As a homeowner, you have an opportunity to contribute to community efforts to protect the environment. One way to do so is by green landscaping, meaning a space that creates a healthy environment, reduces the need for watering and fosters biodiversity.
Here are a few practices that will help you to create ecologically responsible landscaping.
Choose a sustainable lawn
The verdant lawns we find in front of houses and in yards are certainly beautiful, but they aren’t really very green. They’re fussy and they need a lot of water and fertilizer to look good all summer long. Also, their uniform nature doesn’t help biodiversity because they don’t attract a wide variety of useful insects.
To make a sustainable lawn, we can replace grass with other ground covers that are as beautiful as they are practical, such as clover with its pretty mauve or white flowers, or wild thyme, which has highly scented blooms that attract large numbers of pollinating insects.
Opt for green products
Avoid impermeable materials like asphalt for driveways and patios. They create heat islands. Rainwater runs off them, carrying with it pollutants that find themselves in our sewers and, finally, our watercourses.
Better choices would be permeable paving stones or hollow-core slabs that absorb rainwater into the ground. Gravel and wood chips are other good options.
Yes to native plants, no to invasive species
Native species are those that originated in the area where they are growing, and therefore are fully adapted to our climate. Exotic species, on the other hand, may need more care (watering, fertilization) and may choke out native plants.
The recommendation is to get rid of invasive exotic species, such as giant hogweed, purple loosestrife or Japanese knotweed, because they grow so rapidly that they hinder the growth of native species. This limits biodiversity in areas where they occur. To prevent propagation, throw them in the garbage, not the compost.
Think about pollinators
Pollinating insects, such as bees and butterflies, are very useful. They transport pollen grains as they browse from flower to flower, fostering the lifecycle of many plant species. They’re the reason we can harvest fruit, squash and other edible plants!
When you plant flowers that attract pollinating insects, such as yarrow, milkweed, rudbeckia and zinnia, you’re making a huge contribution to biodiversity! To maximize the effect, choose different species that will flower all summer long.
Include edible plants
Why not combine utility with pleasure and add edible plants to your landscaping? Whether you add flowers (yarrow, common pink, etc.), berries (such as strawberries and blueberries), vegetables (peppers, beans, chard and tomatoes) or herbs (peppermint, thyme, basil, parsley), several edible plants will add beauty and esthetics to your flower beds. Besides, it’s always a thrill to reap what you’ve sown!
Avoid using fertilizers and pesticides
Fertilizers and pesticides, even organic ones, can reduce biodiversity in the environment. Some fertilizers, when runoff carries them into our watercourses, cause overproliferation of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), disturbing the ecosystem in our lakes.
Grasscycling and leafcycling, practices that consist of leaving mown grass and mulched leaves on your property, are preferable. They recycle nutrients such as nitrogen that are found naturally in the grass and leaves, and so limit the use of chemical fertilizers. When you choose low-maintenance native plants, you will also limit the need for fertilizers and pesticides.
Would you like more landscaping tips? Read this blog article!
