If you’re thinking of improving the environment by planning a landscape that goes well with the climate, then you should try sustainable landscaping.

It needs minimum amounts of soil-conditioner, defoliants and water.

There are many different levels of sustainable landscaping, the best way to get involved is to just start somewhere by setting short and long term goals.

A small objective could be putting up a composting bin.

A long-term goal could be to create a more self-sustaining garden that involves all aspects of healthy plant care such as choosing appropriate plants as well as eliminating chemical solutions.

Here are 10 tips to create a more sustainable landscape on your piece of paradise:

1. Shrink Your Lawn: Your big space of green grass eats up a huge chunk of your resources. Minimize your lawn and invest in a more natural garden. You’ll save on water and your use of your fertilizers. Moreover, you may not need to use the rake or the hoe as often.

2. Gather Rain Water: Accumulating rain in barrels helps in the conservation of water. Usually rain water is pure and of good quality. You can even use it for drinking consumption.

3. Use Mulch: Mulched beds improve the appearance of any landscape. But more than importantly, mulch protects the plants’ root systems and adds nutrients to the soil. The use of mulch prevents erosion and seals off unwanted weeds. You’ll spend less time weeding and watering your garden and more time enjoying it.

4. Go for Compost: Composting natural waste produces humus which improves your garden soil. By composting you reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill sites, thus reducing greenhouse gases. You get extra savings from saved expenses in fertilizer solutions as well.

5. Choose Native Plants: Native plants can adapt in the most unusual environments. They resist unwanted plan diseases thus minimizing the need for harmful pesticides.

6. Lure those Pollen Agents: By growing a variety of plants you increase the number of different wildlife species that are attracted to your garden. Bumble bees, wasps and hummingbirds provides an active ecological community by moving the pollen from one plant to the other.

7. Shade Trees help: Consider deciduous leaf shrubs near your home to cut your electricity bills in summer season. In autumn deciduous plant trees lose their leaves which allows sunny breeze in your home reducing your high costs in heating. In addition trees helps minimize harmful effects in climate by producing oxygen which then moderates ground temperatures.

8. Consider Edible Plants: You can produce a beautiful landscape as well as tasty food for the table by integrating edible plants into your garden. You can blend in with the ornamental shrubs some scarlet beans, spinach beets, and artichokes.

9. Choose Natural Resources: Instead of using extraneous resources why not consider using natural rocks, reprocessed bricks and salvageable stones from demolished structural sites.

10. Choose Alternatives to Power Equipment: You can use a push reel mower rather than a power mower. You can just use a hoe and hand shears rather than an electric weed trimmer. You can just allow leaves on the ground to decay to convert into soil nutrients instead of still using a leaf blower.

The Result: Instead of a lawn, think about creating a meadow.

I have been involved with Sustainabale Calgary Landscaping in Calgary, Alberta Canada for a long time. These Tips have been implemented with my company for over 8 years. We have had a lot of fun Landscaping in Calgary over the years. What we do will work almost anywhere in the world to create sustainable landscapes.

Remember, just because I use this with Landscaping Calgary, doesn’t mean it won’t work in your local area. Now get out there and try things out!

Written by: Custom Stone and Waterscapes ‎3829 Parkhill Place SW, Calgary, AB T2S 2W6 (403) 870-1142