There’s a rather unassuming strip of lawn next to the parking lot at St. Charles Bend.

Most people walk or drive past it without batting an eyelash.

There are no signs to explain what is happening on the lawn, but ask about its significance from the people who planted it, and a discussion quickly unfolds about the potential for water conservation in Central Oregon.

The lawn is a pilot project — coordinated by the city of Bend, the High Desert Horticultural Center and Aspen Landscape Development — to test different grass varieties for their ability to grow in varying amounts of water. Knowledge gained from the pilot project could guide water-conscious landscaping practices in Bend well into the future.

Given that around 60% of water used by the average household in Bend goes to outdoor landscaping, there is a lot of room for reduced water use. Another problem the project could address is the improper use of grass better suited to other climates.

“Some of those varieties (of grass) that other people are using don’t work here. So it’s really about figuring out what works here and with how much (water) input,” said Dan Denning, water conservation program manager for the city of Bend.

Educating the public

Once the data is collected and analyzed, the city plans to work with local landscapers and private homeowners to educate them about alternatives to traditional lawn varieties and normal watering practices, with the end goal of reducing the amount of water and fertilizer used for landscaping in Bend.

The study includes measurements of root depth and the amount of growth that the grass experiences under various watering amounts.

“Our objective with this study is to really be able to recommend specific grasses that use less water, less fertilizer, and still look good, (and) meet that aesthetic requirement that people have for their yards, for their lawns,” said Richard Martinson, one of the project organizers and the founder of the High Desert Horticultural Center.

Varying water amounts

The project site includes three 10-by-10-foot squares, each one receiving different amounts of water. One of them is a control plot receiving a typical irrigation schedule. The second receives half of the normal amount of water and the third receives 30% of the control plot water amount.

A so-called smart controller has been installed at the location so the city can remotely control the watering schedule.

Aesthetics are an important part of the project. A goal is to document how the grass will look under different water regimes so end users will know what they are getting into. The project organizers are conscious of the fact that lawn users will just go back to sod if the drought-resistant lawn looks shabby.

“The idea there is to see if we start scaling back the water on these (plots), to generate actual water savings, what does that crop look like, and do we think people would want that?” said Denning.

Fescues galore

Within each 10-by-10 plot, there are four sections, each one with a different mix of grass species, including Chewings fescue, creeping red fescue, sheep fescue and Kentucky bluegrass. But finding the right combination of grass variety is part of the end game.

One of the four squares was planted with a so-called eco-lawn mix, a pollinator-friendly seed mix with perennial flowering plants and fescues. Its varieties include dwarf English daisy, strawberry clover and dwarf yarrow, all plants that provide food and cover for bees and butterflies.

With this mixture, watering less will result in greater growth of the flowers and less growth of the grasses.

“All the plants in there are pretty hardy. They can be walked on and picnicked on,” Martinson told a Bulletin reporter during a visit to the testing site. “It’s just a different blend of plants that provides more pollinator habitat and with the grasses in it. It looks like a lawn with a bunch of flowers in it.”

Learning by trial

Determining which mixture of seeds is best for the local climate can be a challenge because many seed and lawn producers describe their products as “drought tolerant” when that is sometimes just a marketing ploy. So one purpose of this experiment is to see which grasses actually stand up to the Central Oregon environment in a real-world test.

“How do they perform in Central Oregon? That is what we’re trying to figure out,” said Denning. “And is it a viable water savings option or is it just greenwashing; we want to know.”

Denning said once more information becomes available, the city may allow a drought-resistant lawn as a replacement in the city’s turf removal program. Drought-resistant lawns are also a good idea for schools, parks and city-owned land, he said.

“Once we have the data, we can kind of scale it to how we want to use it,” he said.

The grass plots were planted in September and are already showing signs of life. When spring rolls around they are expected to grow rapidly.

Turf war

The testing project is part of the city’s multipronged attack on wasteful water practices. In addition to the turf removal program, which pays residents to rip out their lawns, the Bend City Council also passed a tree code that includes new rules banning the planting of turf along sidewalks.

These changes have been made to encourage xeriscaping, a landscaping practice that embraces native vegetation that can survive on rainwater.

The full study of which grass works best is expected to last two years so that the researchers can get a complete picture of how the grass responds in different seasons. But after one season they expect to have enough data to start making recommendations to Bend residents.

Follow the progress of the grass variety testing by looking for updates on the Horticultural Center’s Facebook page.

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