Jan 26 2009

Green Your Garden

Posted by: Jennifer Zerwer

Think your garden is green simply because it's, well, green? Think again. All gardens are not created equal when it comes to sustainability. In fact, storm-water runoff from lawns contributes significantly to the pollution in creeks, lakes, rivers and streams.

Detailed guidance on creating sustainable landscapes can be found in a recent draft report, The Sustainable Sites Initiative Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks. It is a multi-year effort by the United States Botanic Garden, the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Similar to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, the report has a point system for rating a landscape and provides such recommendations as plants that reduce erosion, clean the air and shade buildings, among others. The supporting groups hope its point system will be incorporated into LEED in 2011.

Here are some easy steps San Francisco-based Rock & Rose Landscapes recommends to lower the environmental impact of your garden:

• Strategically plant shade trees to cool your house in the summer and provide light in the winter. (PG&E advocates this as well.)
• Go native! Gardens featuring native plants usually require water for the first season only.
• To use water more efficiently, group plants together with similar water needs, use drip irrigation systems and get a rain water catchment.
• Edible plantings help to limit trips to the store and the need to purchase produce that's often shipped from far flung places.
• Install porous hardscapes, like gravel pathways, to allow water to seep back into the ground.
• To keep your garden looking its best, opt for organic fertilizer and manual weed control rather than polluting pesticides and herbicides.
• Consider native grass lawn mixes, which can provide a similar look and feel of standard sod lawns, but require 25% less water.

For more tips on sustainable lawns, visit www.epa.gov.

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