Sustainable Landscapes

1. Sustainable Landscapes Ramsey County Master Gardeners

2. Advantages of Sustainable Landscape Practices • Improve environment by conserving resources and reducing chemical applications • Reduce labor inputs, making it less expensive to implement and maintain • Possible with modest planning efforts

3. Five Considerations for a Sustainable Landscape • Functional • Maintainable • Environmentally Sound • Cost Effective • Visually Pleasing

4. Functional Design • Allows for easy movement, work, recreation, and leisure in and around the landscape • Thus, specific to how landscape used (e.g., family home, public place, business) and how people move in/through it

5. Non-functional elements • Steep steps with improper rise

6. Non-functional elements • Narrow service roads, limited space for turning

7. Non-functional elements • Turf areas on steep slope difficult to maintain

8. Maintainable Design • Related to function, but more involved with taking care of the landscaped area • Provides for reduced maintenance, lower costs/efforts, reduced inputs (e.g., fertilizers, pesticides, water)

9. Maintenance problems • Sidewalks too narrow for snow removal

10. Maintenance Problems • Turf areas too difficult to mow and maintain

11. Maintenance Problems • Edging that interferes with mowing

12. Environmentally Sound Design • Addresses quality of landscape over time • Takes into consideration growing conditions needed by plants and stresses they can tolerate • “Right plant, right place” and “right plant, right purpose”

13. Problems, environmentally sound design • Structures make safe application of fertilizers or pesticides difficult.

14. Problems, environmentallysound design • Lawn clippings discharged on hard surfaces/phosphorous run-off.

15. Cost Effective Design • Impacted by processes, plants, and hard-goods used in the landscape and the quality of each • Takes into consideration costs of both installation and maintenance

16. Designs that aren’t cost effective • Overplanting and improper spacing

17. Designs that aren’t cost effective • Wall lacks function and will make maintenance difficult

18. Visually Appealing Design • Previous four factors provide a framework to create a visually pleasing landscape • Requires integration of more variables but shouldn’t negatively impact the final outcome/design

19. Design lacking visual appeal • Poor foundation planting, no key plants, no open space, no concept lines

20. Strong visual appeal • Use of retaining wall to reduce slope

21. Strong visual appeal • Proper plant spacing along foundation

22. Strong visual appeal • Use of edging to eliminate mowing problems

23. Base Plan • Builds from the five design elements and incorporates information from six sources: • Interviews • Site Survey • Site Analysis • Plot Plan • Site Plan • Structure and Utility Blueprints

24. Interview and Site Survey • Interview gathers information from client/gardener and provides a needs assessment with a focus on sustainability • Who will be maintaining property? • How will space be used? • How much time/labor is available to maintain? • Site survey includes an evaluation of the space (existing plants and structures, soil, drainage, topography, measurements)

25. Site Analysis • Addresses challenges and potential benefits; combination of sketches, plans, and notes

26. Plot Plan Drawn to scale; shows structures, property lines, sidewalks, etc.

27. Site Plan May be the same as, or include updates to, the plot plan

28. Structure and Utility Blue Prints • Includes information important to design plan (gas, electric, sewer, etc.)

29. Strategies for Maintaining/Managing Sustainable Landscapes • Composting (home, community) • Integrated Pest Management (IPM) • Managing/saving water • Rain gardens, rain barrels • Mulching • Soil Testing

30. Composting • Process of “composting” is decomposition of plant remains and other once-living materials into compost, a dark, crumbly substance with an earthy odor • Compost is an inexpensive soil amendment that : • Supplies nutrients and organic matter • Improves soil structure and water holding capacity

31. What Can Be Composted? • Clean paper and paperboard, newspapers • Cotton rags, dryer lint • Coffee grounds and filter, tea bags • Hay, straw, wood chips, sawdust • Leaves • Garden debris (old plants) • Grass clippings • Egg shells • Fruit and vegetable waste • Nut shells

32. What Shouldn’t Be Composted • Black walnut tree leaves or debris • Coal or charcoal ash • Diseased or insect infested plants • Weeds with seeds • Dairy products • Fats, grease, lard, oils • Meat or fish scraps • Pet or human wastes • Yard trimmings with chemical pesticides • Plastic wrap and aluminum foil

33. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) • Considers all aspects of interactions between people and pests to find the easiest way to resolve a pest problem with the lowest overall risk to people’s health and our environment. • Uses a combination of cultural, physical, biological, and chemical pest management strategies

34. Four Basic IPM Components • Monitoring – consistently inspecting and monitoring for pests to determine the location and degree of infestation • Setting Action Levels – determining what number of pests can be tolerated before action is necessary • Applying IPM Control Strategies – integration of several strategies to combat a particular pest • Evaluation – review monitoring data, actions taken, treatment impacts, and effectiveness

35. Residential Rain Garden • A shallow sunken garden that recycles rain • Less than 8” deep • Gently sloping sides • Rainwater runoff is directed toward it • Runoff soaks in

36. Functions of a Rain Garden • Diverts runoff from paved surfaces (driveways, roofs, streets, patios, walks) • Water moves “sideways” • Keeps runoff on site instead of flowing untreated into streams and storm sewers • Soil acts like a living sponge • Water moves “down”

37. Benefits of a Rain Garden • Soaks up 30% more run-off than lawns • Filters polluted runoff • Recharges groundwater • Helps prevent flooding • Provides habitat/food for butterflies, birds • Beautifies a low spot in the yard

38. Rain Barrel • Container used to catch water flowing from a downspout • Provides alternative to tap water for lawns and gardens

39. Benefits of Rain Barrels • Help reduce peak volume and velocity of storm water runoff reaching lakes and rivers • Help reduce peak water demands during summer • Help improve the health of gardens, lawns, and trees • Naturally “soft, and devoid of minerals, chlorine and other chemicals often found in city water

40. Mulching • Consists of covering soil with material that provide a variety of beneficial gardening results • Materials may be organic (e.g., compost or wood chips) or inorganic (e.g., plastic sheeting) • Benefits: • Conserves moisture • Reduces weeds • Decreases soil compaction • Moderates soil temperature • Over time, builds a better soil structure that helps increase plant health and vigor

41. Soil Testing • Why test your soil? • Takes the guesswork out of fertilizer recommendations • Makes good economic sense • Ensures fertile soil without excess fertilizer application or pollution of the environment

42. Taking and Submitting a Sample • How to prepare a soil sample: • Take samples from several places in a yard or garden. • Mix thoroughly and place two-cup subsample in a clean container • Results will include a recommendation for fertilizer needs • Doing a test every five years generally adequate • U of M Soil Testing Lab can be reached at soiltest@umn.edu or 612 625-3101

43. Sources: • SULIS, University of Minnesota Extension http://www.sustaland.umn.edu • U of M Soil Testing Laboratory • Minnesota Department of Agriculture