On 2009-07-18 23:02:45 +0100, Timothy Murphy said:


I'm hoping to make a very small (10 square metres) "lawn" in Tuscany,
and have read that grass requires an inordinate amount of watering,
and that other plants are used in its place in hot climates.

I've seen various apparently different species mentioned:
Ophiopogon (aka as convollaria or turquoise),
Temple grass, Japanese velvet grass, and others.

I wonder if anyone has any experience of this,
or can suggest somewhere more appropriate to ask this question?

I think you need to ask yourself what you're going to do with this lawn
if you achieve it. Will you sit on it in chairs sipping a cool drink
while looking at the rest of the garden? Or - not being sarcastic,
truly - will it be there just because the British have lawns? If
you're not going to use it, forget it . It will be a pain in the
fundament always. Make a water garden out of that area or a pool, or
something you'll actually use - lavender, herbs etc. I say all this
because I once nearly built a house in Crete and the one thing that
drove the locals absolutely mad with fury was people from northern
countries putting in lawns they never used and then using precious
water to keep them alive!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon