Mark Simmons for the Statesman

Many yards look just as depressing as the lakes during this record breaking drought. Mark Simmons, ecologist and director of the Ecosystem Design Group at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, has shown that combination native grasses outperform Bermuda grass in surviving tough conditions. There may be a small silver lining to the current extreme conditions as more people make a jump to native species and invest in water catchment. We've got nothing to lose but dead yards.