Mike Smedley
Presentation topic: Lawns Suck (water, money, effort) Consider These Great Alternatives to Grass
The irascible Mike Smedley has some strong opinions – and surprising facts – about turfgrass and its absurd overuse, especially in the West. To be fair, Mike will look at the plus side of lawns before making the case to reduce their size or eliminate them altogether. In a presentation rich in photos and humor, he’ll offer an honor roll of beautiful, waterwise groundcovers to replace turf, along with savvy ideas and design inspiration to help you transform a perpetually-thirsty lawn into a verdant, colorful lifescape that saves money and uses only half the water (or far less). Tons of handouts, too!
Durango’s Bulb Guru and Rock Garden Fanatic
Mike Smedley had an inauspicious start to gardening. As a pudgy, nerdy kid in the 1970s, he’d cut neighbors’ lawns with a Scotts push mower every Saturday for five bucks a pop. It seemed like a fortune. But cutting grass turned to drudgery with each passing summer, as the outdoor-loving Mike figured out that overwatered lawns were neither gardens nor natural nor something to admire, especially in the hot high-desert dry of Salt Lake City. Emerald green, cross-cut lawns were fetishized status symbols for fuddy-duddies.
Thus jaded, Mike vowed never to have a traditional turf yard, a promise he’s kept for a half century since. Today, he and his wife, Amy Wendland, nurture an internationally visited garden on the north side of Durango proper, featuring hundreds of waterwise ground covers, native and adapted shrubs and small trees, along with rock and crevice gardens plus turf areas of xeric buffalo grass – all of which are punctuated with 14,000 spring- and fall-blooming bulbs. It’s a bit much.