Who doesn't love to see a luscious front yard when they come home? When greens, golds, oranges, reds, purples, pinks, blues and yellows hit the eye's color receptors, our brain's sensory perception triggers a neurophysiological response of slowed respiration and heart rate, calm quietude, serenity, euphoria, and overall contentment. Curb appeal does wonders for the body and soul. It's not just for prospective home-buyers who will enter the front door more readily and close on a deal more rapidly if they are enticed by tantalizing curb appeal. While it's true that well-designed and implemented landscaping can yield an increase of 15-20% of a home's value, it's also fantastic for us while we're living there! Our desire to return home day after day only increases and deepens when there is a gentle, vibrant, colorful, aromatic welcome from nature that beckons us home. And don't get me started on the plethora of benefits of nature therapy - sparking our immune systems and providing so many health and happiness benefits, it's astounding!
However, tending and enjoying a fantastic natural landscape at home, along with a positive return on our investment, doesn't have to compromise Earth's fragile eco-systemic health.
Here are a few tips to keep feeling green - and enjoy being green - while still being healthy for the biosphere, for your family, creature-kin, neighbors, and the great chorus of life all around us.
Consider this new construction home:
The devastation to natural habitat, soil content, water and air quality that follows new construction is often noticeable for years after new homeowners close on their dream home. New sod cannot disguise a decimated plot, devoid of trees, plants, pollinators, avian kin, color, sound and aroma. What can we do to catalyze the all-important curb appeal while paying attention to the comprehensive effects of the landscaping choices we make?
Pay attention to design: Consult a professional who is eco-conscious and understands the effects of great design that is in sync with the native species, the local planting and hardiness zone, care and maintenance regimen required, water and soil needs. Having huge pops of color doesn't require planting bold annuals every spring! Gorgeous seasonal color can be a feature without all the annual cost, labor, and soil depletion.
2) Expansive turf lawns are time, energy, water, and revenue drains, especially as drought or extreme temps continue to ravage the biosphere. So many gorgeous ground covers, perennial groves, fragrant and colorful ornamentals, and pollinator habitats can make any front garden feel like a dream.
3) Consider water in every planting and maintenance decision. Water is life.
Unless living beings have regular access to water - in their measured frequency and volume - they languish. Whenever imagining your vibrant welcome space, imagine that you are holding a cup of clear, fresh water for a thirsty traveler. Plan for bio-swales, drainage systems, water features that require little to no maintenance, rain barrels, and ready access to water when needed. And have fun splashing in the rain! It's a gift!
4) Healthy soil is the key to establishment and resiliency. Check your soil content, and be sure healthy organic matter is present to encourage growth. Soil that has been routinely compromised by construction debris, pesticides, herbicides, toxic run-off and waste can often be healed by adding compost and attracting diverse avian-kin and pollinators. Best yet, don't rake those autumn leaves! Mulch and leave them on the soil for fertile spring soil content. If you haven't begun composting, there are many outstanding compost systems available to spark your no-waste kitchen practice and save money, time, energy and frustration with gardens that wither because the soil is depleted or has been badly compromised. Get your red wigglers and start composting!
5) Trees, our distinguished arbor elders, are a key feature for the health and welfare of any garden, and for life on the whole planet! Don't be afraid of planting and caring for trees, the lungs and life-blood of the planet - because there are too many health and psychological benefits not to love them.
If you are afraid of planting and maintaining trees because of their root system and sewer or subterranean utility lines, or their canopy interfering with overhead utility lines or roofing, consult an arborist who can tell you what's best to plant and where, and then you can choose what's aesthetically pleasing,
gentle for your health (especially asthmatics and allergy-sufferers), and good for the rest of nature's denizens and your own family and lifestyle. Smaller ornamentals and larger native species will bring the abundant beauty, attract the wildlife necessary to maintain resilient eco-systems, and benefit soil content, prevent erosion, improve air and water quality, and provide natural shade and cooling for your home. They are natural health coaches if we learn their love-language and partner with them.
6) Finally, add some comfy seating, swings, and lounges to help you linger. No garden is complete if we plant and then run away, terrified there might be maintenance. Spending time in our garden will increase our love and attention - and maximize the effects of the care we do give outside in this gorgeous oasis. Involve your kids, neighborhood kids, and grandkids. Teach them to love and care for creation by example. If you don't want to spend any time outside, not even for watering on a hot day or lounging in the shade, there are low- to no-maintenance garden species available for you, too. Still, I invite you to consider all the health and happiness benefits of just lingering. Hang out and enjoy! See if you can smile as wide as the daisies!
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