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How to Make Your Garden More Eco-Friendly
If you’re an avid gardener, you know that taking care of your plants involves much more than just watering them. It’s about creating a sustainable ecosystem that not only benefits you but also benefits your surroundings and the environment as a whole. In this blog post, we’ll share some little-known tips and tricks on how to make your garden more eco-friendly as you start planning your spring blooms!
1. Start composting
Composting is an easy and effective way to reduce waste and create nutrient-rich soil for your plants. Rather than throwing away food scraps and yard waste, composting allows you to reuse them in a way that benefits your garden. Not only does it reduce your carbon footprint, but it also saves you money on fertilizers and other gardening supplies. There are many ways to get started with composting, from building your own bin to purchasing a pre-made one. Once you start composting, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner!
2. Use rainwater harvesting
Rainwater is a free and abundant resource that can be used to water your garden without having to rely on unnecessary irrigation. All you need is a rain barrel or storage container to collect the water, which is then distributed to your plants. This helps reduce your water bill and the strain on municipal water sources. Plus, rainwater is naturally free of chemicals and additives, making it better for your plants overall.
3. Choose native plants
Native plants are an essential part of any eco-friendly garden. They have adapted to local conditions and require minimal maintenance, making them ideal for sustainable gardening. Plus, they are more likely to attract native wildlife, such as birds and butterflies, which can help you create a diverse and healthy ecosystem. By choosing native plants, you’re supporting local biodiversity and reducing the spread of invasive species.
4. Use natural pest control methods
Pest control is an essential aspect of gardening, but it doesn’t have to involve harmful chemicals. Many natural pest control methods are just as effective, such as companion planting and insect-repelling herbs. For example, planting marigolds around your tomatoes can help to repel nematodes, while planting garlic and lavender can repel aphids and other pests. These methods protect your garden while promoting a healthier, safer environment for you and your family.
5. Choose sustainable garden products
The products you use in your garden can have a significant impact on the environment. When shopping for gardening supplies, look for products that are made from sustainable materials and are free from harmful chemicals. For instance, you can choose a biodegradable seed-starting tray instead of a plastic one or buy organic fertilizers that are free from synthetic additives.
Creating an eco-friendly garden is a simple but impactful way to make a difference in the world. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting out, these tips and tricks will help you create a “greener” garden that benefits both you and the planet.
Pragya Mishra is the Founder and Principal of Artscapes, LLC, a Northern Virginia-based landscape architecture firm that specializes in designing outdoor transformations that bring you joy. With 22 years of professional experience, she works closely with each client and her network of top-tier contractors to make each project vision a reality. Follow Artscapes on Instagram @artscapes_living and see examples of past projects on her website, www.artscapesliving.com.
Take a look at our website for all of our listings available throughout Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
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Start the New Year off Right: Create a Map for Your Garden
Happy New Year! Did you choose any resolutions for the year? If one of yours is to work on your garden, then you’ve come to the right place. Most people wait for spring to start their gardening and landscaping projects but don’t forget that winter is an excellent time to design and plan so you are ready to start when the weather thaws.
First things first, grab a map.
Mapping out the yard is imperative as it gives you an idea and sense of direction or vision for your garden. You don’t need professional equipment to draw the map. A plain piece of paper and a pen can work wonders. Start by sketching out the current placement of plants, trees, debris areas, grass, and rocks. Carefully study your yard’s shape as it will determine the type of layout and design you will want to incorporate. Once you have your map, inspect the areas where you want your landscaping changes to occur and take notes.
Decide on your design style.
This step will also help with figuring out which plants match your garden’s aesthetics. Are you designing a formal space for entertainment events, or is your yard more relaxed where you can unwind with a cup of coffee? It would be best if you considered what kind of feel you want to get from your garden. The fountain, garden bench, or pergola – identifying a patio focal point is vital and helps you pick individual plantings for optimal results. Hop on Pinterest or Houzz if you want help decorating, planning, and choosing an aesthetic for your space.
Research your plants.
Choose plants that grow well in your area, considering your garden’s sun exposure and rainfall frequency. Once you decide which species are suitable, start planning where to put each plant on the map. Remember that every plant has a unique trait, so make sure you read up on their growth properties and are able to accommodate the sun and water needs of each one.
Don’t forget the hardscape elements.
Including hardscape elements in your design adds interest and personality to your garden. Think about big fixtures first. Incorporating gazebos and arbors can provide a place to relax and entertain guests. Decks, patios, and walkways provide a place for you to move around easily. Then, consider the details. You can choose from several materials like brick, wood, and even recycled plastics to enhance your garden’s look.
Create a comprehensive to-do list.
This list should include all the tasks you need to do, including removing unwanted plants, trimming existing plants, weed control, cutting grass, and so on. Once you know what you need to do, you can prioritize the tasks and add them to your schedule all year long.
Don’t wait for the annual spring cleaning to begin improving your garden. Start designing now and create something that will be with you for years to come. Contact me if you need help making your plan or bringing your vision to life.
Happy gardening!
Pragya Mishra is the Founder and Principal of Artscapes, LLC, a Northern Virginia-based landscape architecture firm that specializes in designing outdoor transformations that bring you joy. With 22 years of professional experience, she works closely with each client and her network of top-tier contractors to make each project vision a reality. Follow Artscapes on Instagram @artscapes_living and see examples of past projects on her website, www.artscapesliving.com.
Take a look at our website for all of our listings available throughout Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
Don’t miss a post! Get the latest local guides and neighborhood news straight to your inbox!
Fall Tips for a Beautiful (and Sustainable) Outdoor Living Space (Part I)
This is the first installation of a two-part series where Patrick Moran, CEO of Tactical Land Care, has a conversation about preparing your outdoor living spaces for cooler weather.
As temperatures begin to cool, you are going to want to spend time outside in fresh air and a clean environment. The vibrant green of summer wanes and begins to transition to the rich pallet of red, orange, purple, yellow, and brown that we all have come to love with the fall season. It is during this time of year that many plants begin to show their true color, no longer masked by the green of photosynthesis. This is also the time of year when berries develop, a crucial natural food source for birds in our region. If your shrub is native, please pause and evaluate the condition of the plants and their importance as a food source before trimming or cutting off berries at various stages of growth.
At Tactical Land Care (www.tacticallandcare.com), we love the opportunity to connect our clients with their outdoors, and with it, see(d) the joy and smiles that come with a truly beautiful, natural, and sustainable outdoor living experience. We have included tips and reminders to make sure you take full advantage of the fall to make your landscape as beautiful and sustainable as possible!
Love Your Lawn
Fall is the time of year to rejuvenate and recharge your turf. Absent the harsh heat of summer, we think of the fall as the perfect time for your lawn’s spa treatment to bring moisture and nutrition back to the soil. During this time of year, the cooler temperatures are great for seed germination and root development.
Mow your grass down to 2 – 2.5 inches to avoid the risk of matting below your leaves, which can cause disease once the snow falls. But be sure to keep it full. If cutting it this low will leave bare spots, you are inviting volunteer plants (weeds).
If your grass has been struggling, conduct a soil test yourself or call a professional. It will take a few weeks to get the results, but you will be able to see if there are any nutrient deficiencies or imbalances. Responsible applications of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, can be essential to help maintain homogeneous turf areas: a generally unsustainable landscape into itself. If you are committed to a tall fescue carpet, fall is also the ideal time to schedule aeration, overseeding, and dethatching of existing lawn. These steps can help maintain a rich tall fescue turf area, which can be highly effective, especially if you have a lot that has compacted soil.
A more sustainable way of maintaining your yard is to spread a light layer of topsoil or compost to the lawn area and embrace the native and naturalized plant biodiversity that include moss, dandelions and clover, or even Virginia strawberries, to name a few.
Pruning Perennials
Most perennials are near the end of their blooming cycle in the fall. If they have berries and are native or naturalized, the way Crape Myrtles are, it is good practice to leave the berries on their branches, as they end up being a crucial food source for birds come winter. Other perennials will be ready for deep cleaning and cutting back. It is important to use sharp pruners and thoroughly sanitize the shears between plants to avoid the risk of spreading and fungal diseases.
Hand-Pull Hardscapes
Maintain your hardscaped areas (paver patios, concrete, or gravel, by removing volunteer plants, such as weeds), by completely pulling them out from the root. Oftentimes we see that many of the so-called weeds growing are actually native plants that can be beautiful and ecologically beneficial if allowed to mature elsewhere in your garden, in a planter bed or clay pot. If it is invasive, yank it out and don’t look back! Google Image Search can be your friend in identifying what is growing where, and whether or not you want it.
Count your blessings (plants) and take stock!
Landscaping is unique in that there can be generally little residual value of what new homeowners inherit in their yards. If you want to move plans around or potentially propagate them, fall is the perfect time of year.
Check back soon for Part II where we will discuss leaf cleanup and the coming winter.
Tactical Land Care
Tactical Land Care is net-zero to help protect our world and environment for all of us. We specialize in sustainable construction, conservation landscaping, and stormwater management solutions, including permeable hardscape and rain gardens. By working together, we can maximize the ecological benefit of your property.
Your yard endures a twelve-month cycle and our team at Tactical Land Care stands ready to work with you on all your fall and winter maintenance needs. Please give us a call at 703-879-7091, or email us at info@tacticallandcare.com, where someone from our TLC team will develop a plan with you to help enhance your yard or property for many years to come.
Patrick Moran, PMP, LSC, HIC, LEED | CEO Tactical Land Care
Patrick utilizes his passion for the outdoors along with his professional skills as a licensed Landscape and Home Improvement contractor in Virginia and Maryland, as well as a Project Management Professional (PMP) and LEED Green Associate. Patrick has a BA from Yale University, where he studied climate change and its impact on society.
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Sustainable Landscaping’s Yin and Yang: Hardscapes versus Softscapes
As a local real estate leader, McEnearney Associates is invested in more than just helping our clients buy and sell houses. We want our clients to really love and enjoy their homes. We are always happy to refer home-related businesses and contractors who help make your house a home. We are excited to have Patrick Moran, Owner of Tactical Land Care (TLC), contributing to our blog this week with some valuable input whether you are interested in hardscaping, softscaping, or learning the difference.
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It’s no secret that landscaping is one of the most important factors of your home’s curb appeal. But the benefits of a sustainable landscape don’t end at increases in property value. They can also positively impact the environment around you and improve quality of life. But in order to maximize your impact, value, and improvements, one must understand the hard and soft elements that define a high-quality, sustainable landscape.
For this reason, we are going to dig in on Landscape’s Yin and Yang: Hardscapes versus Softscapes so that you may develop a better understanding of those components, and so that the artistic and technical aspects can be easily implemented into your slice of the world.
First, I’ll define sustainable landscaping as the design, construction, and management practices of an outdoor environment that is optimized to conserve natural resources, maximize the ecological benefit, while also reducing the required labor for upkeep. The most sustainable landscapes achieve these standards by optimizing both halves of landscaping: hardscapes and softscapes.
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Hardscapes
Hardscapes include the more permanent, non-living components of the landscape that provide foundation and guide structure. This includes patios, walkways, walls, stairways, decks, retaining walls, fences, trellis, and sculptures that are built with long-lasting materials like stone, concrete, wood, and metal. The hardscape can be thought of as the non-changing means by which we interact with the landscape: walkways lead us on intended paths; walls extend or limit our sense of space; and, stairways add levels and depth to our view. Other features like fountains, gazebos, planter boxes, and fences have the potential to further enrich our interaction with the landscape. Incorporating multiple hardscape features into your landscape is well worth the often larger investment, as it provides the bones of your outdoor space and defines it’s designated use as additional living space.
Hardscaping has excellent potential to increase the sustainability of your property, particularly as it relates to stormwater management. Sustainable hardscapes support the proper flow of stormwater runoff away from your home, while also allowing the water to permeate through the hardscape in order to recharge the groundwater soil and ultimately aquifers in many areas. This is possible through the use of open grade aggregate bases and wider joints between pavers or special permeable concrete mixes. At TLC, we follow the Interlocking Concrete Paver Institute (ICPI) Permeable Interlocking Concrete Paver (PICP) standards for our installations, and I recommend that prior to hiring a professional to complete any similar permeable installation, you ensure that members of their team have completed ICPI PICP training.
In addition to recharging the groundwater, permeable surfaces also reduce the water that would otherwise runoff into municipal stormwater systems, which carry road pollution directly into our local waterways where it wreaks havoc on the ecology of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. Many jurisdictions have adopted programs to encourage these types of installations through Stormwater Utility Fee credits as is the case in Alexandria, or grants for cost-sharing as in the case in Arlington.
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Softscapes
Softscapes include the softer, horticultural, and other floral components of a landscape. Through softscapes, therein lies the opportunities to provide natural beauty and ecological engagement. Creative softscapes can also emphasize structures while softening and providing vitality.
The softscape can be thought of as the foci and accents we use to create an atmosphere and instill our sense of character into the landscape. We anticipate certain results from our softscape and its natural processes that changes seasonally and day-to-day. Flowers bloom and fade away. Leaves fall to the ground to join the mulch. While, trees continually grow upwards and outwards into the space above us. Incorporating layers of different softscape features into your landscape brings a feeling of life and vitality along with each plant’s individual aesthetic, adding ever-changing, easily-altered interest to your home for years. In short, softscaping includes all living plant components like non-native annuals, perennials, shrubs, grasses and trees, as well as as organic ground covers such as mulch.
Softscapes can drastically alter the sustainability of your property by addressing issues related to soil management, wildlife integration, and pest control. However, the most crucial philosophy in sustainable landscaping is the concept of “right plant, right place.” This is the practice of installing a certain plant in a certain location to receive a more sustainable outcome.This requires being knowledgeable about your plant choices and selecting plants that thrive in pre-existing moisture and light conditions. It also requires that we be cognizant of growth rates and spacing. Examples include installing evergreen trees like white pines or southern magnolias on certain sides of your home, which can provide shade in summer and windbreaks in winter, ultimately reducing energy costs. Likewise, water-loving trees and flowers like river birches and joe pye weed can regulate soil moisture in areas of your property where there is excessive runoff from impervious surfaces. Native flowers such as Black-Eyed Susan can thrive in dry soil, while still attracting pollinators, such as butterflies and bees.
When designing your softscape to anchor your local ecology, incorporate plants native to your region in order to ease resource usage and attract your native wildlife populations. In comparison, much of the flora that is available through common garden centers have been cultivated for their ornamental aesthetics and require irrigation and fertilization to thrive.
Softscapes are also critical because of what they do to the soil. The right softscapes can sequester carbon through the plant roots and resulting soil microbiology. A healthy soil consists of fungi, microbes, worms, and an intricate web of roots that help plants process nutrients and deposit carbon into the soil. By cultivating a permaculture of complementary and companion native plants in the softscape portion of your garden, you can cultivate your own carbon sink.
The best landscapes use both hardscaping and softscaping to achieve the most beautiful, sustainable outcome. Hardscaping offers the bones, foundation, structure, and form that is enhanced, accentuated and beautified by the flora of the softscape. These two aspects of landscaping have the relationship of yin and yang: two halves of a whole, diametrically opposed in nature, working in unison to create something novel. When choosing landscape professionals to take care of your property, choose one that understands both halves of the whole: hardscape versus softscape, aesthetic versus sustainability, art versus science, and yin versus yang.
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To learn more, we encourage you to explore resources in our local Northern Virginia cooperative extension, as well as online resources from other areas.
University of Maryland Cooperative Extension
Oregon State University Cooperative Extension
City of Norfolk, VA Rainscaping and Permeable Hardscape
Tactical Land Care
Tactical Land Care is net-zero to help protect our world and environment for all of us. We specialize in sustainable construction, conservation landscaping, and stormwater management solutions, including permeable hardscape and rain gardens. By working together, we can maximize the ecological benefit of your property.
Your yard endures a twelve-month cycle and our team at Tactical Land Care stands ready to work with you on all your fall and winter maintenance needs. Please give us a call at 703-879-7091, or email us at info@tacticallandcare.com, where someone from our TLC team will develop a plan with you to help enhance your yard or property for many years to come.
Patrick Moran, PMP, LSC, HIC, LEED | CEO Tactical Land Care
Patrick utilizes his passion for the outdoors along with his professional skills as a licensed Landscape and Home Improvement contractor in Virginia and Maryland, as well as a Project Management Professional (PMP) and LEED Green Associate. Patrick has a BA from Yale University, where he studied climate change and its impact on society.
Don’t miss a post! Get the latest local guides and neighborhood news straight to your inbox!
