turf rebate.....

ok, so......since i am off work today i have opted for the ultimate in leisure scenarios.......pajamas til noon.......which means to me a slow crawl through the online papers.......the nytimes had a marvelous piece on cactus rescue groups who arrive prior to bulldozers when roads are to be widened or golfcourses built in arizona......to move the cacti.......and the sale of the cacti is then used to fund more of such rescues......prices asked are far less than commercial nurseries...allowing many homeowners to completely revamp their yards into mini-desert low-water landscapes.......so many have made this switch that the city of scottsdale now offers a turf rebate up to 1500 bucks for homeowners who will take up their grass and turn it in to the city........wow.......the joke around here is that i will eventually extend planting beds to take up all of our meager stand of greenness we call a lawn......but here grass does serve some purpose.....to withstand erosion.......though our soil doesn't seem to cooperate with the support of desirable grass varieties.......the bald spots in our yard are larger and more numerous than on any year previous......i would gladly take up all of our turf.....and lay down purchased sod........that may just be the first thing i do if my lottery habit ever pays off........or maybe just give into the ivy....and allow it to take over instead....it is lowgrowing....and requires little maintenance.......and would hold down what soil there is....though i am not quite ready to follow through on this notion......it still crosses my mind when i read of others who have chosen to allow nature to take over......