Sustainable landscape gardening.
Eco friendly gardening is related to wildlife gardening and organic gardening, but there are important differences. For example, peat is organic and natural, but using it for gardening is unsustainable, Sustainability comes first or nothing else would make sense, so my order of priorities are, a garden that is sustainable, then good for wildlife and then organic.
Be neither a Eco warrior or a Eco worrier If you are not careful, becoming a eco-friendly gardener could cause so much confusion, the temptation might be to say "sod that". Unless you chop the driftwood you have collected from the beach by hand, pull your trolley down to the nearest quarry to fill your hazel basket with loose chippings, almost any landscaping material you might want to use has an environmental impact.
The more product labels I read the more confused I become.
Concrete slabs, Natural sandstone, Gravel or Block pavers
Concrete slabs made from Cement, Ok or not ? Cement is produced from natural stone, isn't transported to far if you live in Portland, so could be eco friendly but for every ton of cement produced, approximately one ton of carbon dioxide is emitted. ECO friendly or not ???
Natural stone flagstones, sound OK. But what if they haven't been extracted in an environmentally sensitive way and have been transported thousands of miles to reach your garden. ECO friendly or not ??? If we stop using Indian sandstone will the Indian kids be forced back to search the rubbish heaps?
Gravel sounds safe and natural and importantly these days allows water to drain through it But only ECO friendly say the environmentalists, if it is locally sourced and has not been dredged from the sea bed, as this kills marine life.
And what about block pavers that let water into the ground or soakaways, rather than the drains - (an increasing problem as so many of us are paving over our gardens). the pavers are permeable and that's ECO friendly BUT made from concrete and that's not.
So what is the eco-garden landscaper supposed to do about paths, terracing and patios, driveways and walls? I guess its basically about three things, nay , four things. The energy footprint used to source, manufacture and install hard landscaping, the energy used to transport the materials, the effect on your garden, drainage etc. and just as important the fourth thing, Does it work for you, Eco chippings and locally sourced gravel aren't much use if you or visitors to your eco friendly garden are using a wheelchair or walking frame.
Reclaimed materials are the safe way.
When laying paths, terracing and patios, driveways and walls, a slightly more expensive option but positively eco friendly would be to use reclaimed materials such as house brick (they make attractive and permeable surfaces), terra-cotta roof tiles (for path edges), reclaimed walling stone and timber sleepers make great retaining and boundary walls.
To allow water to filter into the ground, instead of pointing, fill the gaps with sand or grit. Its all about balance.
Its all about balance and common sense because almost all of the landscaping materials we use in our "green" garden will have had, or will have, some impact on the environment but some have less impact and are more eco-friendly. One way to make your garden as environmentaly friendly as it sensibly can be, is to ask yourself these three simple questions when choosing your garden landscaping materials:
- How much energy was used to source and manufacture the landscaping materials?
- How many miles were covered to transport them to your garden?
- How will the materials behave in the garden? (Using lime instead of cement to mortar is much more Eco friendly)
If you really want to know the full environmental impact of the garden landscaping materials you are using, you would need to know every process from beginning to end. This could mean hours spent researching on the web (electricity) or at the library (petrol if you are not walking or cycling) or causing annoying long queues, questioning material suppliers and your green garden designer. For most of us this is just not possible, so the following tips may help choose the less damaging materials if you are planning some environmentally friendly garden landscaping.
Cut down on road miles by using locally sourced materials.
Use reclaimed materials where possible, they may cost more but often look better than new materials in your finished green garden.
Try to use permeable landscaping materials that will allow water to drain away naturally.
Using sustainable sourced tropical hardwoods is not that eco-friendly because of the miles getting them to us. If you can, use reclaimed tropical hardwoods. Also try coppiced sweet chestnut which is a renewable material, for fencing and pergolas, its about as sustainable it gets.
Taking just a bit of time thinking about where the landscaping materials for your new garden come from, how they were made and what effect they have on the earth and the soil in your garden, will give you a garden that is sustainable and looks good. You don't have to be a Rocket scientist (probably not a good profession to choose) but you know what I mean.
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