When Henderson resident Peter Seagrave began converting his grassy front lawn to a water-efficient landscape in September 2019, he expected to save money on his water bills while doing his share to conserve our community’s most precious natural resource.
What he didn’t count on was the attention his project would attract from his neighbors.
“It’s amazing how you get noticed when you do something like this,” said Seagrave. “People would stop and take pictures. One day a lady stopped by after taking her kids home from school and told me her daughter had asked her, ‘What did the man sitting on the white bucket do today?”
The white bucket was a stool on which Seagrave took breaks and contemplated his work while working on the 700-square foot conversion. Completed in March 2020, the result is an attractive, low-maintenance, water-efficient landscape in tune with our desert environment.
Through the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s (SNWA) Water Smart Landscapes Rebate program (WSL), Seagrave and his wife, Manya, earned $2,200 for his conversion. WSL provides property owners a cash incentive of $3 for each square foot of thirsty grass they replace with water-efficient, drip irrigated landscaping.
He began the work by updating his irrigation system, installing a new irrigation clock, and laying down a weed barrier. Then he relocated barrel cactuses and century plant “pups” from his backyard and added such native plant species as globe mallow and Mojave yucca to the plant palette, while incorporating two existing palm trees and a mimosa tree into the plan.
Seagrave said he has saved about 30 percent on his monthly water bills. “The truth of the matter is this is the Mojave Desert. This is the kind of landscaping we need in Southern Nevada.”
Seagrave suggested property owners should do their homework before putting a shovel in the ground. “I had such a good experience. This was an opportunity to do something nice and create something beautiful that will last for years.”
And now, he’s getting noticed for it.
For more information about the WSL program and to enroll, visit snwa.com.
Members of the editorial and news staff of the Las Vegas Review-Journal were not involved in the creation of this content.
