If you try to live ‘green’ then you’ll be happy to know that you can also go ‘green’ when it comes to your landscape. You might be surprised to find that your common residential lawn requires a minimum of 10,000 gallons of water each year (estimated by the EPA). Many cities across the nation are noticing an increase in water prices so taking this large number into consideration, just about anyone will benefit from going to a ‘green’ landscape.
While saving money is always a perk when it has to do with your home, money saving isn’t the only benefit that comes from a green landscape.
Less Maintenance
So how does a ‘green’ landscape work? Instead of simply choosing your favorite foliage to span your lawn, you instead opt for drought-resistant foliage native to your area. Drought-resistant foliage knows how to adjust naturally to the amount of sun, shade or rainfall it receives. Therefore, less maintenance is required on your part to ensure it’s in top shape; healthy, beautiful trees, shrubs and flowers without hours of care required. Now you can free up your weekends that once consisted of on-going lawn care/maintenance.
Pesticide-Free
Alarmingly, an estimate of 80 million pounds of pesticides is used on lawns in the U.S. every year, revealed by EPA studies. Those who take the time to research pesticides and their long-term effects are likely looking to care for their lawn in a more ‘green’ manner. By choosing the right plants and greenery for your yard, you eliminate the need for harsh chemicals. Certain plants will have a resistance to the pests native to this area, as well as the fungi that can potentially attack. These resistant plants typically only require a small amount of pesticides, if any at all, to keep them healthy and beautiful. You might even find some plants that naturally repel certain pests which in turn means even less maintenance; and less annoyance by unwanted pests.
More Savings
So why use green landscaping? PlantNative, a non-profit, claims that a green yard could cost you up to 90% less than your typical, traditional yard. This is due to the placement of native plants, which are environmentally hardy so you won’t need to replace them very often. In addition, lessening the amount of time your sprinkler system has to be used will have an effect on your energy/water bills as well. Proper placement of plants has a significant impact as well; water-hungry plants placed in lower-lying areas of the yard helps them receive water running off from the higher elevated areas.
Preservation
You can help preserve natural resource through proper landscape planning. As an example, placing trees on the sunniest parts of the lawn, near the home, can provide more shade which will save energy inside the home. And this benefit is enjoyed all year round, through every season. The DOE (Department of Energy) believes that a home could save up to $200 every year with the proper placement of shade trees.
In addition, most lawn equipment has unsettling emissions that are often unavoidable. By utilizing an abundance of plants on your lawn you can actually help clean the air around your space. PlantNative, mentioned earlier, also reminds us that lawn equipment emissions are more significant in the 40 hours a year they are used, than the emissions coming from cars. Think about that for a moment.
If you want to save money and water while also helping our important environment, green landscaping is an investment you need to consider and implement; you won’t regret it!
But of course an energy efficient lawn needs to be maintained just like any other. No matter what type of lawn you have, Proactive Landscaping can help you take care of it. Contact us today for all your lawn maintenance needs!
