Sustainable Landscaping
Did you know that mowing our lawns in America consumes 580 million gallons of gas a year? Were aware that 60-70 million birds die each year from pesticide use? One fourth of all living species in the world will be facing extinction in the next 50 years.(source http://www.epa.gov/greenacres/smithsonian.pdf).

These are startling facts that people living in our world can change. Thirty years ago I heard a Native American Indian talking about how the white man has taken over and raped the land. That man knew what he was talking about. Although it has only been in the last few years that science and governments have acknowledged that many modern methods and technologies are leading to the ruin of our ecological system.

“Green building “or sustainable building is and will be extremely important to restoring our ecology. To those of us involved in building, we must consider building as green as possible for our generation and the next generation’s benefit.

Little known to many people is that traditional landscaping practices have not added to our ecology in a sustainable manner. Of course trees and plants always add to the ecology by taking in carbon dioxide and giving out oxygen.

Many other landscaping methods are damaging our world such as clearing topsoil, trees and vegetation from developments; use of pesticides / herbicides; improper species planting; improper erosion control ; storm water runoff and over fertilization to name a few.

Sustainable landscaping is using, developing, and protecting our landscaping resources in a manner that allows people to meet their needs of landscaping without compromising future generation. In other words, not taking more from the environment than we give back and not damaging the natural ecological systems.

Some of the benefits of sustainable-eco friendly landscaping are: reducing and preventing pollution; conserving our natural resources; maximizing ecological function, and creating natural beauty.

Sustainable landscaping operates within at least three basic areas:
1. Sustainable Design practices-permeable hard surfaces, right plant right place, drought tolerant plants, water conservation, mixed planting of native and low maintenance plants, attracts wild life, seasonal interest, uses local materials, trees for climate control, etc.
2. Sustainable Installation procedures- proper soil preparation, water conservation, permeable surfaces, etc
3. Sustainable maintenance methods- Organic pest control, natural pruning practices, species specific maintenance, compost top dressing, etc.

To illustrate sustainable landscaping let us draw a simple plan that illustrates some of the elements that can be used to create a sustainable landscape (see illustration link below).

Eco friendly plan

Imagine driving home from a busy day at work. As you drive into your driveway you hear the subtle noise of the water feature and the pleasant chirps of the birds it attracts. Your children are playing on the eco lawn in their bare feet and you have no worries as you know there are no chemicals to contaminate their skin. Your wife sets the table with fresh fruits and vegetables as side dishes from your garden. You decide to go to your rooftop garden after dinner to enjoy a beautiful sunset and you talk with your family about their day and what you’ll do as a family this weekend after spending just one hour to care for the garden.

It’s exciting to think that we can have landscapes that work together with our ecology, are beautiful year round, and require little maintenance. It’s really not that difficult we just need to be re educated.