Investigating strategies for optimum water usage in green spaces covered with lawn

Water supply of green spaces in arid areas is a major challenge. A high percentage of green spaces create lawns, which are high water consumer landscapes. Due to the environmental, recreational and athletic values of lawns, they are considered as non-removable elements in urban green space development. This paper reviews and discusses strategies for efficient water usage in lawn areas using library study methods. According to the results, first, it was recommended that water demands of turfgrasses are calculated using precise scientific methods. Eleven strategies including selecting appropriate plant species, clipping from appropriate height, removing the thatch layer, using wastewater as an irrigation water source, the use of superabsorbents, application of regulated deficit irrigation, the use of subsurface irrigation systems, replacement of lawns with appropriate ground cover plants, the use of surfactants and other chemicals such as paclobutrazol and endophyte fungi, as individual or combined strategies were suggested for efficient water usage in turfgrass areas. These results, in some cases, can be used as executive guidelines by green space professionals in order to reduce water usage in this sector and in other cases, they can be used as preliminary studies for research in the field of sustainable management of turfgrasses in arid and semi-arid areas.