Eco-Friendly Landscaping Design/Techniques for Your Property
Landscaping design is not only an excellent tool for improving the aesthetics of a built environment. It can also help to address the current environmental concerns. You can enhance the air quality, improve flora and fauna, sustain biodiversity, create habitats, create ambient temperatures, and reduce the carbon footprint.
Here are a few design tips to help you enhance the green factor in your built environment.
Growing Plants (Use Native Plants)
Use plants that would thrive in the local environment. You could go for either native plants or exotic species that grow in similar environments.
However, native plants should be your preferred choice. They should ideally thrive once established. Besides, since they are native, they don’t need help to adapt to other factors like animals and soils.
Native trees, shrubs, grasses, and climbers will reduce the need to modify soils, supply water, and conduct intensive maintenance. They will also attract other life forms like insects, birds, and microorganisms. They will help you to re-create and sustain natural flora and fauna.
Use Natural Stones
Natural stones are an excellent option to build a sustainable landscape as opposed to granite or clay.
Natural stones contain no harmful chemicals and come in a wide variety. They can give your backyard a perfect look and keep it eco-friendly.
In Australia and the Melbourne region, unlike other jurisdictions, natural stones are widely available and are of high-quality. The only issues you should be careful to consider are ethics and sustainability practices at the source. The cost of installation could be higher, but it is well worth it.
However, natural stone is an excellent choice to achieve aesthetic, durability, and sustainability goals with your Melbourne property.
Design to Use Fewer Chemicals
A well-thought design can help you reduce chemical usage and minimize pollution over the long-term.
Consider creating clear borders between your lawn and other plants. This creates a clear separation between places you can use a push mower and where more intrinsic weeding and care is required. Also, use gentle curving beds that are easier to mow and avoid sprinkler heads that protrude from the grass.
Install a water tank that collects rainwater. Use the rainwater instead of the city supply. It is often laden with chlorine and other additives.
Use these design tips to avoid spraying the lawns with chemicals and save energy.
Use Plants and Trees to Improve Air Quality
Indoor plants can help to filter the air and improve air quality – they take in toxins like formaldehyde and other volatile compounds that are subtle pollutants. Outdoor plants can also do this, and much more. Trees and shrubs can create buffers and filters, breaking wind and controlling dust. Well-selected trees and shrubs can also perform the function of air conditioners. They can help to keep interior spaces cool during hot days reducing your carbon footprint.
Use recycled materials
When you design to use recycled materials, you will have a positive impact on the environment in three ways:
- You will cut down on energy usage. There is no need to extract, refine, manufacture or process any raw materials.
- You will enhance conservation. Resources required to create non-recycled products are saved.
- You will reduce the amount of waste and the resources required to manage waste products.
Consider using materials like recycled plastic, composite pavers, and salvaged wood like railway sleepers in your design.
Design to Minimize Energy Usage
As we have already mentioned, having plants in the design helps to reduce the heating and cooling requirements. Trees can reduce chills due to wind or the effect of hot winds and reduce the dust. Shrubs and indoor plants can moderate solar penetration and provide a passive air conditioning solution.
But there is more that you can do to reduce energy usage.
Design to capture rainwater and use it for irrigation. It will be of great advantage, especially where you have deciduous plants in a foreign habitat. Also, use designs that apply solar power to fire-up your landscape. You can use solar energy for lighting or heating the pool. It is an excellent way to cut your energy costs and reduce your carbon footprint.
It is incredibly satisfying to know that your landscape design can enhance biodiversity, cut down pollution, save energy and other resources and reduce your carbon footprint. Use these tips to make your landscape design eco-friendlier. If you’re needing ideas on how to go about doing it, then reaching out to a landscaping company is a good idea. Additionally, to begin your landscaping endeavour, you may want to invest in some tree lopping services to start with a clean slate. R.J & K Enterprises are a Brisbane based company that …
