How is Your Garden? What maintenance activities do you carry out? You can find the answers to those questions from this green environmental blog, but for now please continue reading and discover in this article how to design a sustainable garden.
Have a large garden with views of a pine forest. Have two dogs and a garden. A quiet house with an ideal exterior. And amid this scenario, the key question in times of environmental crisis is: Is my garden sustainable? How do create responsible landscaping?
Some issues that are of vital importance just when a couple of weeks ago, on September 16, the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer was celebrated. A date that allows us to delve into environmental conservation, a topic that is not trivial now that more and more people and entities are committed to interior and exterior design marked by the preservation of the natural environment.
Because yes, through landscaping you can also contribute to taking care of the Ozone Layer. That fragile strip of gas protects life on the planet from the harmful effects of the sun’s rays and that demands caution and extreme awareness of its value. Especially taking advantage of the rise of green areas that after confinement has gained more followers than ever among the population. Because we all need a break and what better way than to do it through the world of nature?
But a green area, believe it or not, can also harm the environment. Not because of its very core as natural matter, but because of how we intervene and maintain these gardens. For this reason, it is very important that, whether what you want is to keep your garden area clean or if it is a public garden, the measures should be focused on minimizing the use of resources such as water or electricity costs.
Responsible landscaping involves the effective management of available materials to generate long-lasting and sustainable green spaces.
To begin with, whoever wants to have an ecological garden, which is much more than the fashionable urban garden, should know some keys that, once started, can help reduce the environmental impact.
The most important thing is to adapt to the properties of the terrain and the climate of the place where the garden is installed. Without forgetting, as we have already mentioned, reduce water consumption and energy use. Also avoid generating the least amount of waste or, whenever possible, reuse what is produced and recycle it.
Another measure to take into account is the place where you are going to locate the garden. But why is it important? The idea is to take advantage of the plant and native species of the place itself and not abuse others that do not adapt to your land.
Pay attention to the climate in which you find yourself and in which you will place the green zone. If, for example, it receives a low water supply, it is better that you bet on including in the garden those plants and vegetables that require a low water supply for their correct development. There are many that you can select! Among them stand out the laurel, the cypress, the olive tree, climbing plants such as rosebushes or jasmine, as well as aromatic plants.
The more grass, the more environmental impact. Think that, when designing an ecological and sustainable garden, it is interesting to reduce the lawn space with alternatives such as using groundcover plants, stone, wood, or aggregates instead to decorate or beautify these green areas.
Fortunately, as we said, some companies are already committed to ecological alternatives in their design plans. This is the example of Dstudio, whose main concern is to carry out a comprehensive exterior design project while taking care of the environment without losing aesthetic sense, efficiency, versatility, and functionality.
But how do they get it? The purpose of the study is to develop the appropriate control systems to create sustainable spaces with an official zero carbon footprint certificate, which demonstrates its commitment to the preservation of the natural environment.
Although it may not seem like it, some gardens generate more damage to the environment than we think. For this reason, one of the most important tasks is the calculation of GHG emissions (greenhouse gases) that are generated in the maintenance activities of already executed gardens.
Are we aware of our carbon footprint? And of the implications that this has on the natural environment? The carbon footprint identifies the amount of GHG emissions that are released into the atmosphere, by direct or indirect effect, by an individual, or due to the development of any activity. In this way, measures can be established to reduce energy consumption and improve the use of energy. of resources and materials.
We leave you now with a gallery of images that show how to create a sustainable landscape. Because the commitment to the environment also starts in how we intervene in its land, its waters, and everything that surrounds the natural environment.
One of the foundations of sustainable landscaping projects is the commitment to maintenance. In other words, it must be efficient, to minimize the use of water or electricity consumption, as we can see in this image.
Before you waste water, take care of it. To do this, you can include in your garden drip irrigation systems or water sensors that stop when it rains. As we can see in this photograph, it is also very suitable to locate wells or water deposits near the green area.
If sustainable landscaping stands out for something, it is for the comprehensive exterior design, while taking care of the environment without losing aesthetic sense, efficiency, versatility, and functionality.
Many of these ecological gardens have an official certificate of zero carbon footprint since their maintenance is efficient with the aim of minimizing the use of water or electricity costs.
As we have seen, there are a series of guidelines that allow the creation of an ecological garden. One of them is to take into account the place where the projected garden is going to be located. The most convenient thing is to choose vegetables and plants native to the place.
The idea of this type of landscape is to reduce maintenance costs and environmental impact in private and corporate gardens through the calculation of the carbon footprint.
Designing an efficient garden also means paying attention to the lawn. Use alternatives such as the use of groundcover plants, stone, wood, or aggregates to decorate or beautify these green areas and reduce the environmental impact.
Believe it or not, these types of elements have been used in Japanese gardens for years as a means of adorning the land.
This type of landscaping that focuses on caring for the environment does not design anything that could conflict with nature. As we have seen, water consumption is not uselessly exceeded, which would also result in more expensive maintenance.
The important thing is to create solutions to make the garden space in total balance with the surrounding environment.