From House To Home

• 
• 
• 
• 
•  

Like baseball and apple pie, it’s no secret that Americans love their lawns.

According to the National Gardening Association, homeowners spent a record $44.7 billion hiring professional lawn and landscape services in 2006. Having embraced environmentally-friendly, “green” strategies inside their homes, many consumers are now looking outside for easy ways to save money and protect the environment through eco-friendly landscaping.

Eco-friendly landscaping employs sustainable design principles to conserve resources, regulate the climate, and improve the overall community. Eco-landscaping isn’t just good for the environment; it offers homeowners one of the best returns on their investment. In fact, consumers generally can expect to recoup 100 to 200 percent of their landscaping investment at selling time. But even if you aren’t planning to sell your home any time soon, a well-designed, eco-conscious yard can still lower your energy costs year-round and foster a better habitat.

Eco-landscaping isn’t just good for the environment; it offers homeowners one of the best returns on their investment.

To create a lovely, “green” landscape, here are some tips that are both easy on the pocketbook and the planet:

Location, location, location

Want to shave up to 25 percent off your household’s heating and cooling bills? Strategically planting trees and shrubs in the right locations can help increase the comfort of your home by shading you from summer sun and shielding you from winter winds. You can reduce the need for air conditioning by shading all east- and west-facing windows and placing your air conditioner in a shaded location on the north side of your home. The U.S. Department of Energy says proper placement of just three trees can save a homeowner between $100 to $250 in energy costs each year.

Water, water everywhere?

Because water is a precious and expensive commodity, it pays to be water wise. If you already have a sprinkler system, make sure each sprinkler head is strategically located so you’re not wasting water (and cash) unnecessarily on your pavement or driveway. Inexpensive timers can be employed to make sure you don’t forget to turn off the water as intended. In lieu of sprinklers, a smart alternative is DIY micro irrigation that uses drip tubing, hoses, and tiny sprayer heads to deliver water directly to the base of shrubs, trees, and plants for spot irrigation only. Additionally, consider creating “rain gardens” at the end of gutter downspouts, patios, or roads to reduce storm runoff and soil erosion.

Go native

Another effective way to save water while reducing overall yard maintenance is through xeriscaping. Xeriscaping uses drought-resistant vegetation that is climate appropriate. These hardy indigenous plants (such as cactus or lavender) use less fertilizer, do not need additional irrigation, and reduce the need for herbicides and pesticides. Xeriscaping with native flowers and plants also means you’ll have less grass to mow!

Here comes the sun

Using solar power for outdoor lighting has come a long way in recent years. Products that were once troublesome and unsightly are now reliable, aesthetically pleasing options that can help reduce your electrical bills. In contrast to high-intensity lighting, which often needs to be attached to an electricity source, solar-powered options are available for path-lighting applications. Additionally, by replacing existing outdoor floodlights with solar-powered ones with motion sensors, you can turn what was once a 200-watt application into a free source of light when you need it.

Keep it natural

Who needs toxic chemicals? When it comes to fertilizers and herbicides for your yard or garden, go organic. You can also reduce garbage while helping your plants thrive by recycling your home and yard waste into garden compost. Grass clippings, leaves, paper, kitchen scraps, and fruits and vegetables are ideal for composting and can help cut the amount of trash thrown away each year by up to 20 percent. Visit www.compostingcouncil.org for tips on how to get started.

Melissa Hoberg Coffey is an Atlanta-based freelance writer and regular contributor to From House To Home. She discovered that, on average, a well-designed landscape provides enough energy savings to return a homeowner’s initial investment in less than eight years.