Poop in buckets instead of a toilet. We get wood chips from the local landfill by the ton. Use them as a mulch cover for the toilet buckets (orange Home Depot 5 gallon buckets). Do your business, cover it with mulch, dump it in a compost bin when the bucket is full.

No water required. Takes some getting used to, but we've been doing it for years now and it's just part of our life. From the Humanure Handbook.

I rigged up a system so all of our household water goes to the orchard. The trees are young and not producing yet, but we have high hopes.

It should be aware that much of this is illegal in the state of Texas. We don't live in a city or any incorporated area, so we can pretty much do what we want, but those of you in cities are going to have to fight your government if you want to exercise any level of conservation.

I've been converting to lower water alternatives and natives, tough natives.

We do capture clean water in a 5 gallon bucket while waiting for the hot water to arrive to the shower. Ditto on the kitchen sink, but we use a pitcher there. The saved water is used in birdbaths and water features that we maintain for wildlife and our own selfish enjoyment.

miradus01, we won't be going that far.

wiping out grass as fast as I can!

I've got 1 area where the bermuda has escaped, but the rest of the grass seems to have croaked under lots of cardboard & lots of mulch.

Plantings aren't chosen for drought tolerance, exactly, but I do have a lot of iris, rosemary, yucca, artemesia, 4 o'clocks, etc, & the other plants are placed so that they get morning sun & some protection from afternoon/western sun.

I'm still reducing the number of plants in my "pot ghetto" (rose forum term) so that I don't spend the whole summer watering them.

(Container gardens are lovely, but where we live, they're high maintenance.)

I try to keep plants with big leaves, cannas, etc, out of the drying wind.

I keep a compost bucket in the kitchen for scraps, "used" cooking water, leftover tea & coffee, tea/coffee grounds & bags/filters, peelings, etc & put it all into the compost pile, which also contains othergreen materials (weeds that haven't gone to seed, stray clippings, etc) & "extra" autumn leaves.

I get mulch from the city whenever a friend with a pick-up truck is willing to haul me to the landfill to pick it up, & I also collect OPBLs (Other People's Bagged Leaves, a Compost Forum term).

I don't think I'd ever attempt to compost human excrement, since it takes such a controlled high temperature to kill the pathogens.

edited to add:

PK's post reminded me:

I keep rubbermaid totes under the eaves to catch rainwater;

its effect on plants is almost magical!

Thanks all for passing along your methods of cutting down on water usage.

For people who live out in the country where such things are allowed there are composting toilets and now the blue diversion toilet. It was created in response to Bill and Malinda Gates challenge to reinvent the toilet, a very worthy cause.

I made the decision to do just that 3 years ago, and have had nothing but problems! The front/side yards were relatively small, so left those. I had the back professionally dug up, landscape fabric laid, and 6" of GOOD mulch laid on top. The first year wasn't too bad where weeds were concerned, but last year I had my grandson take up the landscaping fabric since the weeds were growing right thru it. This year I have a backyard full of weeds and am thinking of doing sod since i'm preparing to sell the house. The money i've spent and the frustration I feel have left me feeling that attempting to become 'environmentally friendly' was a kick in the pants.

Wish I could spray the whole yard w/weed killer! ;)

If anyone has suggestions i'm open!

Yes Pattycakes, I can imagine your frustration. Besides with all this rain weeds are growing where they've never grown before. Unfortunately removing turf doesn't mean the area is totally maintanence free, but it does save water, and in most cases the need to mow. In a case like yours I wouldn't go to the expense of resodding.

If the area is so large you can't pull the weeds I would mow the weeds and immediately after suit up (long sleeves and pants, mask (like a damp cloth tied over you nose and mouth), closed toe shoes) and use weed killer on a day with little or no wind. And then go indoors, throw the clothes in the washer, and take a long shower. Or you could spray first and mow after the weeds have died. Freshly cut stems do absorb the weed killer and less surface to spray mean less weed killer used. The careful use of RU a time or two isn't going to kill us. Now the tons of stuff some farmers use on 'Round-up ready' crops is another matter entirely.

Then apply a preemergent weed killer. There are commercial ones, but corn gluten is said to work and is environmentally friendly.

Twenty percent vinegar is often recommended as a weed killer, but I've read that it can burn skin and mucous membranes as it is a very strong acid plus it won't always kill the roots.

Maybe others will have some more suggestions. I wish you the best. Keep us posted.

Argh... well am certain to remember at least one of these water saving ideas every time I pass the stack of orange buckets at the entrance of virtually every HD :-)

For those not already familiar with Requiem for a Lawnmower, it is a collection of essays by Sally Wasowski related to the general idea of replacing lawn space with natives. The essay of the same name is a 4 page overview of their lot conversion while they were still in north Texas. Not a "how to" book, but includes a number of interesting insights and lessons for someone considering the same. She claimed to spend only three days a year maintaining their naturalized lot once established.... which I don't doubt, but know it will be some time before even the small spaces we've started with will be that low.

Our biggest twist was not realizing how much the rabbits love some natives... they're so glad to have them back in the neighborhood, they appear to gather from broad distances to reduce their favorites to nubs.

A toilet seat fits perfectly over the top of those HD buckets. Just sayin'. :)

We have a neighbor up on the rim of the valley who has a lawn. He waters it from his well so the rural water company can't say anything, but I hear his mower off in the distance from dawn on Saturday until sunset on Sunday. I can't possibly imagine why he goes to all that trouble. I haven't touched a lawnmower in 12 years. We don't have lawns. We have pastures.

Aside from the water issue, I just wince at the thought of plants growing that aren't going to be consumed by something. Put some sheep or goats out there! Sunlight which falls on the ground and isn't captured in biomass is wasted.

roselee, how did you run your washing machine water outside?

20+ years ago we built a house in the county, back when the county was really lax with such things and we had two drains installed for the washing machine. One was the usual type that drained into the septic tank, but the other went to the outside. On the outside, there was a spigot with a 2-3 inch hose attached. We could move the hose to water different areas.

We couldn't do that where we are now, not even without the consent of the city. Our laundry is in the middle of the house and no way to install another pipe. Next house though....

I remember reading an article years ago about a couple in California who did stuff like that to use their gray water without the city knowing about it.

pattycakes, I did the same thing several years ago, except I put large gravel on the landscape fabric. That was a real pain to remove. But I raked as much off as I could, and then put black plastic down and put the rocks back on it. No more weeds and this time I waited 2 years before removing any plastic. I just removed about 2 square feet in a test area, and sure enough, weeds came back, especially nutgrass. Waited another year and removed 2 more feet. This time no weeds, so I removed the rest. Grass and weeds can play dead a long time and then come back to life.

bostedo, I didn't know the Wasowskis left North Texas. Are they still in Texas? I have perused her book "Native Texas Plants" until all the pages came loose from the spine and I had to put them in a loose leaf notebook.

.. didn't know the Wasowskis left North Texas.

They had such impact on native/xeriscape/wildscape knowledge and thinking around here, it can be hard to imagine they're not still around somewhere close. Believe they moved to the Taos area in the late 1990's (founded NPS chapter there in 1999) and had read somewhere that Andy died two or three years ago. He contributed a phenomenal number (edit: ~16,000 donated?/3,939 in NPIN) of the plant photos seen on wildflower.org/NPIN.

Marti, fortunately for us the washing machine is on a back wall. Bob drilled a hole through the brick and directed the drain outside. He used large diameter flexible hoses that can be disenagaged and reattached to direct water to the different flower beds.

With my graveled areas I find the weeds I get are the ones that germinate in the tiny bit of leaf compost that developes between the rocks even though I blow them off. The seeds that occasionally germinate are mostly tree seeds and their roots can penetrate the landscape fabric. I control them by hand pulling. It's a chore, but not too bad when I do a little every day.

I've used the Wasowskis book "Landscaping with Native Plants Region by Region" until it's almost fallen apart too. Bostedo, how does Sally W. say she deals with weeds germinating in the cleared areas in the book you mentioned? And for those of you that have it what does the book "Lawn Gone" recommend? It's not as easy as just removing the lawn. Something is gonna' wanna' to grow in it's place.

Roselee, thank you. No, I really DON'T want to re-sod since i'm planning to sell! I had thought of using RU,but wanted to add a couple of small flower beds, and wasn't sure how the weed killer would affect those plants after using it. Yes, it's the majority of the backyard. I don't know what the corn gluten is. Where do I buy it? And I sure don't want to mess with anything farmers use! I tried the vinegar last year, but it didn't work either. Used it full strength. These weeds have a 'nut' or 'nodule' at the root base that just won't die! Someone id it for me last year, but can't remember the name, just that it's almost indestructible!

Marti, started doing that in the bed along the fence where I had trees/bushes planted the same year I had the yard dug up. Originally, the fabric was used. Anyway, I used the heaviest black trash bags I could find since I couldn't find the black plastic on the roll my husband used to use. That da** landscaping fabric is useless! I only did a small spot using 2 bags, and bought 2 bags of cheap stone, just as a test. Haven't had a weed yet. It's too big of a job(sides/back of fence) for me w/my son helping, so have planned to hire that done. It kills me to have to spend more money when I know i'll be selling!

Any men in Austin who want to earn a few extra bucks? Lol

Said she spent two days in spring and one in the fall doing maintenance on about 1/12 acre of yard space, though imagine there were other minor nips and adjustments throughout the year. Looked nice in photos, but cannot recall which book or website had them.

I remember reading that too but can't remember where. I looked in my book and didn't see it right off. I also remember seeing a picture of her Dallas home and was amazed that the landscaping needed so little work. Wish I could remember where I saw that.

I googled her name and found this. I hope there are more pictures somewhere. I would love to see her Dallas home y'all have spoken of.

There might be some photos of their Dallas yard in the Wasowski slide collection at Wildlife.org, but couldn't recognize any with a quick look. There's also a gallery of 3,908 native plant photos from the collection integrated into the NPIN and a curated slide show of favorites from the collection.

Edit: Did find one mid-winter shot of yard in the collection. Hope all the photos of it in flower are not tied up with the book publishers.

Photos I saw were likely in one of their books borrowed from the library. Will post a reference if I find it. The bits about weeding/maintenance time was extracted from the 'Requiem for a Lawnmower' essay in the book of the same name, but am sure it was also mentioned in other books or presentations. That book was illustrated with drawings rather than photos.

Yes, that last link from bostedo was her house. It's the same view but different time of year than the one I saw. It is driving me crazy that I can't remember where I saw the picture and read about how she maintained it.

Great topic! Sorry to join late. I'm down to maybe 20% turf grass lawn on my property. It gets smaller every year. I plan to stop at 10%, leaving a modest transition strip along the street/easement/property line. My homeowner's association actually limits turf grass to 60% of the front lawn, if you can believe it, but the rule us widely ignored and unenforced.

How do I kill grass? Killing grass is a breeze in the Piney Woods. Just let the leaf litter stay on the ground year-round. It's Mother Nature's natural method of weed and grass suppression.

I haven't watered our dwindling grass in 5 years. When I look closely, I notice that much of it is actually comprised of as much clover and weeds as St. Augustine. I don't care what the neighbors think; I let bare and yellowing patches sit during dry spells. The last time I used a sprinkler was in the drought of 2011 when I soaked my property every few weeks to try to save most of my mature trees were showing serious signs of drought stress.

Even though I rarely need to use a garden hose for anything, our cost for water service averages $150/month. It used to be more like $30/month, but our locality basically grew too fast and ran out of water. Now they're building all new pipelines and drawing water from a new source: a local lake. And this is in the lush, rainy Houston area. The days of cheap water are disappearing everywhere.

As for rain barrels and composting toilets and greywater irrigation and so on...we don't do any of that yet. We live in the suburbs. We get plenty of natural water in our property. We get almost 50" rain a year. And most of the rain from roofs and driveway is captured and absorbed in the extensive leaf litter on the property. If I were to make sure that every drop of rain never left our property, I'd probably have the equivalent of Hilo's 120", and with my clay soil, I'd only be able to plant Bald Cypress, Buttonbush, and pond plants. My property would be even more of a mosquito-breeding, mushy, mucky swamp than it already is! :)

I live in Mesquite, a Dallas suburb that gets very dry. We have 4 tanks that hold a total of 930 gallons of rainwater from our roof. Two are on the side where no one can see them, one is in the back in full view of only us, and a 55 gallon drum is by the front door, but it is painted to match the brick and tucked behind some shrubs. Otherwise, we use a lot of the crystals that absorb water in all of the pots and baskets. We also installed an under sink water heater in the kitchen so we have instant hot water and don't have to waste a drop waiting for the water to get hot. The big water heater is near the bathrooms, so that doesn't waste much. We love our grass, but it's Bermuda, so when it gets hot and the lakes get low, we can just stop watering it. Bermuda is very forgiving that way.

Lynn, wouldn't you like to live in a society where you don't have to hide your conservation efforts?

Good ideas about water conservation. We too send our kitchen and laundry grey water out into a bed of oriental jasmine, which is thriving. We use half the amount of detergent recommended by ... those who sell it. Works fine. Our bought-with-the-house St. Augustine in front is thriving in part shade, and is being naturally taken over by Bermuda in full sun. More power to it. I'm gradually ripping up our "Hell Strip", and putting either veggies or drought-tolerant plants there. It's a slow process, as the caliche is back-breaking. We don't use drip, but recycle all of our leaves (our back lot is heavily wooded) as mulch. FWIW, I pee in a bucket and use it in my compost pile. Cuts down the flushing. All these strategies are zero cost.

What bothers me is the resurgence of artificial turf, which was just written up in the DC Post about California. Many homeowners there are proudly replacing their lawns with plastic. Of course, that plastic will eventually end up in landfills. Seems to me the proper response to water usage by lawns (besides using more water efficient grass) is just to have smaller lawns. I am appalled at houses with several thousand square foot golf course-like lawns that are pumping water vigorously on them.

And as a bonus, by planting Low Catmint, you now have 11 strays rolling around your yard on any given day. :)

Good point dan. What I don't understand is what happens to the ground under the plastic grass. Doesn't it mold and stink? And then there's fireants which love building nests under plastic.

Haven't replaced the front lawn yet but the back is natural grass and flowers. Other things, low water trees, Mexican WhiteOak, Mexican Blue Oak, Agave, Yucca, Cacti, Desert Museum, desert willow, drift roses for lots of color with low water. Crushed granite rather than mulch lasts forever. Suprised no one has said clothes line.

Excellent! I love those drift roses and all the garden art. And the big blue pot! What's in it?

You have a Desert Museum Palo Verde! I've been looking for one a couple of years. Saw a recently planted one in a commercial location and wondered, "Now where did they get it and I can't find it?" But I've given up on it and planted a native Retama.

Bottle Brush. I've got dwarf ones as well in the left bed in the second picture. The DMPV is a funny story actually. When I found it it was one of those things you find in the back of the greenhouse across the railroad tracks types of things. They always laugh when I come because I drag something up they didnt know they had. Like the nursery forgets they have them. As I carried it to the front so many people asked what it was. I can check it they still have them hidden and get it for you. They were about 15gallon size $25 I think.

Tjay, I'm with you on snooping around in the back greenhouses where stuff has gotten shoved around and hidden. That's where I found my Brazilian orchid tree and Velvet pod mimosa.

$25 is a price that I could very easily live with ... LOL, but that probably won't happen again in my lifetime ... :-( Plus I live in San Antonio. Not sure where you live.

Miradus01, No. I'd rather live in a beautiful place. But there is no reason you can't conserve water beautifully.

Tjay and all, here's more pictures of Desert museum paloverde.What I think were Desert museums at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens didn't look this good. I say this to console myself ... lol.

But the Texas native Retama Tree I've settled on is pretty too, very graceful, and it's growing fast.

I've been going Xeric with all my plantings. I've also found that polymer water crystals are great for potted plants. Some people are afraid of it but it allows me to grow a few, more thirsty, plants. I haven't seen any conclusive, documented, research that shows they break down into anything harmful, in amounts to be of concern. But to be on the safe side I don't use it in the food garden and I re-use the dirt in the pots.

We have Bermuda grass and it is left to fend for itself. When it rains, it flourishes. When it's dry, it goes dormant. (Right now it's an invading army assaulting my flowerbeds.) The city doesn't care if its brown as long as it doesn't get too high. The HOA doesn't care, as it's a very laid-back, member run, HOA in an individualist respecting subdivision. They insist you keep junk cars and old appliances out of sight but, other than that, pretty much leave everyone alone to do their own thing. I'm the only one I know who likes their HOA.

We also have an aerobic septic system and every drop of water gets treated and goes out into the yard sprinklers. I want to convert one of the sprinkler heads into a drip system but the laws are not DYI friendly and I haven't taken the time to find a work around.

Send pictures

Sylvan, my neighbors just converted to a drip aerobic system and said it works really well. They didn't have any trouble with the city or county. Theirs is all drip though, not a combination.

Thanks Marti, that's good to know. I've always thought it would be a "can't lose" thing to do. I've done more maintenance work on my system than I'm supposed to but I refuse to pay someone to do what I can do myself. If anyone ever asks I plan to just say "It was that way when I bought the house."
Unfortunately though the city required an inspection of the system be filed when we bought it. So if they care to look they'll know just how many sprinkler heads we should have.

This is late follow-up about the photos and write-up on the Waskowski's Dallas yard. The book, Native Texas Gardens: Maximum Beauty, Minimum Upkeep, finally came in on reserve at the local library. It has a 5 page chapter titled "Our Nine-Season Garden" (pg 114) that takes a brief run through the seasonal changes at their Dallas house. Photos may have been used in other books or presentations, but this is the one I remembered. A nice read over examples of native gardens around the state, but not a reference book like some of their others.