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Friday, October 31, 2008

Using Environmental Landscaping at Your House


Environmental landscaping is a simple concept. Eco landscaping simply means that your goal when planning home landscaping should be to make it work for your home - i.e by enhancing your home’s design, energy savings, and comfort. Another ideal would be to plan for landscaping that’s suitable to your climate and area, so you don’t use more energy and water than necessary just for landscaping.

Use tree placement wisely: Trees planted in the correct spot can act as wind blockers, and or can keep out the scorching sunlight of summer.You can even plant trees to create a funnel effect which can direct cooling winds to your home in the summer.

Vine usage: You can plant climbing vines on arbors on or right near the most sun exposed side of your house which can lower cooling costs in the summer.

Less grass: The less grass you have the less watering you’ll do. If you can, plan for extra patio space or flower beds vs. grass.

Go native: It’s good eco planning to plant native to your area plants. These plants are already well-adapted to your environment, and will require less care and resources than plants from other regions.

Plant shade; Even if you don’t use trees as energy saving applications for your home, they can be used to conserve yard-care resources. Trees and shrubs create shade, which in turn helps to maintain a cooler environment and saves water (less water is evaporated from say, flowers under a tree than flowers out in the open.)

Mulch: Mulching saves water, reduces the need for chemical soil amendments, and makes weeds pull out much easier.

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The painting is by Nancy Merkle

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