Facing Colorado River shortage, 30 urban suppliers pledge to target decorative grasses The city’s supply of grass for decorative purposes has run dry, forcing growers to find new ways to decorate city lots.
Denver residents can’t seem to find enough decorative grasses in their lawns, forcing some companies to look elsewhere for fillings.
The Colorado Department of Transportation has already been forced to cut the grass on several city-owned lots in the middle of the city because the plants were no longer available.
The problem might be solved when D.M. Reid Inc. of Greenwood Village, south of Denver, will partner with four farms in the city who will grow the decorative grasses.
The four farms will plant a mix of native species and drought-tolerant grasses, to be ready for 2013 and possibly 2014.
“We are taking a different approach to fill the hole in Colorado’s decorative grass supply,” said Dan DeSauger, a spokesman for Reid.
“We are looking to grow an organic mixture and a hardier species.”
The city’s supply of decorative grasses has run dry.
“It may be a year away and it may be a decade, but we have to fill the void,” said Greg DeSauger, a spokesman for Reid.
Lacking in the city is a variety of native grasses used for landscaping. City officials have said the problem was due to a lack of water for the irrigation systems.
Drought is the top problem facing the Front Range, and officials are concerned that the shortage may lead to a more severe drought.
“We’re very hopeful that we’ll be OK, but it’s difficult to know until we start harvesting,” said Robert Levesque, executive director of the Denver Recreation & Parks Department.
“We may never recover if we don’t have grass in the future,” he said.
The department has a limited supply of ornamental grasses such as fescue and blue grass, said Rob Czysz of the Denver Botanical Gardens.
“We have to keep our eye on the prize,” he said.
The problem is especially acute in the middle of the city, particularly in the area near West