Eco-Friendly Landscaping for Your Home

Many people today are concerned about global warming and seek to develop a "green" or sustainable lifestyle that is environmentally responsible. One way to go green is to create an eco-friendly landscape for your home. Ecological landscaping is a means of designing, building, and maintaining landscapes that enhance the surrounding environment and develop a natural habitat for humans, birds and other animals in the local ecosystem.

The first step is to assess your lawn and its existing trees, plantings and structures. A traditional lawn requires a great deal of maintenance, which includes mowing, fertilizing and watering. An eco-friendly landscape will feature plants native to your growing region and installations constructed by using whatever materials happen to be available to you. Recycled brick, concrete, carpet, glass and much more can be used in garden structures to blend in with the natural environment. You may already have many of these materials on-hand, or you can get them from local contractors or from friends and neighbors. Join your local division of www.freecycle.org and contribute toward the effort to reduce landfill waste. Being a Freecycle member decreases your clutter and increases your sources for materials to use in your projects. Conservation is an important part of any ecological landscaping plan. The main objectives for creating a sustainable and enjoyable landscape are to reduce water consumption, preserve water quality, prevent soil erosion, protect the diversity of plant and animal life in the area, reduce or eliminate the use of toxic pesticides, and minimize the use of non-renewable resources.

PLANTING

Xeriscaping or drought-tolerant landscaping will convert your lawn into artfully designed beds and rock gardens that take full advantage of rainfall and provide erosion control. Visit your local nursery and inquire about drought-resistant native plants and hardy perennials for your growing region. Mix edible plants with ornamentals for both function and form in your garden. By reducing the grassy areas in your landscape, you may be able to trade your gas powered mower for an electric mower or better yet a reel mower. A native plant garden will:

• Reduce water bills
• Reduce the time and work needed for maintenance, making gardening simpler and stress-free
• Reduce or eliminate mowing (saves energy and reduces pollution)
• Increases habitats for native bees, birds, butterflies, and other fauna
• Plus, you can save on groceries by growing your own organic produce.

Studies continue to show that most landscapes are vastly over-watered. Here are seven basic tips to increase your yard's water conservation:

1. Buy a simple rain gauge to learn how much water you really got from the last storm, which can help you determine how much more or less to water.
2. Turn downspouts so that they drain away from the house and into bushes and gardens
3. Add rain barrels to catch rain off your roof. They attach easily to down spouts, are available in many sizes and often include faucets for easy distribution of the recycled rainwater. A great resource for rain barrels is www.rainbarrelguide.com
4. Use mulch around plants to reduce evaporation and save yourself some time and energy by keeping weeds down,
5. Plant trees to help lower air and soil temperatures, this will aid in reducing plant and soil moisture loss. Trees also keep your house cooler in summer and warmer in the winter.
6. Group plantings with similar water requirements
7. Start a compost pile. Compost adds water-holding organic matter to the soil as well as fertilizer. It keeps weeds down, and reduces landfill and water waste from kitchen disposal.

STRUCTURES

Plantings are only one part of the eco-landscape design equation. Use recycled materials as foundations and structures in your landscape to reduce landfill waste and reduce your material investment. Structures and installations can include: fountains and ponds, retaining walls and borders, patios and walkways, and supports and containers, etc. Recently replaced a carpet? Before you send that old carpet to the landfill, consider recycling it by using it as a weed suppressor under a porch or as a pond liner.

Have you had an old concrete walk, driveway, or slab removed? Use the broken pieces to build stairs, retaining walls, rock gardens or a new patio with an old world appeal. Look in your local yellow pages under "Recycling" for a concrete recycling plant that will process reclaimed concrete into a substitute for crushed gravel for walkways, flowerbeds and play areas. Another good resource for recycled concrete is your local general or demolition contractors. Using recycled concrete keeps construction debris out of landfills and reduces the need for gravel mining.

Recycled Brick from demolition sites is another fantastic landscaping amenity. Residents in Danville Virginia used brick recycled from the Dan River Mills Plant after it closed its doors and moved overseas. An episode of "This Old House" was the inspiration (http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,220690,00.html) for this 8x10 patio which extends the living space into the garden. It was constructed in the flexible pavement style which is the easiest way to do a patio because it requires no mortar. Plus, you can easily remove bricks if you need to replace any or want to change the size or shape of the patio in the future. Reclaimed Dan River Mills brick was also used to border the planting beds in the yard.

There are a number of good publications available to help you learn more about transforming your yard into an eco-friendly landscape. "Sustainable Landscaping for Dummies" by Owen Dell offers everything you need to know about how to design, build, and live with an earth-friendly landscape. Online resources include The Ecological Landscaping Association (http://www.ecolandscaping.org/) and Colorado State University Extension's fact sheet on sustainable landscaping (http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07243.html).

Creating an eco-friendly landscape can be a wonderful family activity that offers aesthetic benefits in the beautification and increased living space of your home. But it also provides for substantially increased water and energy conservation which means financial savings for you and a clean, peaceful place for your family, friends, and pets to commune with nature in an environmentally balanced way.