David Austin Shaw
- Contributors
- Jolie B. Kaytes (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Horticulture, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900525173401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis