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Clean Waters is acollaboration of theConnecticut SeaGrant ExtensionProgram and theUniversity ofConnecticutCooperativeExtensionSystemÕs NEMOProject, educatingindividuals aboutthe impacts ofeveryday activitieson water qualityand simple tech-niques that helpprotect waterresources from thehome well to LongIsland Sound.

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Most gardeners want to be good “citi-zens of the Earth” but also want great-look-

ing gardens that don’t take full-time help or a fortuneto maintain. Can they have it both ways? ConservationLandscaping promotes landscape management tech-niques and philosophies that work with nature toreduce pollution and encourage wildlife habitat. Itencourages yard care practices that include usingless fertilizers and pesticides, reducing lawn areas,and utilizing native plants. The results are less overallmaintenance and less water use in the suburban land-scape. This fact sheet suggests practical techniquesto assist in evaluating your landscape and mainte-nance practices. Simple changes may be all that isneeded to help your landscape contribute to thehealth of our environment and the protection of waterquality.

WHY IS CONSERVATION LANDSCAPINGIMPORTANT?

A great majority of plant culture or gardening in theUnited States is devoted to growing ornamental plantsand turf. More than 90 million households in theUnited States are involved in some form of gardening.Every gardener is a landscape manager, even if theynever knew it. On a cumulative basis, the landscapingpractices of these home landscape managers canpose a huge threat to naturally functioning ecosys-tems. The excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides,and irrigation practices that wash these and otherchemicals, as well as pathogens (bacteria and virus-es) from animal waste and eroded soil from the homelandscape to local waters, create polluted runoff ornon-point source pollution.

Traditional landscaping and gardening practices,along with suburban land development in the UnitedStates, have increasingly impacted the remaining nat-ural ecosystems. To reconnect plant and animal

Conservation Landscaping forWater Quality

Starting in Your Home and YardClean Waters

species in the remaining natural areas and rebuildecosystems requires restoring the ecology of indi-vidual back yards. Conservation landscaping tech-niques and practices are systems of gardening thatuse many of the same principles that naturalecosystems follow. Conservation landscaping isabout reducing waste, energy use and materials. Itis about observation of nature at work. Its purposeis to design and create systems that imitate natureand turn problems into solutions.

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK

Conservation landscaping begins with under-standing the soil. Soil quality affects nearly every-thing that is part of the landscape – trees, flowers,shrubs and lawn areas. Creating and maintaininggood soil quality through thoughtful management isthe key toconserva-tion land-scaping.

Good,healthy soilis full ofearth-worms,microor-ganisms,bacteria and other forms of life. This life feeds onorganic matter, which it decomposes into humus, arich, dark material that holds both moisture andnutrients in the soil. Soil pH (acidity/alkalinity levels)and fertility (nutrient availability) can be evaluated byanalyzing soil samples from different soil locationsthroughout the landscape. Together they determinewhat plants will thrive in a particular landscape. SoilpH can be adjusted by the addition of limestone orgypsum (to raise pH) or iron sulfate (to lower pH for

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acid-loving plants). Soil fertility can be improved byincorporating organic matter such as grass clippingsor leaves into the soil. Applications of compost, whichincludes all the organic nutrients to keep soil lifehealthy, also helps plants thrive. As a natural fertilizer,compost has its own time release feature – nutrientsare dispensed slowly, feeding the soil and plantsgradually and preventing water pollution from nutrientrunoff.

ON-SITE ORGANIC RECYCLING

Most gardeners know the value of recycling theirgrass clippings, plant prunings and leaves by com-

posting, but manypeople still buycommercial fertil-izers becausethey don’t haveenough compost.Other people givetheir leaves awayin the fall by tak-ing advantage ofmunicipal leafpick-ups or pay-ing landscaping

companies to clean off their lawns because they thinkthey have no room for a leaf compost pile. Then theypay for bags of bark mulch tospread under shrubs and treesand in garden beds. Instead,they could chop the leaves witha mulching mower and rakethem into the landscaping bedsto use as mulch. Natural forestecosystems function this way.They were the first “organic gar-deners”, recycling their ownleaves and fallen twigs orbranches.

Another way to recycle organic matter, eliminatelarge compost piles and save yourself a lot of time isto create beds or areas in your landscape wherematerials can be recycled right where you are mow-ing or raking. Increasing the size and number of land-

scape beds helps decrease the size of the lawn(and the need to mow, rake, fertilize, or water).These beds can be planted with groundcoversthat add landscape interest but still require lessmaintenance than grass or true gardens.

PREVENT BARE SOILS

An important part of protecting the soil and theenvironment is maintaining a healthy vegetativecover on the land surface. Bare, unvegetated landareas are often eroded by wind and water, leadingto soil and nutrient loss and water pollution prob-lems down slope. Vegetative covers can consist ofgrasses, vines, groundcovers, mulches, or vegeta-bles and herbs, as long as the soil surface is com-pletely covered.

LAWN ALTERNATIVES

In many landscape situations, grass may not bethe best choice as a vegetative cover. It may havea hard time growing successfully or it may be hardto mow and maintain, so a different ground covermay be more suitable. Excellent locations for alter-native ground covers include areas with steepslopes, wet or shady areas and sites with easilyerodible soils. When carefully selected and plant-ed, ground covers can improve infiltration of water

into the soil, slowstormwater runoffand reduce land-scape maintenanceneeds. Ground cov-ers come in a vari-ety of textures andcolors, many withbeautiful blooms. Inaddition to groundcovers, other land-

scaping techniques help reduce total lawn area,including:• Plant a wildflower meadow to provide a colorful,low-maintenance alternative to lawns while creat-ing habitat for birds, butterflies and small animals.• Wood decks and brick-on-sand patios offer

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Many varieties of native or non-invasive non-nativeornamental plants are adaptable to dry landscapes– sedumsand poten-tillas, forinstance.Manygrassesand herbsalso havelow waterneeds.

Othersites havean abun-dance ofwater, or problems with excessive stormwater runoffcausing flooding or erosion, and almost every homehas gutters or some other system to direct roofrunoff away from the foundation. Many of these situ-ations can be changed from problems to benefits orattractive landscape features. Roof runoff can bestored in rain barrels for later use in watering nearbylawns and gardens. A larger conservation landscap-ing project would be changing landscape contoursto create infiltration swales or rain gardens. Theseshallow basins or channels are planted with mois-ture-loving plants and roof or driveway runoff isdirected into them so the water will filter into theground rather than running off the property into thenearest storm drain or water body, creating newhabitat areas and preventing water pollution prob-lems.

Swales and rain gardens should be no more thantwelve inches deep so that storm water will soak intothe ground within a day or two (preventing mosquitobreeding problems), and they should be sized tocontain the runoff from a fairly large storm. Forexample, to create a rain garden using the runofffrom a roof gutter, first determine the area of theroof that drains to that gutter by measuring theroof’s length and width in feet. Then multiply thelength by the width to determine the area and multi-ply that result by 0.05. This calculation determinesthe approximate volume (cubic feet) of water that willcome down the gutter in a large storm. So, if the roof

cozy outdoor seating while allowing water to filterthrough to the underlying soil.• Flowing water features introduce sound and tex-ture into the landscape and attract wildlife.

TREE AND SHRUB SELECTION

Selecting proper trees and shrubs for the homelandscape can seem a daunting task, but it can besimplified with a little research and some time spentwalking through nurseries, garden centers orarboretums. Traditionally, trees and shrubs werechosen for such characteristics as seasonal bloomintensity, bloom duration, or fall leaf color. Whilethese characteristics are still important, today’senvironmentally sound, or conservation, land-scapes include trees and shrubs selected fordrought tolerance, disease resistance, ease ofmaintenance, and wildlife benefits, in addition toyear-round appearance.

Conservation landscapes should incorporateplantings of native species – those that have thrivedunder local conditions without human help for thou-sands of years. Properly situated native plantsrequire little in the way of water, fertilizers or pesti-cides to provide a beautiful, natural-looking land-scape. Even when using native plant species,choose those that are best adapted to your particu-lar landscape. Dwarf conifers are a better choice ina dry, windy site, for example, than roses, whileplants from the sand plains should not be planted inmoist, highly organic soils. Another advantage toselecting native species is that they attract and pro-vide habitat for beneficial insects, birds and animalsthat in turn help control problem pests, reducing theneed for pesticide use in landscape maintenance.

CONSERVE WATER

Water has become a limiting factor in many com-munities, especially during hot, dry spells.Landscaping to minimize watering, also referred toas “xeriscaping” (“xeri” is the Greek prefix meaning“dry”) includes careful planning, using drought-resistant plant varieties, and improving soils orusing mulches to help retain moisture in the soil.

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The ConnecticutSea Grant CollegeProgram, based atthe University ofConnecticut, ispart of a nationalnetwork of univer-sity-based pro-grams sponsoringcoastal andmarine-relatedresearch, outreachand education.

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is 30 feet long and 15 feet wide, the calculation is 15 x30 x 0.05 = 22.5, so the rain garden needs to have a

volume of22.5 cubicfeet.Roundingthat up to24 cubicfeet, therain gardenwould needto be 4 feetby 6 feetand onefoot deep.

Beyondconservingwater and

native habitats, conservation landscaping can helpconserve energy. Careful placement of selected treesand shrubs around a home can provide shade fromsummer sun and shielding from winter winds, reduc-ing cooling and heating costs for years to come.Smaller lawn areas require less mowing, and theassociated burning of fossil fuels that cost money andcreate air pollution.

“BAMBI-PROOF” LANDSCAPING?

With the spread of the suburban landscape into for-mer woodlands and fields, and the extensive use ofhighly edible plant species in traditional landscapingplans, white-tailed deer have become a major prob-lem for homeowners in many areas. Some haveresorted to physical (streamers, flashy objects ornoisemakers) or chemical (soap, predator urine orother strong scents) repellents. Others wrap plants inmesh or erect fences, even electrical ones. Most ofthese control measures are at least partially success-ful, but many are expensive or time-consuming tomaintain, and some only work for short periods untilthe deer becomes acclimated to the sight or smell ofthe repellent.

An alternative approach is to reduce the landscape“edibility rating” by selecting plants deer prefer not to

eat. As deer will browse on any shrub or low-growing tree if the conditions are bad enough, nolist of plants can have an absolute guarantee forbeing “deer-proof”. However, deer do tend toavoid plants with thorny stems or prickly leavesand those with strong aromas, making plants likebayberry, boxwood, potentilla, roses, and holliesgood choices.

RESTORE THE BALANCE

Tending to one small piece of Earth with all ofnature in mind has benefits that go well beyondreducing the time, labor and money spent long-term on landscape management. Natural forestand meadow ecosystems have been around forthousands of years. Their plants have experi-enced and survived a host of environmentalchanges. By making some changes in our ownbackyards, it is possible to work with the naturalsystems rather than imposing an artificial systemthat requires constant maintenance and inputs ofwater, fertilizer and pesticides. One small plot ofland may not seem significant, but as more homelandscape managers choose to make these sortof changes, the overall effect will have a very pos-itive effect, both in the local neighborhood andthe environment as a whole.

Written by — Carl A. Salsedo,Extension Educator - Horticulture, University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System

Heather M. Crawford, Coastal Resources Educator, CT Sea Grant Extension Program

For more information contact: Connecticut Sea Grant,1084 Shennecossett Rd., Groton, CT 06340www.seagrant.uconn.edu

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