How to Incorporate Beautiful Eco-Friendly Landscaping in Your Yard
At AHG Interiors we value the importance of creating sustainable and eco-friendly environments. Just as you can adopt green practices inside your home, there is a lot you can do to make the exterior of your home eco-friendly.
Architectural Digest
If you’re interested in living an eco-friendly lifestyle, green landscaping is a great way to make your yard healthy and sustainable, while also saving you time and money in the long run.
Eco-landscaping may conjure up images of dry yards with lots of gravel and mulch, but far from it. There are many ways you can make your yard beautiful while doing good for the environment.
What Is Eco-friendly Landscaping and What Are the Benefits?
Eco-friendly landscaping focuses on creating outdoor spaces that reduce energy use, are natural, and are friendly to the environment. It is a healthier way of maintaining your yard by focusing on limiting water, air, and soil pollution while nurturing native wildlife.
Dwell
Traditional landscaping methods cause soil pollution and require a lot of maintenance, which uses energy and water. Eco-friendly landscaping is designed to be lower maintenance and lower cost, while also benefiting your local ecosystem. So really it’s a double win, saving you time and money on maintenance while helping the environment.
How Can You Plan an Eco-Friendly Yard?
Now you know what eco-friendly landscaping is and what its objectives are, you may be wondering how to incorporate green landscaping into your outdoor spaces.
Ryan Street
A lot of your decisions will depend on your outdoor space and your local environment, but we’re covering all the ways below.
Consider Drought Tolerant Landscaping
Drought tolerant landscaping involves using plants that don’t need frequent watering to thrive. These include succulents, wildflowers, ornamental grasses, native shrubs, and trees. There are so many great and versatile options to choose from. Along with other non-plant landscaping elements like stones, gravel, and mulch.
Better Homes and Gardens
Drought tolerant landscaping is especially important in areas that are affected by drought, where water conservation is vital, but you don’t need to live in a dry climate to consider this type of landscaping.
No matter where you live if you want to reduce your water usage, then incorporating drought tolerant elements is a great way to achieve this.
Use Native Plants
When selecting plants and trees for your yard make sure to use native plants. Native plants are plants that naturally occur in a region without having been previously introduced by people. There are so many benefits to using native plants in your yard.
They are already acclimatized to the local environment and rainfall patterns so they are very easy to maintain. They are also naturally resistant to local pests so they don’t need pesticides or fertilizers and require limited watering.
This means they save you time and money, while also saving water which is beneficial for the environment.
They are also good for the local ecosystem and help support indigenous wildlife.
For some ideas, Better Homes and Gardens has a list of plants native to the Northeast.
Implement Water Conservation Systems
Using drought tolerant and native plants helps you save water. But if you still have a lawn or other plants that need watering then there are other things you can do to help conserve water.
Gardner’s Supply Company
Installing a sprinkler system can help reduce water by controlling the amount of water you use. Put your sprinklers on a timer as to not overwater your landscaping and turn them off completely during wetter months.
Installing drip irrigation systems is great for vegetable gardens and drought tolerant landscaping which targets the roots of plants and makes watering more efficient.
Harvesting rainwater is a great way to recycle water. The easiest way is to collect runoff water from your roof through gutter systems into a barrel. The water can then be stored and used later during the drier months to water your yard.
There are also more elaborate systems you can have installed underground that collect the water and then redistribute it throughout your yard.
Implementing water conservation systems in your yard helps cut costs on your water bill while doing good for the planet.
Avoid Grass Lawns
Much of green landscaping involves avoiding traditional grass lawns that had been so popular throughout the 20th century.
Gardenista
This is because grass lawns require a lot of maintenance which contributes to soil pollution, uses a lot of energy, resulting in carbon emissions, and water waste.
Fortunately, there are now so many beautiful alternatives including artificial turf, ground cover, ornamental grasses, flower beds, vegetable gardens, and shrubs.
If you can’t give up your grass lawn then there are things you can do to operate more eco-friendly:
Reduce the size of your lawn
Implement water saving systems (outlined mentioned above)
Let your grass grow a bit longer and mow less often
Switch to manual vs. electric gardening equipment
Switch to organic fertilizer and natural pest control without harsh chemicals
Consider Composting
Having a compost bin in your yard helps reduce and recycle both your household and yard waste into natural fertilizer for your yard.
Williams Sonoma
There are so many household items we throw away that can be turned into compost – from certain food scraps, newspapers, toilet paper rolls, old cotton clothes, and more. Combine your household compost with yard waste to make the best compost concoction.
However, not all organic materials should be composted. For a full guide of what you can and cannot compost, check out The Daily Gardener.
Install Solar Panels and Equipment
Taking advantage of solar energy is a great way to help the environment while reducing your energy bill.
New York Times
Investing in solar panels on your roof will save you money in the long run, while adding value to your home. Many companies make it simple and affordable, offering lease options that include maintenance and repair services.
If you’re not ready to go all-in on solar panels for your roof, there are other solar options you can use throughout the interior and exterior of your home like solar heating, fans, pool heating, and outdoor solar lights.
Eco-Friendly Hardscaping
While we’ve focused a lot on eco-friendly plants, don’t forget about the hardscaping in your yard. Hardscaping is everything that’s not living, like fencing, decks, patios, walls, and pathways.
Blanchford Landscape Group
To create these elements make sure you use sustainable materials. Some options to consider are:
Wood
Urbanite – recycled concrete
Pervious Concrete and Pavers – allows for water to run through
Pavers made from recycled or recyclable materials