The big buzz in home improvements over the past few years has been going green, and this trend is not going anywhere in the near future. How green something is considered, is now an important factor in most home-based choices. When buying a high-efficiency washing machine or energy-efficient windows, it is easy to know you are making a green improvement for your home. But what about landscaping, how do homeowners really know if they are making a positive environmental impact when it comes to landscaping?
Your best chance of making a net environmental gain with your green landscaping upgrade is by following the experts. Here are some of the green landscaping trends experts have identified for the year 2011. Most of which can be readily adapted for your backyard.
Garden
According to the Garden Writers Association, the prime garden trends for 2011 are:
-Gardening with a purpose
-Eco-scaping
-Sustainable containers
-Succulents
-Vertical gardening
-New urbanism
Unless you are planning to reclaim a vacant parking lot, or open an urban park, 'New urbanism' is probably best left to city planners. The rest of the items on the Garden Writers Association's list are plenty achievable for the home landscaper or homeowner.
Eco-scaping, defined by the GWA as, "The move to de-lawn large tracks of turf and transform lawns into sustainable landscapes..." is a great way to improve the look of your yard in a sustainable way. Installing a living wall made up of green retaining wall blocks is a great way to replace stretches of grass with eco-friendly plants that will both beatify your yard and save water.
Filling the green retaining wall blocks of your living wall with succulents, another of the Garden Writers Association's top trends for 2011, is your best bet to saving water over the long-term. Plants belonging to the succulent class retain water in their leaves, stems, and roots. Succulents thrive in a selection of conditions, and are considered by many to be some of the easiest plants to care for. Some recommended types of succulents to plant include members of the Euphorbioides family, Sedum sarmentosum, and Phedimus takesimensis.
Another trend identified by the GWA is that of sustainable containers. For smaller plants, this could mean something as easy and inexpensive as a reused food container. For bigger plants or blocks of plants, look to use containers made from recycled materials. As it turns out, while the building blocks of most living walls are made of poured concrete, those constructed from components that meet the criteria as green retaining wall blocks, should also contain a significant amount 100% recycled plastic.
Green has not just become a trend in home landscaping because it is seen as the popular or socially conscious thing to do. Both of these factors have led to the proliferation of green trends in landscaping; as seen in the examples above, green landscaping has become increasingly popular because it saves money in the long run. By choosing proven methods of green landscaping, your next outdoor home improvement project can reap rewards for years to come.
Green Landscaping Trends For The Homeowner In 2011
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