Hollywood residents who don’t spend much effort watering their grass yard can develop a yard plan that uses alternatives to traditional turf grass. City staff is testing alternative landscaping ideas to see if some are better for Hollywood residents.
City staff recommends grouping plants in any house or commercial property landscape planting plan together based on water needs, plant spreading habit canopy trees where site conditions allow the conservation of water by reducing evapotranspiration, using spreading-creeping groundcover and alternative grass species that have low water requirements. One can use more shrubs-groundcover in defined planting beds to reduce the amount of turf grass areas that have higher water and fertilization needs.
The landscaping materials to be approved are reviewed on a case by case basis because every site is different with different opportunities and constraints.
The City of Hollywood has not made any changes at this time to the code, but staff has a greater awareness of the need for flexible interpretations of existing regulations on a case-by-case basis. Staff is assessing non-traditional interpretations of the existing Code of Ordinances and Landscape Manual.
This may become more of an issue as water becomes more scarce and people look for ways to improve their property with less water.
