Climate change is starting to affect everything we do, both small and big, in ways that may not be immediately apparent. Other ways might be readily felt, and gardening is a very unique activity that climate change can impact during every process you do. However, there are several things you can do to rethink your landscaping to meet climate changes this season.
1. Improve Your Energy Efficiency
Try to use energy-efficient products whenever you can and reduce the amount of energy your household uses. This will reduce how much you contribute to carbon pollution. Try to replace your outdoor lights with efficient LED bulbs, purchase solar-powered lights to stick around your yard, or consider installing lights on timers that automatically go off at dawn.
2. Lower Your Use of Gasoline-Powered Landscaping Tools
Try to avoid using gasoline-powered landscaping tools like leaf blowers, chainsaws, or lawnmowers. You can use human-powered tools instead like hand clippers, manual pruners, push mowers, and rakes to help keep your lawn neat and tidy. Using a gasoline-powered mower for just over an hour can put 10 to 12 times the amount of pollution into the air.
3. Reduce Your Water Consumption
There are several ways you can reduce how much water you use in your garden or landscape, and this is very important due to the increased instances of droughts and heatwaves. You can install a rain barrel, apply a layer of mulch, use drip irrigation systems, or adjust your watering schedule. Mulching will also add nutrients to the soil around your plants, and this reduces how much fertilizer you need to use.
4. Plant Plenty of Trees
Trees can easily absorb and store a huge amount of carbon pollution from the atmosphere. If you and every other gardener in the United States made a point to plant one young shade tree in your community or backyard, the trees would absorb one to two million tons of carbon pollution every year. Also, planting shade trees near your home can reduce how much energy you use to cool the house in the summer.
5. Reduce Invasive Species Threats
Ideally; you’ll incorporate diverse native species into your garden and landscape instead of invasive ones. Removing the invasive plants can reduce the threat of them taking over and spreading, and native plants also help pollinators to ensure that they have viable food sources. An invasive plant can compete and overwhelm the native species to force them to die off. To stay ahead of this process, contact a local nursery and find out what native plants would look nice in your yard.
6. Compost Garden and Kitchen Waste
The final thing you can do is to compost kitchen and garden waste. Composting these items can reduce how much you contribute to carbon pollution, especially methane. This is a very strong greenhouse gas. Composting also gives your plants a great source of nutrients to encourage strong and healthy growth. In turn, this reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.
Contact Evergreen Landscaping
If you’d like to know more about how to landscape for climate changes, contact us. Our staff is on hand and ready to answer your questions and help you transform your landscape.