Sustainable Landscaping

Sustainability in the typical residential landscape can take many forms from low maintenance to xeriscaping all the way to permaculture. Whatever form it may take, the concepts and goals remain the same.

Concepts primarily include a diminishing reliance on resources such as time and water. Goals typically revolve around attaining the lowest level of maintenance and expense in order to keep the landscape looking as good as it can based on the design.

No landscape can be maintenance free, but one that is carefully designed, properly installed, and consistently maintained will require less attention over time. Using hardy plants is a good start. During my thesis study at UF we even found that St. Augustine can get tougher over time with targeted management.

Sustainability in residential landscaping is becoming a more popular and relevant topic. The conventional residential landscape is predominately consumptive purely for aesthetic appeal. As population grows in Florida more resources, such as ground water, are used. Not only that, these resources are becoming more expensive. Given that, it is very possible we are standing on the precipice of an opportunity to start guiding our landscapes towards more sustainable practices.

Methods that might accomplish a reduced reliance on time could include designing the landscape with plants that do not require constant trimming with gas powered equipment. Plants with better drought tolerance could also be selected to reduce reliance on irrigation.

Overall maintenance requirements for an expanse of lawn could be reduced by understanding what your grass type requires and then developing a maintenance plan by coordinating your service providers around the goal long term success.

You might look at a landscape that is predominately sod and think it’s the typical Florida landscape that needs so much water and chemicals. After working with hundreds of homeowners on projects involving sod dominant landscapes I’ve learned that we can have an impact by guiding folks towards more sustainable practices relative to the sod they have selected.

Many people simply prefer a nice expanse of lawn. Others live in an HOA managed neighborhood that requires St. Augustine. Either way we can still have an impact on sustainability by educating homeowners on what the lawn requires so that it minimizes waste and keeps it healthy. If the lawn is kept healthy then it will require much less water, fertilizer, and chemicals. Not only that, the need to replace areas that repeatedly die out is eliminated. Constant sod replacement because of misguided management is not only costly but also uses more resources across the board. I haven’t met one homeowner who objects to learning about this.

If you are ready to take the leap into a no lawn fully native landscape, that’s great! But if you’re like many other people who want or need to maintain the conventional look then there are steps you can take in that direction that will not only make your landscape more sustainable but also save you time and money.

Think of it this way. Say you learned there were 20 steps you could take to have the most sustainable landscape possible. But many of them are either not preferable or not possible. However, you look at those 20 steps and realize you could take 5 or even 10 of them. If doing so would be to your benefit then wouldn’t that be a step (or more) in the right direction?

This doesn’t have to be a thing of absolutes. A few steps in the right direction (maybe to start) can still make a difference especially if more and more homeowners learn what is possible rather than being told what they can’t or shouldn’t do.

If you are interested in learning more Earthwise Scott teaches a free workshop on residential landscape sustainability. You can visit my blog post about the class.