Many who live in the desert southwest have seen local and state governments promoting “natural,” or “desert” landscaping as a replacement for traditional western-style green lawns and flower gardens.
The campuses of most government universities in the southwest have replaced vast areas of green lawns with desert plants and weeds such as yucca.
Now some researchers reveal a study in which they tested temperature changes at daytime and nighttime and compared lawns with “natural desert” landscaping.
It seems that lawns provide more protection from heatwaves, and that government-promoted desert landscaping makes heatwaves worse. See here.
