In article ,
Timothy Murphy wrote:

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.

That is true, except that other plants are rarely used. Few other
plants will both form a sward and can survive being walked on to
any great extent. People sit out on patios or (traditionally) on
the bare ground - there really isn't any fundamental reason that
you have to have a lawn, patio or decking.

Actually, grass-like lawns seem quite common in eastern Tuscany.
I think there is much the same rainfall as in the UK or Ireland,
though I haven't checked.

It's not the rainfall that is most important, but the evaporation.
Some parts of the UK have less than half the rainfall of Naples
(and not much more even in July, Naples's driest month), but the
evaporation here is a fraction of what it is there.

The result is that the summer kills off the grasses that form a
sward, and so a lawn is a crazy idea. It MIGHT work at altitude
in Tuscany, but I wouldn't bet on it.

What I would do is to lay a patio (NOT on concrete), leaving some
small beds in which I would plant thyme and similar plants. That
would be a traditional Mediterranean approach.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.