[SusanG_O]

When we lived in our first of 3 homes in Hot Springs Village we had a yard made of fairly large stones with no grass. In the middle of the yard there was a round bricked in area that we planted with some shrubs. It didn't look ugly to us; after all, the house was brand new and quite nice. I didn't realize what a huge bonus it was until we left Arkansas and now have this constant round of bills to take care of our yard. The neighbors' yards are immaculate. It is so annoying to look down the street and notice not one single leaf on their yards and no weeds. In three days someone is coming over to mow the weeds (yard), blow the leaves and edge. Then comes months of heavy watering due to the horribly hot summers that go from May to September.
What about you? Would you like to save a fortune and have a gravel (or stone) yard? We had half a dozen shrubs up against the house in the front. Here, you must have grass. I miss Arkansas so much!!

[biscuitmom]

At our TX home, just east of Dallas, our yard is primarily crushed/decomposed granite, with flagstone, brick pavers, boulders for accents and borders, and mulch in the shrubbery areas. We haven't owned a lawnmower in years. All our neighbors have grass lawns but they love ours, we've won the community "yard of the month" award more times than I can count.
We have many area of hardy indigenous plants - many chosen to attract butterflies, birds and bees but others chosen just because we like them.

We now have a 2nd home in NW AR and are in the process of getting rid of all or most of the grass. It'll be a work in progress; took about 6-7 years to complete our landscaping plan back in TX. This yard is smaller so hopefully won't take that long. For sure we won't buy a lawnmower in the interim so we'll have to hire that out until the grass is gone.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by SusanG_O

When we lived in our first of 3 homes in Hot Springs Village we had a yard made of fairly large stones with no grass. In the middle of the yard there was a round bricked in area that we planted with some shrubs. It didn't look ugly to us; after all, the house was brand new and quite nice. I didn't realize what a huge bonus it was until we left Arkansas and now have this constant round of bills to take care of our yard. The neighbors' yards are immaculate. It is so annoying to look down the street and notice not one single leaf on their yards and no weeds. In three days someone is coming over to mow the weeds (yard), blow the leaves and edge. Then comes months of heavy watering due to the horribly hot summers that go from May to September.
What about you? Would you like to save a fortune and have a gravel (or stone) yard? We had half a dozen shrubs up against the house in the front. Here, you must have grass. I miss Arkansas so much!!

In NM, we had rock with the cirlcels like you are talking about in our front yard and grass in our back yard. We too had the grass taken out in the back yard, had 3 circles which we used for growing some of our produce and had rock added. I would do it here as well, except the cost. I have to pretty much live with what we have. Rock is easy to care for and saves a lot on water. I do like some greenery and flowers

[Wes59]

Here in Houston, our front yard has a huge oak tree that prevents grass from growing. We decided to brick border the area and pour in rust colored lava rocks. Added some flagstone pavers, and put plants in clay pots on the flagstone. Looks 200% better than before.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Wes59

Here in Houston, our front yard has a huge oak tree that prevents grass from growing. We decided to brick border the area and pour in rust colored lava rocks. Added some flagstone pavers, and put plants in clay pots on the flagstone. Looks 200% better than before.

We talk about changing our yard from grass to rock, we do have some rock. The only thing that stops us is cost. To do the yard in rock is so expensive since we have a large grass lot. We are actually taking some of our rock in our back yard out. There used to be a covered area for a boat in our back yard with a drive way that went from our front street to the street behind us. Now that we got rid of the covered area and the weeds think that area is their's plus the wood border is routing we have our landscape guy coming out tomorrow to give us an estimate on taking that rock out and replacing it with grass. I hate to do it, but it is something that has to be done.

[Wes59]

We had to bring about 15 bags of lava - at 5lb/bag in a Honda CRV. Di wonders for that car, but it looks much better than dirt, tree roots, and dead grass.

[SusanG_O]

Originally Posted by biscuitmom

At our TX home, just east of Dallas, our yard is primarily crushed/decomposed granite, with flagstone, brick pavers, boulders for accents and borders, and mulch in the shrubbery areas. We haven't owned a lawnmower in years. All our neighbors have grass lawns but they love ours, we've won the community "yard of the month" award more times than I can count.
We have many area of hardy indigenous plants - many chosen to attract butterflies, birds and bees but others chosen just because we like them.

We now have a 2nd home in NW AR and are in the process of getting rid of all or most of the grass. It'll be a work in progress; took about 6-7 years to complete our landscaping plan back in TX. This yard is smaller so hopefully won't take that long. For sure we won't buy a lawnmower in the interim so we'll have to hire that out until the grass is gone.

Eureka Springs? Gorgeous town. Yard sounds great.

[Wes59]

Susan: What part of east Texas are you in?

[biscuitmom]

Originally Posted by SusanG_O

Eureka Springs? Gorgeous town. Yard sounds great.

Yes, ES is gorgeous and so is Fayetteville, where our new home is.
Our prior home - with the rock yard - is in N/E Tx.

[David A Stone]

Originally Posted by nmnita

In NM, we had rock with the cirlcels like you are talking about in our front yard and grass in our back yard. We too had the grass taken out in the back yard, had 3 circles which we used for growing some of our produce and had rock added. I would do it here as well, except the cost. I have to pretty much live with what we have. Rock is easy to care for and saves a lot on water. I do like some greenery and flowers

One of the reasons I moved to the Ozarks of Arkansas rather than the deserts of New Mexico or Arizona was to see ....green....
Everyone is different, but the last thing I would want is to turn my lawn into one resembling a desert climate and spend extra $$$$$$$$$$ to make it look like a desert.