A well watered lawn is attractive in its way. All nice and green. But it’s not green in the sense of being environmentally friendly, as a general rule. Most lawns get treated with harsh chemicals that then wash into sewers with every rain or runoff from the sprinklers. They take huge amounts of clean water, which is horrible for places where water resources are already strained. Most people trim their lawns No prescription cialis with lawn mowers that have highly inefficient engines.

In short, they just aren’t that eco friendly, no matter how green the color.

A lawn is not the only path to an attractive front yard, however. If you want an attractive and eco friendly front yard, read up on xeriscaping and find some native plants.

Advantages of Native Plants

Choosing native plants for your landscaping has many advantages. They need little to no water, as they evolved to grow in the area you’re trying to grow them. That’s a nice savings on your water bill.

They’re also better adapted to the soil. This means you won’t need to spend so much time fertilizing them. If you’re using compost from your own kitchen, fertilizing isn’t so bad a deal, but when people use chemical fertilizers, as is far more common with lawns, it’s bad for the environment and frankly unhealthy for the people and pets who have to live with the chemicals there.

You can also find many beautiful native plants. It make take some searching, but most places have native plants available that you will be happy to have growing in your yard. Also plenty you’d be unhappy with, but of course you won’t be growing those.

You Cialis Professional also won’t have to worry so much about spraying for bugs. Native plants are used to the local bugs.

You may also attract more local wildlife. This can be both an advantage viagra for sale in ireland and disadvantage, depending on your perspective. It’s great to encourage the local wildlife, but let’s face it – a skunk won’t be as welcome as a songbird most places.

What About the Disadvantages?

Native plants aren’t going to be perfect for everyone or every use. There’s a reason why I only want to have a front yard landscaped with native plants.

Most areas don’t have native plants that are good as a lawn, and that means it’s not so good a place for the children to play. That’s important to me as a way to encourage my kids to get outside regularly.

It can be much harder to find local plants that really suit your idea of an attractive yard, as you will have far fewer plants to choose from. This may not be a major issue in some places, but if you have a definite look you’d like to go for, it may be a real challenge.

What About Plants from Other Areas that Are Adapted to the Climate?

Nonnative plants that grow well in your area may also be tempting. They may well be a better choice than trying to grow a lawn in some ways. But they can also be problematic.

Nonnative species can become invasive, pushing out native plants in areas beyond your yard. Seeds don’t just stay put, after all. They get eaten and excreted by animals and bugs. They may get blown around by the wind. They grow where, if you knew about it, you’d really rather they didn’t.

The decision to use nonnative plants should be made carefully. They can allow you to really cut your water use and still have the yard of your dreams, but they aren’t perfect.

Especially in the Western part of the United States, it’s important to cut back on how much lawn area we grow around our homes. It uses too much water and is bad for the environment. Start taking a look at what you’re growing outside your home and start thinking about the best decisions you could make.

Author Bio: Stephanie Foster runs http://www.greensahm.com/ for moms interested in working on sustainable living with their families. Get more tips on eco friendly gardening at her site.

Category: Home/Gardening/Landscaping
Keywords: native plants,getting rid of a lawn