Saddlebrook removes grass to save green and blue

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Jeff Beamish - View Bio

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Arlene Housmyer has lived in the Saddlebrook Villas for nine years. When she moved in, most of the houses had grass, which wasn't cheap to maintain.

"Two years ago in June we spent, for 113 villas, over 2 million gallons of water in the month of June," says Saddlebrook Villas landscape manager Timm Bax.

So Saddlebrook's saying sayonara to 192,000 square feet of grass, or in other words, 4 football fields worth of sod. Replacing it is xeriscaping. Workers now are busy tearing out sod & replacing it with drought-tolerant plants like ocotillos and mesquite trees for the 113 villas.

"The overall projection is to save, our cost as villas, in the neighborhood of $60,000-65,000 a year," says Bax.

Not everyone was a fan of getting rid of their green to save green, but people like Housmyer have come around to it.

"There's a little bit of swirl and sway to it so it's not just straight rock on the ground," says Housmyer. Bax adds, "My favorite is the Texas rangers. They're beautifully colorful and there's about a dozen or so we can select from."

A selection suited for sustainability, without draining Saddlebrook Villas budget or water.

Project managers hope to have the xeriscaping completed by October 2009. Residents will incur zero cost to replace their landscaping thanks to the large savings this project will create.