You’re interested in updating your home or business’s landscaping, but you would like to do so in a way that is harmonious with nature or at least isn’t detrimental to it. So what are some sustainable landscape design ideas?
From permeable hardscapes to erosion control and drought-resistant gardens, there are many ways to create a sustainable landscape design, but which one is right for you?
It’s vital to understand the nuances of each sustainable landscape design so that you can choose what is suitable for you and your property.
What is Sustainable Landscaping?
Sustainable landscaping is created by utilizing eco-friendly materials and practices to create outdoor spaces that work with nature instead of trying to dominate it.
5 Sustainable Landscaping Design Ideas
From permeable hardscapes to grass driveways, here are five fantastic sustainable landscape design ideas:
1. Permeable Hardscapes
Utilizing permeable hardscapes is one of the best ways to create a sustainable landscape design.
Permeable hardscapes typically contain gravel and often invoke images of rustic French architecture, English cottages, and European villas.
Unlike traditional impermeable materials like concrete, brick, and asphalt that funnel stormwater away from your property, permeable hardscapes allow water to penetrate down into the ground.
By allowing water to permeate into the ground, you are helping to replenish vital groundwater supplies instead of redirecting it away from your local area.
Permeable hardscapes can have incredible benefits for your local environment, but they tend to suffer from two significant downsides; rutting and spillage.
Over time, a gravel walkway or patio will develop ruts through high-traffic areas; additionally, with use, gravel will inevitably spill out of its boundaries, for a messy and unkempt look.
By pairing a beautiful gravel surface with TRUEGRID® permeable pavers, you can lock gravel in place and create a walkway or patio that is immune to nasty rutting.
TRUEGRID permeable pavers provide a 100%-permeable, open structure to pour gravel into, that holds it firmly in place to prevent spillage while also providing unprecedented compressive strength that eliminates rutting.
By pairing permeable hardscape materials with TRUEGRID, you can create a sustainable landscape design that is functionally practical as well.
2. Drought-Resistant Gardens
In many parts of the U.S., particularly the arid southwest, droughts and water scarcity are genuine issues that property owners need to contend with.
Many landscape designs treat these issues with reckless disregard and implement wasteful and frivolous irrigation systems for non-native plants that require unsustainable amounts of water in such parched environments.
One of the most intelligent and thoughtful ways to implement a sustainable landscaping design is to create drought-resistant gardens. Some cities and regions use the term Xeriscaping to describe reducing or eliminating irritation.
You can create drought-resistant gardens using native plants that have adapted to the arid climate through evolution. Gravel, stone, rocks, and boulders can also create exciting and creative designs.
While these rock gardens can be extremely practical and visually pleasing, gravel can often spill outside its border, which can detract from the aesthetic. Using TRUEGRID permeable pavers, you can lock the gravel into place to maintain a 100% permeable and 100% sustainable landscape.
3. Use Local Materials
Using locally sourced materials is a great way to practice sustainability. In addition to using local and native plant species, sourcing local gravel, stone, and grasses helps to create a climate-tolerant landscape design and can also reduce your project’s carbon footprint.
4. Erosion Control
Erosion is not only detrimental to your property, it can also damage the environment.
Erosion can cause polluted waterways, increase water temperature, and raise water levels which creates a greater risk of flooding. Implementing erosion control in your property’s sustainable landscape design can have immeasurable positive effects on your environment.
If concrete retaining walls and other traditional erosion control methods don’t fit your design aesthetic, consider using TRUEGRID permeable pavers as another alternative.
Whether for grass or gravel, TRUEGRID permeable pavers can aid in preventing erosion and keep soil and stone in place.
5. Grass Driveways
Grass driveways can be an excellent tool when creating a sustainable landscape design.
Besides creating a visually greener and more eco-friendly space, grass driveways are 100%-permeable and can help to return stormwater to your local water table.
Grass driveways can also go a long way in preventing or reversing the heat island effect.
The heat island effect is caused when most of an urban area has been constructed from industrial materials like concrete and asphalt. Due to their abilities to hold and permeate heat, regions built mainly from concrete and asphalt can be several degrees warmer than surrounding communities.
By building outdoor surfaces out of natural, organic materials like grass, you can significantly reduce the heat island effect. Additionally, grass can naturally air condition the area through transpiration.
The big downside to grass driveways is that consistent vehicle traffic will crush and kill grass’s delicate roots, and leave unsightly dirt and mud streaks behind.
With heavy use, a grass driveway can develop ruts that pool with water after a rain storm and turn into a sloppy, muddy mess.
By supplementing your grass driveway with TRUEGRID permeable pavers, you can eliminate the irritating rutting and dead grass that typically come from driving on grass. TRUEGRID permeable pavers boast industry-leading compressive strength and protect grass from harm while maintaining permeability.
Use TRUEGRID Permeable Pavers to Enhance Your Sustainable Landscape Design
Since 2013, TRUEGRID has been dedicated to developing environmentally-friendly paving alternatives for your home or business.
Made from 100% post-consumer recycled HDPE and manufactured 100% in the USA, TRUEGRID products have saved millions of pounds of plastics from landfills and returned millions of gallons of water to the water table.
Do you need permeable paving that can withstand the rigors of industrial use? TRUEGRID PRO PLUS permeable pavers are engineered with industry-leading compressive strength, which makes them perfect for commercial road use, heavy equipment, and truck parking.
Do you want to create beautiful eco-conscious, low-maintenance driveways, walkways, and patios? TRUEGRID PRO LITE is precisely what you need to lock gravel in place and protect the grass while maintaining 100%-permeability.
Want to install TRUEGRID permeable pavers over existing grass for a quick, hassle-free indestructible grass surface? Check out the TRUEGRID ROOT® system.
Simply lay down your ROOT® permeable pavers, spray the area with water, then firmly press or roll the pavers into place. Easy as can be!
Ready to create a jaw-dropping and sustainable landscape design? View the full lineup of TRUEGRID products or get an estimate online and discover how you can be true to your project and true to the environment with TRUEGRID!
