When I am designing a new outdoor space, sustainability becomes a priority in my approach to incorporate elements to my designs. The idea is to create a garden that is able to maintain itself without using much of our natural resources, pesticides or herbicides. Sustainable gardening embraces organic products.
A sustainable landscape is outdoor space designed to bring aesthetic beauty while connecting low maintenance upkeep practices and protecting our environment. This translates in reducing maintenance costs, reducing waste of natural resources, and decreasing soil and water pollution. My goal is to minimize environmental impacts and maximize value received from money expended.
Sustainable landscaping practices can produce significant economic and environmental benefits to you. Savings include reduced labor, water, and fertilizer costs, lower hauling expenses and disposal fees, and less exposure to workman's compensation claims due to crew injury from lifting heavy loads of green material. Proper watering, fertilizing, and
pruning along with Integrated Pest Management can encourage healthier, disease- resistant plants and can reduce the amount of pesticides, fertilizers, and other toxic runoff entering storm drains and polluting creeks, lakes, and rivers.
These are the things to keep in mind when planning for sustainable landscapes:
- Conserve water by using drought tolerant plants.
- Consider other alternative for lawn. There are many beautiful groundcover options depending on your weather conditions.
- If you have to use lawn because you entertain a lot or love that look, think about reducing that area to the minimum square footage you require for social activities.
- Think about collecting water in devices from water falling in gutters or hard surfaces.
- Use dripping irrigation systems.
- Select plants that perform well in your area and have few pest problems.
- Diversify your plant options to bring a wider habitat for beneficial insects.
- Mulch planting beds.
- Pull weeds by hand.
- Leave lawn clipping in place after mowing.
- Compost green waste.
- Reuse materials in your garden like plastic, clay containers.
- Use electric garden tools instead. Gas-powered tools produce huge air and noise pollution.
- Use only organic products.
The list is bigger, but these are the ones I want to point out. When landscapes require excessive amounts of water, energy, labor, and other resources, environmental and economic costs outweigh many of the natural benefits of urban landscapes. In contrast, sustainable landscapes feature healthier, longer-lived plants that rely less on chemical pesticides and fertilizers, minimize water use, and reduce waste generation and disposal. They also alleviate groundwater and air pollution problems.
Bring not just joy to your garden but a sense of responsibility with our planet as well. I’m always here to help you with your project… Javier Bohorquez – Casa Outdoor Design
