From Guest Blogger Amelia Atkins: Eco-Friendly Backyard Ideas
Every part of your household can become eco-friendly, even your backyard. Diversified companies around the world are offering a laundry list of inventive products that can assist you in reducing your carbon footprint. Even though most backyards consist of greenery, you can still make sure that various aspects of it adhere to the ecological norms. If you feel your backyard is not “green” enough, here are some nifty eco friendly backyard ideas.
Use native plants
Planting native flora into your backyard is always a good idea as they are already accustomed to the local climate. This means that, with appropriate growing conditions, you won’t have to manage them as intensely as the plant life that doesn’t belong in this climate – which automatically guarantees more saved water. Furthermore, it also pulls the ground-poisoning pest control chemicals out of the equation because the plant life will be accustomed to local fauna. At the end of the day, you’ll end up with a beautiful looking, quaint garden.
Compost all the way
It would be a waste to throw kitchen leftovers into trash. As it has been mentioned above, factory made fertilizers and chemicals can truly damage the local eco-sphere, so using the “gardener’s gold” known as compost is a much more prudent choice. By using the rotten leftovers and dry leaves, the soil will improve across several dimensions – including water retention and drainage, as well as the soil texture. From crumpled veggies and spoiled fruit to tea bags and eggshells, this is all legitimate compost for your backyard garden that is as eco friendly as it can be.
Maintain the pool
If you own a pool in your backyard, you’ll have to pay extra attention to the maintenance of this element due to several reasons. First of all, you definitely need to purchase the fitting pool cover and protect your pool water from residue whenever it is not used – clean water is hard to come by these days, and postponing the refill is crucial. Furthermore, remember that, if your pool is due for a makeover, you have to make it count. Use the lasting and reliable pool paint that will serve as a viable new coat and which is specifically designed to protect environmental surfaces.
Find the right watering system
In order to keep your yard green in every conceivable sense of that word, you have to consider purchasing sprinklers that are designed to save water and dissipate it strategically. Watering your backyard is inescapable, so you should definitely go out of your way find the most inventive irrigation system that makes sense under these eco-sensitive global conditions. There is even an option to install a rainwater collector and a cistern which can easily recycle the rainwater, so you don’t have to waste the clean H2O from the local supply.
Replace exterior lighting
Exterior lighting contributes to your monthly electrical bill significantly, so you should make sure to replace every incandescent light bulb with an LED variant. LED lights are becoming ubiquitously used in almost every aspect of civilized society for a good reason – they spend at least 90% less electricity than the incandescent counterpart, and they use most of the energy spent on producing light instead of heat. It’s a win-win situation. You don’t have to spend money on overly elaborate grids and solar-powered variants, at least for now.
Reuse materials
Don’t throw away anything and reuse everything you possibly can to the end of your creative wits. The broken wheelbarrow can easily be turned into a picturesque gigantic pot, and the extra gravel from the finished project can be used to line your plant rows for maximum visual impact. One of the most reusable materials by far is definitely natural stone, and you cannot even begin to imagine how diverse its utility in the backyard can be until you have browsed the internet a bit. The key motto is to reuse everything you can, whenever you can.
It is neither hard nor particularly taxing to create an ecological oasis in your backyard. With a bit of inventive landscaping and some green overhauls, your backyard will not only look like a dreamy meadow, it can also reduce the energy footprint of your household. The key thing is to strategize when it comes to these “facelifts” in terms of finances – don’t overspend on glamorized devices or setups. Just make sure the basics are covered, and customize your yard until it’s a perfect blend of eco-friendly and aesthetically pleasing.
