GREEN Yards in Texas
You can have a beautiful yard and yet use all natural, organic, water conserving methods that do not harm our water supply or the environment. See the great GREEN landscaping company article below in the hyperlink section. Austin's Grow Green program is a comprehensive landscaping program that is designed for Central Texans. I have provided that link as well. Grow Green provides earth-wise solutions with an emphasis on water quality protection.
WAGE WAR ON WEEDS, NOT Our WATER Supply !
Over 45,000 pounds of atrazine, a weed killing chemical, are sold each year in the Austin area in the very popular weed and feed lawn care products. The highly mobile chemical does not just stay in our lawns, but makes its way into our creeks and groundwater. Atrazine shows up frequently at more than 50% of the area surface water monitoring sites and 70% of groundwater monitoring sites Austin-wide. It has also been detected in 86% of the samples from Barton Springs pool.
Grow Green produces a "Native and Adapted Landscape Plants- an earthwise guide for Central Texas" guide that is available at most garden centers free of charge. The City of Leander also has a recommended plant list. I am using edible landscaping, xeriscaping as well as landscaping for wildlife in my home's yard. For a great reference guide, buy "The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping" by Rosaling Creasy- a Sierra Club Book. Many cities are no longer allowing St. Augustine or "carpet" grass as a lawn choice due to it's thirstiness. Leander, Texas only allows zoysia or bermuda grass in new construction since they use less water.
The City of Leander has a Water Conservation Ordinance, This ordinance updates Leander's Zoning ordinance and Building Codes by adopting landscaping and screening requirements to conserve water. It provides recommended plants, minimum percentage of areas to be landscaped, soil depth requirements for residential and non-residential, homebuilder options, and irrigation requirements. I compost & organic garden and am gradually getting rid of a lot of St. Augustine lawn area, replacing the grass with beds for vegetables, fruits. I have thornless blackberries, apple trees, pomegranite, peach, fig, loquat, herbs and vegetables. My grandmother composted and canned fruit- fig and loquat preserves at her home at 608 Texas Avenue in Hyde Park. She had a huge compost bin with a lucky fig tree right in the middle. Coffee grounds, vegetable scaps and leaves went in the bin. I have 2 water features and other components for wildlife habitat. Our pond, bog and waterfall are teaming with life and beauty. I am a member of the Austin Pond Society and my pond was faetured on the 2007 Austin Pond Tour and Fox News. On my agenda is to have my yard certified as wildlife habitat.
Have any GREEN landscaping tips to share, want to trade tips or some plants? Purple is my favorite color- I always have purple hart to share as well as other plants. I'd love to meet you & be GREEN gardening buddies!
For GREEN REALTOR service, e-mail me or call me at (512) 785-5050.
Licensed to practice Real Estate in the State of Texas.
Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Buyer or agent must verify.
