Your Green Guide To Landscaping

A green guide to landscaping is quite helpful to anyone planning a more ecologically friendly lifestyle. Your garden can be a resource drain, but if planned carefully, you can minimize waste in your garden as well as reaping a great number of environmental benefits.

Select plants suited to your home's climate

Native plants are likely to be a good bet here since they've evolved to grow on whatever amount of water and sunlight your climate naturally provides, saving the water and energy it takes to coax a nonnative plant to grow in an environment for which it is not suited. Plus, growing them will protect them by securing their place in your local ecosystem even as your area develops. If you live in a dry area, you can conserve water by researching native drought-resistant plants to anchor your garden.

Kill your lawn

A lawn is a classic icon of yard beauty, but it soaks up a lot of water, and mowing it releases carbon emissions. Use the space currently occupied by your lawn for native grasses, a vegetable patch, or any other low-maintenance, drought-resistant plants. It isn’t necessary to use a chemical herbicide to kill your lawn. Just stop watering it if you live in a dry climate or cover it with a black tarp that will block the sunlight if you don’t.

Make your own compost

Your waste disposal habits offer another opportunity to go green.  Save any kind of plant waste in your kitchen and use it to make compost for your garden. You'll avoid chemicals that might appear in commercial composts, and you'll reduce the amount of waste you send to the landfill.

Create water zones

Chances are good that different plants in your garden need different amounts of water.  Arrange your garden grouping plants that require similar amounts of water together. This will greatly economize the amount of water you use.

Grow edible plants

Growing your own food is a time-tested ecological practice. By setting aside part of your garden for planting vegetables and herbs you'll be amazed by how much food a small portion of land can produce. When you substitute home-grown vegetables for those that are shipped or trucked in over long distances you are contributing to a serious reduction in carbon emissions.

Consider local wildlife

Your garden can be a nourishing habitat for local wildlife. Do a little research and find out which plants might attract the butterflies and birds in your area. Butterfly and bird gardens can play an important role in protecting local species from the hustle, bustle and diminishing habitat of developing suburbs. Make your garden a home for wildlife as well as for yourself.