Landscaping For Beauty and the Environment - Part One
Following on from my articles The Eco Friendly Garden and To Garden Or To Cement It All Over, I am writing a series of articles that can assist those who want both an environmentally friendly garden and a beautiful one - but who also need some ideas.
This is the first of a series of articles on garden design and landscaping, and later, will be followed by some articles on the practical: the growing of garden plants, vegetables and herbs.
I will soon gather all into an e-book, but in the meantime there is an abbreviated one in the link at the end.
One of the key decisions when drawing up a garden design is how to approach the front yard landscaping - to make it what you want and also be contributory to reducing your carbon footprint.
The two aspects are entirely compatible goals just by the fact that plants absorb carbon dioxide.
While the back of the home is not seen by the general public passing by, your backyard landscaping should also have careful attention if possible for a number of reasons, including the fact that it also is your first step in reducing the impact of carbon in the atmosphere.
It is in the backyard that you spend more time than in the front - it is where you relax, the kids play and the family entertains.
It is where you can put a pool, a secret garden, a veggie patch, some fruit trees and so on.
Our garden spaces are by their nature eco-friendly.
It is how we use them and maintain them that allows us to maximise their impact on our carbon footprint.
They beg the questions:
Using solar energy both in the home and garden is not just a fad or the latest fashionable trend.
It is a real and realistic way to be both environmentally friendly and to conserve resources and lower our power bills.
And the more power bills increase (and where aren't they?), the shorter the period becomes before our purchase of solar panels have paid for themselves.
And, depending on the extent of our energy conservation efforts in the home and garden, we can even make money selling back to the grid.
Being eco-friendly is a WIN-WIN situation.
Keep an eye open for the next part "About Landscape Design"
This is the first of a series of articles on garden design and landscaping, and later, will be followed by some articles on the practical: the growing of garden plants, vegetables and herbs.
I will soon gather all into an e-book, but in the meantime there is an abbreviated one in the link at the end.
One of the key decisions when drawing up a garden design is how to approach the front yard landscaping - to make it what you want and also be contributory to reducing your carbon footprint.
The two aspects are entirely compatible goals just by the fact that plants absorb carbon dioxide.
While the back of the home is not seen by the general public passing by, your backyard landscaping should also have careful attention if possible for a number of reasons, including the fact that it also is your first step in reducing the impact of carbon in the atmosphere.
It is in the backyard that you spend more time than in the front - it is where you relax, the kids play and the family entertains.
It is where you can put a pool, a secret garden, a veggie patch, some fruit trees and so on.
Our garden spaces are by their nature eco-friendly.
It is how we use them and maintain them that allows us to maximise their impact on our carbon footprint.
They beg the questions:
- Do we use organic means or chemicals for weed and pest control
- Are we recycling with composting our kitchen waste
- Have we hooked up the landscape or outdoor lighting and the pool heating to solar energy
- Can we develop a corner and produce some of our vegetables and fruits
Using solar energy both in the home and garden is not just a fad or the latest fashionable trend.
It is a real and realistic way to be both environmentally friendly and to conserve resources and lower our power bills.
And the more power bills increase (and where aren't they?), the shorter the period becomes before our purchase of solar panels have paid for themselves.
And, depending on the extent of our energy conservation efforts in the home and garden, we can even make money selling back to the grid.
Being eco-friendly is a WIN-WIN situation.
Keep an eye open for the next part "About Landscape Design"
