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Planning and Maintaining an Environment-Friendly Landscape

Home » Lawn & Garden » Landscaping - Environmental Landscaping » Planning and Maintaining an Environment-Friendly Landscape

The best landscaping is both aesthetically pleasing and environmentally responsible. In other articles, we discuss how to make your landscape aesthetically pleasing, and below, we've included some tips on making your landscaping environmentally friendly.

• Have a natural focal point: Instead of building your landscape around a deck or other manmade object, start with a tree or small pond.
• Trees. Lots of trees: Trees absorb the sun's heat, control erosion, prevent evaporation, provide food and shelter for animals, reduce our power demands, and much more.
• Plan a compost or mulch pile: Compost and mulch reduce your waste and provide innumerable benefits for your soil, so think about how to landscape with compost.
• Attract animal wildlife: Try to create a landscape that contains food, water, shelter, and space for animals. In addition, if you're looking for specific creatures, you can plant flora that attracts those species.

Once your landscaping is up and running, don't forget to use environmentally responsible maintenance. Conserve water by watering efficiently, and aerate the lawn to allow the water to more effectively reach plant roots. Consider letting your lawn go a little brown during the summer, and springing back to life during the fall. As you mow, set your mowing height at about two inches, and leave the grass clippings on the lawn--those clippings can supply ¼ of your fertilizer needs.

Finally, ask your landscape architect or local nursery for environmentally responsible landscaping products, such as jute, a biodegradable netting that prevents surface erosion. Emphasizing your concern for the environment may make your landscaper alter his plans accordingly. On the other hand, if your landscaper doesn't seem to care about the environment, you might want to pick a new landscaper.

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