Do clients connect their landscape with their health? Email
yoga outdoorsDo clients connect their landscape with their health? Probably not. In the green industry, we know and probably take for granted all the benefits landscaping bring to us. But are we actively telling clients what landscapes do to keep them healthy in the urban environment? As development increases in Colorado and open spaces diminish, landscaped areas in cities and suburbs are becoming even more vital to our collective well-being. What landscape pros do every day to plant and maintain outdoor spaces is as much about keeping people comfortable and healthy as it is about curb appeal.

Own up to the superhero you are and remind clients often that landscapes you install and maintain bring them direct health benefits.

Landscape work for us 24/7:
  • Children with ADD experience reduced symptoms when exposed to green environments.
  • As bee habitat is threatened by development, landscapes provide homes and refuge which allow bees to continue their critical work of pollinating.
  • Studies of stressed or depressed people found 95% of them felt calmer and had a more positive attitude after a short time outdoors in a landscaped area.
  • 55 sq. ft. of lawn provide enough oxygen to support 1 person for 1 day.
  • Turfgrass removes atmospheric pollutants—carbon dioxide, ozone, hydrogen fluoride, and perosyzacetyle nitrate. It also captures harmful dust, smoke particles, and other pollutants.
  • Each year, one acre of trees can absorb enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to equal the amount produced by driving a car 26,000 miles.
  • Trees in cities mitigate rising temperatures by shading hot pavement and cutting energy use in buildings.
  • Green spaces cleanse water. When allowed to run through landscapes, water typically exits cleaner than when it entered, reduces stormwater runoff and keeps pollutants out of groundwater.
  • Lawns help mitigate urban heat islands by remaining 15 degrees cooler than bare soil and 30 degrees cooler than pavement or rock.
  • Lawns can sequester carbon for 25 to 30 years.

Be proud of your role in environmental stewardship and how it serves the community.

Read more in this issue of Colorado Green NOW: