Landscaping a home green is an important part of planning and building your green home. Landscaping uses a lot of water, and maintaining your garden can produce a lot of carbon monoxide. Green landscaping means selecting plants that reduce the amount of water used to keep them alive.

For lawns, plant grass that grows very slowly and requires very little water to survive. By planting this type of grass, you won’t need to mow every week, but perhaps only a few times during the summer, which will reduce the amount of exhaust fumes from your mowing activities. Also, since water bills are generally calculated by consumption, the less water the yard requires, the lower the water bill will be.

For house plants and shrubs, select hardy plants. Hardy plants are less susceptible to harmful diseases and pests, allowing you to forego or eliminate pesticides and fertilizers. The less of these chemicals used, the better it is for the environment, reducing the amount of chemicals that run off plants during a storm and seep into the ground. This type of pesticide and fertilizer runoff has the potential to contaminate groundwater and drinking water.

Another important consideration with green landscaping is the heat island effect. The heat island effect is heat from the home, from man-made surfaces around the home, and from a lack of proper landscaping. The combined heat from these sources can dramatically increase the temperature in a community. Heat islands can lead to increased use of air conditioning, increased air pollution and greenhouse gas production, and lower water quality.

For your green home, this effect can make your heating and cooling systems less effective. The right types of landscaping can help prevent the heat island effect. For example, planting our hardy trees, shrubs, and plants at least 24 inches away from the house can break the heat transfer mechanism. Also, planting deciduous trees on the west side of your green house or along driveways and sidewalks can be very effective in cooling the home and garden. However, plan ahead. The growth of trees and shrubs over time can interfere with the effectiveness of any solar panels that are installed.

When planning your landscaping, plan to install a rain barrel as well. Why not store some of the rainwater that runs off for free, green water to irrigate your lawn, plants, shrubs, and trees? In addition to a rain barrel, the ground can be shaped to direct rainwater from the roof and ground during a storm to collect around plants, shrubs, and trees in the garden. This allows the earth to do its work for you. As storm water drains into the ground, the last part of the soil to dry out is the part of the lawn that received the most water, reducing the amount of tap water needed.

By taking the extra time to address these issues during your green home design, you can achieve a beautiful, very low-maintenance, environmentally friendly garden.