Beautiful, low-cost, low-maintenance landscaping. Sounds like a dream, but it can be a reality, even here in the San Joaquin and Central Valley area. Creating sustainable landscaping for your home or place of business can be done in 3 simple steps that will help you achieve gorgeous, eco-friendly landscaping you can be proud of.
The main goals of sustainable landscape design are to minimize use of resources such as water, cut down on waste materials, and use more natural, or native, materials as much as possible. These are the three steps we’ll talk about, and ideas for each one.
#1 Minimize water use
If your irrigation system pre-dates the internet, it’s time to have a professional take a look. Wasteful irrigation accounts for over 1/3 of residential water use in the U.S., but an irrigation professional can give you input for updating or changing your system to use less water with better results. The best irrigation systems are efficient and functional, saving you money on irrigation costs by conserving water. With an eco-friendly sprinkler system, you can increase its efficiency while decreasing the cost of maintaining a beautiful landscape.
From quick audits for issues such as identifying inefficient irrigation systems, to installing smart controllers or drip irrigation, you can give our experts at Rainscape a call at (559) 651-2333.
#2 Cut down on landscaping waste
Sustainable landscaping starts by using materials that can be found locally, eliminating the need for storage and shipping from across the country. Sustainable landscaping also results in less yard waste through practices such as composting.
Composting is a simple practice of combining natural organic waste such as grass clippings, dead leaves and kitchen food scraps that decompose and create a rich product that can be recycles to nourish and fertilize plants in your landscape. Composting doesn’t require a great deal of space and helps reduce the amount of waste that is sent to landfills or washes into our water systems.
For more information about composting and how to start your own project, click HERE.
#3 Use natural and native materials in your landscaping
A sustainable approach to landscaping incorporates existing, native plants and hardscape materials such as large stones or rocks into the overall design. While initially this will reduce installation costs by not having to purchase so many plants at your local nursery, it will also save you money in the long run as native plants are better suited to local conditions and won’t require as much water, fertilizer, or care as exotic ones might.
At Rainscape, we do more than simple landscape designing; our landscape specialists can create innovative master plans for residential or business properties based on specific needs and expectations. If you’d like to know more about how you can implement sustainable landscaping practices, or have an irrigation professional inspect your current installation, give us a call at (559) 651-2333. We’re here to help your landscape thrive!