Eco-Landscaping Services by Natural Landscape Design
Eco-Landscaping allows eco-conscious homeowners to minimize their environmental impact without sacrificing a beautiful outdoor living space.
Eco-Landscaping eliminates chemicals and toxins in the landscape, conserves water, and saves money through reduced energy and yard maintenance costs. It also reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions responsible for climate change.
Reducing our energy consumption is one of the main reasons many home and business owners have been ‘greening’ their properties. The rising cost of energy and the impact it has on our global climate should be seen as an incentive to look for new approaches and technologies to reduce our ecological footprint.
Regardless of the eco-landscaping feature you would like to implement or learn more about, the team at Natural Landscape Design can help. Contact us today to find out how your yard can be more environmentally friendly, and a more Natural Landscape.
Keep reading below to learn about some of our favourite eco-landscaping ideas.
Sustainable Outdoor Features
An assortment of Eco-friendly gardening techniques can be integrated into your sustainable landscape. Some of the most common include:
- Living walls (recommend linking to definitions, wikipedia pages, or other resources per Dave’s suggestions)
- Green roofs
- Bioswales
- Rain gardens
- Xeriscaping
Rain Harvesting
Use a cistern or rain barrel to capture and store rainwater for irrigation. This practice reduces storm water runoff and the GHGs associated with drinking water. Make sure your barrel is covered with a tight-fitting lid or screen to keep disease-carrying mosquitoes from breeding there. For detailed savings and GHG emission reductions associated with using rainwater for outside watering see Rain Barrel calculations.
Sustainable Vegetation
Select plants that are native to your location and require little maintenance to flourish. The more native species you maintain and plant, the better you will preserve the natural habitat around you.
Whenever possible, keep the vegetation that is already there and transplant it if necessary. Common plant life within a sustainable landscape includes:
- Natural grasses and wildflowers
- Flowering and fruiting shrubs
- Evergreen trees to provide wind breaks and natural habitat
- Deciduous trees to provide shade, including fruit and nut-bearing trees.
- Organic vegetable or herb gardens.
Reusable Outdoor Materials
Elements such as decks, patios, walkways and driveways all contribute to the way you live in your landscape. If any of these elements are chosen without proper consideration, they can create a variety of problems, from lowering the value of the home to releasing toxic chemicals and polluting the environment.
Consider the following when planning your next hardscape:
- Porous materials like crushed brick, gravel, and tumbles recycled glass.
- Natural stone product like flagstone, ledge rock walls.
- Precast concrete products or interlock pavers and wall systems.
- Wood from sustainable forests and recycled plastic wood products.
- Organic material like compost, leaves, bark mulch or wood chips.
Contact us today to find out more about Eco-Landscaping and how it can benefit your Natural Landscape.
