Tough Turf Laughs At Drought

But one question remains for University of Florida researchers and Tampa Bay Water, the utility funding the research: Will lawn purists buy it? No one knows. Still, conservationists and state officials are willing to find out.

Floridians increasingly are being asked to make their landscaping more tolerant of droughts and less demanding on the state's water supply. Depending on the season, 30 to 60 percent of Florida's drinking water is used for lawn irrigation. Many are calling it a foolish use of a scarce resource considering the drought is so bad in some communities that some are worried wells will run dry.

"St. Augustine grass is beautiful, but it is totally intolerant of drought," said state Rep. Sara Romeo, D-Lutz, and the sponsor of a bill that pushes the use of water-stingy landscaping. "It's the biggest water guzzler in town. It's like owning an SUV when gas goes to $3 a gallon."

In any other year, a scientific quest for new ground cover might cause no more excitement than, well, watching grass grow. But as the drought goes on, projects like the one at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences in Apopka attract new interest.

The jasmine experiment is an attempt to create a sod alternative by developing a hardy plant that can be grown and harvested like grass, but requires none of the water or pesticides for maintenance.

The two-year, $75,000 research project is funded by Tampa Bay Water, which provides water to 2 million people and is the state's largest water wholesaler.

Two strains of jasmine are being tested as prospects to replace sod, said project leader Richard Beeson Jr. Texas long leaf jasmine and Asiatic jasmine can be used for ground covers now, but Beeson is trying to find a way to grow the plants in a way in which long strips or rolls can be harvested and transplanted, just like sod.

"We are quite confident it will work," said Beeson, an associate professor who is an expert on the physiology of woody ornamental plants. "It's just a matter of tweaking it."

The jasmine, whose deep green leaves are wider and rounder than a blade of St. Augustine grass, will snake out along the ground, sending roots down that hold it tight to the soil. The jasmine needs only rain to sustain it once it is established. Pests don't bother it and it grows so thickly weeds can't penetrate it.

The one drawback is it's not comfortable for bare feet. "It would be the perfect lawn except if you want to run through it," Beeson joked.

The project has been four years in the making, said Dave Bracciano, resource conservation coordinator for Tampa Bay Water.

The first attempt to work an alternative ground cover into the mainstream didn't work. Hillsborough County's extension service tried to work with a builder to include the ground cover at a showcase home, but the plants - already available on the market in plugs - took months to produce a full carpet. Bracciano said the developer told them he couldn't use the ground cover because potential buyers were expecting a full green lawn. "Obviously money wasn't the issue here, greenery was," he said.

Once Beeson can demonstrate that jasmine can grow in sheets and be harvested, those involved in the project will have to show sod farmers there will be a demand for the ground cover, Bracciano said. The ground cover likely will be more expensive than sod, but homeowners could recoup costs by saving water.

"It just makes common sense," Bracciano said. "It just hasn't been done before because there hasn't been a market. There has to be some education for the consumers on this. If the water rates get high enough, they'll want it."

It may be another 18 months before the experiments are completed. Those working on the project are hoping to have the ground cover available for market about the time people start replacing their existing lawns that have died in the drought. Until then, the landscape battle continues on another front.

XERISCAPING MAY BECOME LAW. Two bills in the Florida Legislature would require xeriscaping at state and local government buildings and do away with deed restrictions in future developments that require St. Augustine lawns. Lawmakers pushing the bills say they first have to get the public to change its way of thinking of what makes a beautiful landscape.

"I've almost stopped calling it xeriscaping because people say: 'I don't know about rocks and cactus,'" Romeo said. "I call it Florida friendly landscaping."

The bill would encourage the use of indigenous plants and flowers, ones that have evolved in the state's natural cycle of droughts and can weather climate extremes. Romeo said an estimated 25 percent of homeowners' water use could be saved by xeriscaping portions of their yard. In a city like Tampa, that translates to a savings of 13 million gallons of water a day.