AFLM, this is perhaps a nit and a bit of a thread hijack, but it bothers me that you labeled many of my neighbors lazy because of their garden choices. I feel compelled to respond in their defense. You wrote:

"What is really annoying is that many folks are now going for so called low maintenance gardens (folks too lazy to push a lawn mower around) consisting of paving stones and gravel chips and concrete slabs...."

Where I live (El Paso, Texas -- in the Chihuahuan Desert) a large percentage of front yards are "xeriscaped" to save water. Our water utility structures our rates so that using water for landscaping -- which would keep the house cooler -- is cost prohibitive for many homeowners. On top of that, the utility used to pay homeowners something like $1 for each square foot of lawn they removed and replaced with decorative rocks or approved drought-tolerant plants. I will add that it actually rained 0.75" this afternoon and so I can turn off my sprinkler system for a couple of days and save about $5 off my next water bill.

These folks would love to have lush gardens inspired by Capability Brown but don't want the $200+ summer water bills and the city wants to have drinking water through the next 100 years.
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-- David.