Drawbacks to Xeriscape Lawns

They are not conducive to traffic. If you plan on using this yard for playing games especially if you have kids and especially if you have dogs, this is not the right type of grass for you. This type of grass can only take light traffic. The appearance of these lawns is more natural. These are native clump grasses like you will find in the Inner Basin on the Peaks. You will NOT be getting a golf course style lawn that is dark green and smooth and even. They are going to be uneven and lumpy. Most of the time people will only mow their lawns in the fall. Just depends on what type of lawn you want. Sheep fescue grows into beautiful swirling clumps. With the blue fescue, it will be shorter and a little more stocky.

Make sure you do your research on what type of xeriscape grass you want to grow.   For example, sheep fescue will do great in the shade.  Try growing it in the sun and you will end up with a very unhappy lawn.

Xeriscape Lawn Preparation

All these grasses will have to be seeded. Most of the labor and cost will be prepping the soil to ensure you have a great foundation to grow your seed.  Rake all the rocks up and either use them in another part of landscape or haul them away. In most areas of Flagstaff you are going to have a lot of rocks. Next you will want to bring in a load or two of topsoil. The best topsoil is going be a mix of dirt and manure.  And you will need to get enough topsoil to cover the lawn areas 3 to 4 inches deep. Then you want to spread out the topsoil mix and till it into the native soil as best you can. This way  there won’t be a defining line of rich wonderful topsoil and then the native rocky soil.