While winter is here and spring is just around the corner, it is never too soon to consider revamping your landscape to make it more sustainable. Sustainable landscapes have a wealth of benefits that are important to keeping your job easier and making your area more environmentally friendly.
Not only does it help to increase the property's value, it makes the area look more aesthetically pleasing and helps protect natural resources. Some of the natural resource areas that are benefited include:
There are a few ways to start with keeping the landscape sustainable such as reducing or removing entirely the amount of fossil fuels used to create and maintain the area. For instance, instead of using gas-powered equipment, use electric equipment instead.
Don't forget to convert to LED lighting outside. This saves energy and it lessens the use of fossil fuels. There is plenty of LED lighting that is attractive and will use 10% less than other low energy lighting such as fluorescent or metal halide.
Another option of sustainable landscaping is to work with what you have. Use the landscape you have and instead of spending a ton of your budget to recreate the landscape, you can save on utilizing the area you have to work with. For instance, if you have a more sandy area where it will cost a lot to sod, consider not putting down grass and work with the sand that you have. If the area is stony or rocky, use a more no-scaping approach by working with that if the owners will allow it. Obviously, if you own your own business and are doing the landscaping budget then you can do whatever you please.
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Last but not least, make sure that you keep up with water consumption by performing an audit when necessary. When possible, limit the amount of water and irrigation to areas that are not high-activity areas and collect rainwater, or what is known as graywater, to water your landscape. All of these tips are made easier with a CMMS program because you can easily set up and schedule all of your maintenance needs.