Landscaping
Although you may have Conservation inside your home down to a science, have you ever considered landscaping your yard in a Conservation-focused manner? Not only will this look great, but it can also help you to save money on your bills while improving overall air quality.
Shading
While the sun may feel great beaming down through your roof and windows, it also causes the temperature in your home to sky-rocket, leading to an increase in your cooling costs.
Shading can reduce surrounding air temperatures by as much as 5° C (9°F). In fact, air temperatures directly under trees can be as much as 14°C (25°F) cooler than the air temperatures above them. There are a number of different types of trees that can be used to shade; these can vary based on height, colour, density, etc. To block solar heat in the summer, but then let much of it in during the winter (which is ideal in our region), you should use deciduous trees with high spreading crowns.
In addition to shading, planting shrubs, bushes, and vines next to your house creates dead air spaces that insulate your home in both winter and summer. When planting these shading devices remember to leave at least 1 foot (30 centimeters) of space between full-grown plants and your home's wall.
Smart Landscaping
You can design a landscape that not only conserves energy but also helps to cut down water usage as well. Smart Landscaping is a systematic method of promoting water conservation in landscaped areas, and is based on 7 key principles:
- Planning and design (planning according to your region and climate)
- Selecting and zoning plants appropriately (selecting plants that will flourish in your region and climate)
- Limiting turf areas (areas that require a lot of supplemental watering)
- Improving the soil (to better absorb water and encourage deeper roots)
- Irrigating efficiently (use an irrigation method that waters plants in each area most efficiently)
- Using mulches (Keeps plant roots cool, minimizes evaporation, prevents soil from crusting)
- Maintaining the landscape (keeps plants healthy through weeding, pruning, fertilizing, and controlling pests)
While Smart Landscaping is mostly used in very dry regions, its principles can be applied in any region to help conserve water.
Samples of Smart Landscaping plants that can be used in our region:
| Deciduous Shrubs: | Evergreen/Broadleaf: | Perennials |
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