How green is your garden?

ALCC & the Front Range Sustainable Landscaping Coalition Promotes Building Ecosystems

It’s no secret that how you treat your garden spills over into the neighboring landscape – affecting open spaces, waterways, wild plants and beneficial insects. And how you use our earth’s resources when gardening impacts our larger world. In honor of Earth Day, Colorado’s landscape professionals want homeowners to consider if they’re working towards building an eco-friendly landscape. To see how green your garden is, take the quiz below. Score one point for every “yes” answer:

Irrigation Design and Watering

1. To water efficiently and deeply, do you use low-volume irrigation systems such as drip and soaker hoses or large droplet sprayheads?

 

2. Is your system adjusted periodically according to soil and weather conditions, either through a timer or moisture sensor?

 

Plant Choices

3. To maintain a hardy, pest-resistant and low water use landscape, do you choose Colorado native plants and grasses or other species suited to our soils and climate?

 

4.Do you choose plants with multiple functions, such as ground covers that prevent erosion and shrubs that produce edible berries?

 

5. Do you employ “companion planting,” juxtaposing plants that help each other through fixing nitrogen or attracting beneficial insects?

 

6. To conserve energy, have you planted trees that shade your house in summer but let sunlight through in winter? (Such “solar-shade” trees are deciduous, and best planted to the south or southwest of buildings and decks.)

Good Soil
7. Do you feed your soil high-quality organic matter such as compost or worm castings?

Compost
8. Do you compost your dried leaves, grass trimmings, spent flowers, coffee grounds and vegetable kitchen waste?

Mulch
9. Do you use organic mulch to reduce water use and control weeds?

10. Do you use locally-produced, recycled mulch and/or recycle your plant trimmings and leaf litter on site as mulch?

Score:
7 – 10: Amazing! Thanks for being a true land steward.
4 – 6:   Nice work. Keep it up!
1 – 3:    Good start, but there’s more to do.