An Unexpected Upside from Occupy L.A.’s Trampling of City Hall Lawn

When Occupy Los Angeles protestors finally leave the now-destroyed City Hall lawn, conservationists are hoping the water-guzzling grass will give way to native plants and lawn replacements that demand fewer resources to stay alive.

The city already pays single-family home owners $1 a square foot to rip out lawns, which drink up 54% of a family’s water usage. Conservationists want the city to practice what it preaches and forget about replacing City Hall’s lawn and repairing its sprinklers — to the tune of $120,000 — and instead install native species that save water and need little maintenance.

Los Angeles Times writer Emily Green supports turning City Hall into a test garden that will share its lessons around the city.

“For example, if felling the non-native figs around City Hall is a non-starter for sentimental reasons,” Green writes, “we should at least be irrigating the magnificent old trees with drip instead of lawn sprinklers — a move that would reduce trimming needs by slowing the trees’ growth.”

Have you replaced your lawn with native plants or other water-saving options? Would you even consider it?