Tips For Eco-Friendly Landscaping

While you might think a yard of any kind is probably environmentally friendly, that’s not necessarily true. Just like the inside of our homes, where we might invest in energy efficient features and appliances, there are improvements we can make outside to be more eco-friendly, too.

Eco-friendly gardening and landscaping are  great ways to extend the life of your lawn while also boosting your local ecosystem. It not only promotes healthy plant life, but it can also increase the overall value of your home and even reduce your utility costs. Interested in making your lawn a little more environmentally friendly? Read on for a few of our ideas you can start utilizing today.

8 Eco-Friendly Yard Ideas

Depending on where you live, maintaining a perfect green lawn may not be in the best interest of the environment. In some areas of the U.S., particularly the Southwest, large areas of green grass don’t occur naturally, and you may need irrigation to keep your lawn alive. You may also be planting invasive flora, driving out native fauna, and, of course, contributing to emissions by using a lawnmower.

So, what can you do to change all of that? Here are a few of our tips.

1. Xeriscaping

Xeriscaping is a style of landscaping that aims to eliminate the need for irrigation completely. This method of landscaping is most useful in more arid climates like the Southwestern U.S. that experience drought and would otherwise require excessive amounts of water to keep vegetation alive.

Xeriscaping sets up your lawn to move natural water, usually from rainfall, through your space more efficiently so that there is no need to contribute additional water to the yard. Since it’s most often used in dry climates, this may also involve opting out of planting grass and instead lining your yard with rocks, soil, drought-resistant native plants and mulch. In less dry climates, xeriscaping may be less complex and might just involve creating a path for water to travel through your yard.

By practicing xeriscaping, you can help prevent excess use of water and create a more low-maintenance lawn at the same time – so it’s a win-win.

2. Rainwater Harvesting

Another way to conserve water in your yard is by collecting and reusing rainwater. Harvesting rainwater can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. Many homeowners collect rainwater in a container outdoors to water their plants, wash their vehicles, etc. Others, however, may install an entire system to use rainwater inside their home as well for their washing machines, toilets, etc. It’s possible to install a complex system like this yourself, but it may be a good idea to contact a plumbing expert for help if you’re unsure where to start.

According to HomeAdvisor, a simple rain barrel collection system may cost $120 or so, but an extensive system that involves the water in your home could run you up to $21,000.

It’s important to note, though, that even going the simplest of routes and installing a barrel or container that collects the runoff water from your gutters can save you money on your water bill – and help the environment. Next time you go to water your flowers, consider collecting rainwater instead of drawing from the tap.

3. Use Mulch

Mulch is a garden covering which is usually made of biodegradable materials such as wood chips, grass clippings, straw, newspaper, etc. Using mulch in your yard is another great way to conserve moisture and be friendlier to the environment. Using it on top of the soil your plants are growing in helps lock in water, so you don’t have to add as much to the soil yourself. Mulch also regulates soil temperature and protects your plants from weeds, animals and foot traffic on your lawn.

Mulch is one of the simplest ways you can keep the plants in your yard healthy and protected while also conserving water at the same time with typically no negative environmental impact.

4. Use Native Plants

As we stated earlier, sometimes a keeping a big green lawn is actually bad for the environment. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) lawns across the U.S. consume around 3 trillion gallons of water a year, 200 million gallons of gas for the lawnmowers that trim them and 70 million pounds of pesticides. In addition, short green grass often contrasts wildly with the natural flora of many areas, which makes the average lawn a poor place for native species of animals and plants to reside.

If you are looking to cultivate a yard that is kinder to the surrounding local ecosystem, consider converting to a “natural” lawn. This growing trend involves replacing grass lawns with moss, turf or other low-maintenance plants native to your area that won’t require trimming. You can also replace flowers and other potentially invasive species that you may have introduced to your yard with native local flora as well. Native plants are already acclimated to the weather and local pests and will require significantly less maintenance than non-native species that you may have planted.

5. Start Composting

If you don’t already compost at your house, getting started is a great idea. Composting is a good way to make use of your household’s natural waste such as spoiled or thrown-out fruits and vegetables, eggshells, weeds, cardboard, etc. The organic material you add to a compost pile breaks down into a nutrient rich mixture that you can add to soil in your lawn to improve soil health and help your plants grow. Composting can also help protect the plants you use it on from diseases and pests.

A typical compost bin consists of soil, natural household waste and access to sunlight, which speeds up the decomposition process in the pile. You can use the compost in your bin or pile typically after somewhere between three weeks and year – you’ll know your compost is ready for use on your soil when it feels and smells like dirt itself rather than rotting fruits and veggies.  

6. Avoid Harsh Chemicals

Using pesticides in the yard and garden is a common practice because these chemicals can help keep garden pests away from your beautiful plants. The use of harsh chemicals like pesticides, however, comes with serious downsides. Pesticides and other chemicals can be dangerous to use around pets or even yourself, not to mention they can cause serious damage if they spread into water.

If chemicals enter your local water ecosystem, they can harm or even kill wildlife, so to prevent this from happening, you should ideally avoid using pesticides and other chemicals altogether. There are plenty of organic alternatives to pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals. For example, things like stinging nettles, lavender, rhubarb and even soap can be used to repel parasites instead.

7. Use Ground Cover

We mentioned adding native plants, mulch, moss and other low maintenance flora to your lawn earlier, but if you’d like to eliminate grass from your yard entirely, you can do that, too, by replacing it with some form of ground cover. This could be moss, clover or even rocks, depending on what the natural terrain in your area looks like. Having natural ground cover means you won’t have to cut the grass, deal with lawn care, use chemical pesticides or excess water to take care of your outdoor space.

Allowing it to “run wild” so to speak will make your yard a place where native wildlife can thrive, and beautiful local plants can bloom with little or no effort on your end – you can simply enjoy the outdoors.

8. Recycle And Reuse

Not everyone is going to want a fully moss-covered yard or an elaborate rain harvesting system, and that’s okay. What’s important is that you prioritize recycling and reusing resources where you can. If you do have a grass lawn to cut, consider saving the grass clippings to use as mulch or compost. Spoiled fruit and veggies from your household can be saved as compost until you can use them to fertilize the lawn.

Creativity is key when trying to find ways to make your lawn eco-friendlier bit by bit. Before you toss a banana peel, consider whether you could use it for compost. If you have an old bin lying around, consider using it to collect rainwater. Do you have a stack of old newspapers sitting in the closet? Use them as mulch in your garden or toss them on a compost pile. The possibilities are endless.

The Bottom Line: Eco-Friendly Gardening Is Good For The Environment And Your Property

Our lawns are one of the sneakiest places we are contributing to emissions, pollution and just general unkindness toward our local ecosystems. It’s never too late to start implementing a few eco-friendly features into your own outdoor space to help strengthen your local environment, cut down on water usage and lessen the use of harsh chemicals.

Interested in learning more about sustainable living? Check out our guide to reducing waste, consumption and living more sustainably in your home.