|
•
|
Start making a compost pile or purchase a compost tumbler. This will not only help cut down on your garbage but will also provide you with good nutrient rich compost for your garden which translates into saving you money on fertilizers!
|
|
•
|
Re-use grass clippings. The easiest way to do this is to purchase a mulching blade for your lawn mower or insist that your lawn care provider do the same. If you like to bag your clippings when you mow, add the clippings to your compost pile!
|
|
•
|
Use a rain barrel to catch and save rain water.
|
|
•
|
Use boiling water instead of weed killer to kill weeds growing through cracks in your sidewalk or driveway.
|
|
•
|
Install an irrigation (sprinkler) system. There have been tremendous advances in irrigation technology. A sprinkler system installed by a reputable licensed irrigator will efficiently water your lawn, decrease water run off, and save you money on your water bill.
|
|
•
|
Create a rain garden. A rain garden is used to help prevent water run off in areas where water would normally run off into storm sewers. Sloped or low lying areas are good locations to start a rain garden.
|
|
•
|
Switch from traditional landscaping to xeriscaping. Xeriscaping refers to landscaping and gardening in ways that reduce or eliminate the need for supplemental irrigation. This includes using drought tolerant plants and incorporating rock in your landscape designs. This includes using drought tolerant and disease resistant plants, and incorporating mulch and/or rock in your landscape design. In the old days, that might have meant a whole yard covered in gravel with a cactus here and there. Today, we use beautiful flowering perennials, shrubs, trees, and ground covers that provide not only color and beauty, but habitat for butterflies and birds of all types, including everyone's favorite, the hummingbirds.
|
