Improving house aesthetic by creating a landscape garden on the yard might have been on the list of house renovation plan. But there is one more thing that every one of us should have in mind, which is the sustainability of our garden and how it contributes to the bigger ecosystem.
Once you build a landscape garden, it means more than it seems. You use up space, soils, and resources for it. And if your intention is just to pursue artificial beauty, then you will do more harm than good for the environment. Planting non-native plants can damage the local population and has the potency to boost one species’ reproduction, which can disrupt the natural balance.
Using toxic materials, such as plastics, and non-safe colored decorative ornaments in the garden can also give bad impacts to the surrounding plants and animals. Plastic is not degradable, and artificial coloring can change the chemical balance in the soil which make it lose its fertility.
You should learn about ecosystem gardening further to help the local environment to thrive and flourish. Read below to know more.
Native plants vs. nonnative
Landscape garden is perceived as the way for the homeowner to express his/her individuality. As a result, the majority of the plants are from foreign origin, as exotic plants stand out among the local ones.
But exotic plants have their insidious traits. For example, ginkgos can add the accent of a landscape garden and are famous in the United States, yet the trees can only host five species of caterpillars. A U.S. native oak tree, on the other hand, is habitable to five hundred local caterpillars.
If you possess the same mindset, and a thousand others are following the trend, would not it threat those caterpillars? And if you think that being concerned with caterpillars is a silly idea, you should learn how one animal fits in the food chain and the overall ecosystem.
The toxic and non-toxic materials
Buying garden ornaments is not a simple task, especially for someone who is gravely concerned with environmental issues.
Plastic-based ornament contains chemicals that can leach to the soil. Unrecyclable plastic is even worse; once you have the ornament broken, it cannot be recycled and end up polluting nature.
If you want to contribute to the recycling industry, opt to buy ornaments made of recycled materials.
Water source
If you use water coming from the household pipes, not only it will cost you significant money, but it is also a wasteful act. Plant do not need filtered water to survive and live. So why not using rainwater?
Build a rainwater barrel to store and mildly filter water. , and use the water for the plants. It can save up more than forty percents of your water expense.