A healthy, sustainable living landscape is an outdoor environment that is carefully designed and managed to enhance the well-being of people, wildlife, and the planet. It seamlessly integrates ecological balance, resource efficiency, and aesthetic charm, creating a thriving space for both the present and future generations. This concept goes beyond just having an attractive yard; it represents a vibrant, living system that harmonizes human needs with environmental demands, fostering a space that nurtures life and conserves resources for future generations.
While every yard and location is distinct, all healthy landscapes share several essential characteristics, focusing on key principles and features that contribute to their vitality.
Diverse Native Plantings: The landscape showcases a rich assortment of native plants, including trees, shrubs, grasses, and groundcovers, arranged densely and in layers to emulate natural environments. Native species contribute to the ecosystem, demand less water and maintenance, and are naturally suited to the local climate and soil conditions.
Reduction of Turf Grass Areas: Traditional turf grass often acts as an ecological dead zone, requiring various harmful inputs for upkeep. Living landscapes aim to minimize turf, retaining only those lawn areas that are actively utilized while transforming other sections into thriving plantings of native vegetation.
Soil Health: The cornerstone of a sustainable landscape lies in healthy soil. Engaging in practices such as abundant planting, composting, and steering clear of chemical fertilizers fosters beneficial soil organisms, enhances soil structure, and boosts fertility.
Water Conservation: Implementing efficient irrigation techniques like drip systems and rainwater harvesting, along with planting drought-resistant species, reduces water consumption. Additionally, rain gardens and permeable surfaces effectively manage stormwater and replenish groundwater resources.
Wildlife Habitat & Biodiversity Benefits: The landscape provides shelter, food, and water for birds, pollinators, and small mammals. Features like trees, native hedgerows, pollinator gardens, and natural brush piles promote biodiversity.
Protection from Toxins: Pest and weed management relies on integrated, natural methods. The absence of synthetic pesticides and herbicides protects the health of people, pets and communities. Protecting neighborhoods from pesticides is also important for soil, water, and biodiversity.
Energy Efficiency & Pollution Reduction: Shade trees and well-planned plantings contribute to cooling the area. Gas powered equipment is used minimally or not at all in an effort to reduce hazardous noise & air pollution. Light pollution is mitigated by embracing Dark Sky standards.
Waste Reduction: Leaves and brush are left on-site to support pollinators, songbirds, and other creatures that overwinter, while also recycling organic matter back into the environment to improve soil health. These practices help to reduce landfill waste. Hardscapes are built using recycled or locally sourced natural materials to lessen environmental impact and are designed to be permeable, allowing water absorption, which aids in mitigating stormwater runoff.
Wellness: Sustainable landscapes have a positive influence on communities; they enhance both mental and physical well-being and cultivate a deeper connection to nature.
Increasingly are people choosing to step away from mainstream - often harmful - landscaping practices to embrace healthier, more resilient, and sustainable ways of caring for the space outside their doors. The way you landscape impacts your family, your pets, and our shared environment and it provides a world of opportunity to help nature right at home. It is the part of your home that the most people see. What story does your landscape tell? What does it communicate about your values and your concern for our shared natural resources?
Click on the image above, or the link right HERE to access the article. Read it all - beginning to end. Then read it again. Trigger alert, some people might find themselves feeling a bit defensive about parts of the article. And spoiler alert, some of you will be cheering aloud with every single cathartic line that so eloquently says things that need to be said more often, and with more conviction if we are to make real progress in returning health to our landscapes! We should all have the clarity and courage to say them.
“Messy is the eroded, muddy, polluted, streams in our watersheds, contaminated by the fertilizers and pesticides used to maintain tens of millions of acres of turf grass across the continent…”
Brought to you by the team at the Perfect Earth Project, the Global Ground Rules are goals that every person and every landscape can aspire to for the health of people, pets and the planet!
Every year, an astounding 80 million pounds of pesticides are sprinkled across the lawns and gardens of North America. These chemicals, which originated from attempts to repurpose gases used in warfare for domestic utility, are now designed to keep our lawns lush by any means necessary. They may fulfill their promise of aesthetic perfection—but at a considerable cost. Striving for the ideal green space, regrettably, often overlooks the quiet consequences that these substances introduce into our environments, and our lives. Learn more about this important topic in an August, 2024 article from the National Wildlife Federation that aims to uncover the hidden toxicity of these chemical applications, examining their impact on our health, our wildlife, and our planet.
Keeping your yard and our communities healthy involves thinking differently about lawn care practices. No need to get rid of all your lawn - but - keep only what you need and actively use. Replace the rest with native trees, pollinator gardens, rain gardens, native shrub borders, bird friendly plantings, food forests, vegetable gardens, and more! And what lawn you do keep should be managed without chemicals or chronic use of gas powered equipment. This is at the root of a healthy landscape!
Many of your neighbors across Southern the Less Lawn More Life Challenge - an initiative sweeping across America. It is one of many initiatives bringing people together with the common goal of building health and resilience back into our landscapes - starting right outside our own doors. Learn more - and get connected!
Founded by iconic landscape designer Edwina von Gal, Perfect Earth Project aims to educate, engage and inspire homeowners, land care professional, and decision makers to adopt land care practices that are toxic free, nature b and climate responsible.
Healthy Yards promotes the growth of landscaping practices that are sustainable and good for the environment and for you. Explore their work and rich library of resources.
New Directions in the American Landscape was founded by Larry Weaner, a talented, well known ecological landscape designer. Throughout the year you can sign up for workshops and courses to help you up your resilient landscaping game. Click on the image above to visit the site.
Many of you may know Bristol resident Heather Evans who along with her daughter Zoe created Design Your Wild. Through the website which can be accessed by clicking the image above you can sign up for her informative and inspirational newsletters, read articles, explore resources and sign up for DIY courses. Prickly Ed's Customers receive a discount on the subscription fee by using the discount code https://www.designyourwild.com/pricklyeds
This is the website of Benjamin Vogt ("Milk the Weed" / "New Garden Ethic"). The site is full of how to guides, online courses, tools and resources to help you plan an ecologically sound garden. Click on the image above to visit the site.
Now that you have planted the perfect pollinator paradise be sure to nurture your new habitat in a way that also nurtures life. Learn more about Leaving the Leaves and Saving the Stems from the Xerces Society at the link below.
Learn more about the harmful effects of pesticides at the link below. Many of these pesticides are lurking in commonly used lawn and garden products, please use extra caution when caring for your pollinator patch.
Invasive plans spread from your yard to natural areas and can significantly degrade ecosystems. We spend billions of dollars annually just in the US dealing with is caused by invasive plants. In our region more than 70% of our most challenging invasive plants were or in some cases still are planted intentionally in home and public Landscapes. Some examples of invasive plants commonly found in designed landscapes include: Burning bush, English ivy, Bradford Pear, Fountain Grass, Barberry, vinca vine, multiflora rose, and more!