Lush, sustainable landscapes in the middle of a city might seem impossible, but universities in Texas are modeling how it can work. Even in a busy city, large-scale and smaller residential landscapes can make use of sustainable landscaping principles including composting, using native plants, and harvesting rainwater.
More and more industry pros are making their landscaping businesses “green.” Sustainability is a hot trend in a wide range of industries right now, and it makes a lot of sense for the green industry. Offering environmentally friendly sustainable landscaping can make your business stand out from the competition. If you’re thinking of going green, then looking at examples of sustainable landscaping, such as those on University of Texas (UT) campuses, can give you a model for what that can look like in our state.
UT’s Sustainable Landscaping
The Sustainable SITES Initiative (SITES) provides third-party project certification of outdoor spaces. This initiative is the result of a collaboration that began in 2006 between the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin, the United States Botanic Garden, and others. It is now administered by the Green Business Certification Inc.
In 2017, the University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School Landscape was the first location in Texas to receive the SITES Gold certificate. Other SITES-certified locations include corporate campuses, city parks, urban development projects, and other UT campuses.
This certification won’t be something that residential landscapers pursue for individual client’s yards, but if you do large-scale landscape projects it can be something to bring up with your clients. There is a cost to register a project and access most of the SITES resources, but you can access the sustainability checklist for free to get an idea of what measures they use to determine how sustainable a site is.
Principles of Sustainable Landscaping
Let’s take a look at some of the principles of sustainable landscaping modeled on UT campuses across the state:
Native Plantings
One of the first principles of sustainable landscaping is to choose plants that are native or adapted to the local area. Instead of struggling to get non-natives to live in conditions they aren’t adapted to, you landscape with plants that already thrive in the local climate. UT Arlington, for example, landscaped with native and adapted plants that the campus’s Office of Sustainability says “consume approximately 70% less water than a typical landscape for the area.”
The Native Plant Society of Texas provides a database of native plants. They also offer Native Landscape Certification Programs across the state. They’re a great resource for both homeowners and professionals, and if you’re a landscaper the certification can help prove to clients that you know your stuff.
Pollinator Prairies
UT Dallas focused many of their native plantings on supporting native pollinators. Dallas is in part of the Blackland Prairie region, and less than 1% of the original prairie is still around. Planting native flowering plants and prairie grasses helps preserve important local pollinators and support native wildlife.
Plant species native to the Blackland Prairie region include lemon beebalm (Monarda citriodora), Indian Blanket (Gaillardia pulchella), Dakota Mock Vervain (Glandularia bipinnatifida), American Basketflower (Plectocephalus americanus), Texas Bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis), and Pinkladies (Oenothera speciosa). Beautiful wildflowers like these can be part of a naturalized meadow section of a landscape or incorporated into more traditional landscape designs. Just make sure to avoid using any chemicals that can harm insects in pollinator landscapes.
Composting
As part of its zero-waste initiative, UT Austin composts food waste—including up to 22 tons of coffee grounds per year!—right on campus. Compost and compost tea created on campus are used to fertilize the landscaping. Compost provides nutrients and naturally improves soil texture and fertility.
Sustainable landscaping doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t use synthetic chemicals like fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides, but it’s best to treat them as a last resort. Trying natural solutions first—such as compost for fertilizer and 20% vinegar for spot-treating weeds—is better for the environment and native species.
Rainwater Collection
The rooftop garden on the Health Transformation Building at UT Austin has not needed additional water since 2017. This is also the location where the campus collects rainwater, which is used to water the other landscaping on campus. Rainwater collection can help prevent flooding and erosion. It also saves money and helps contribute to state-wide water conservation efforts.
While rainwater collection is strictly regulated in many states, Texas encourages residents and commercial properties to harvest rainwater. There might be some local regulations—so always double-check that—but the practice of rainwater harvesting is protected on a state level. There are even tax incentives for installing rainwater collection equipment.
Electric Landscape Equipment
Another way to make landscaping efforts more environmentally friendly is to make the switch to battery-powered lawn care equipment. If you’ve dismissed battery-powered tools in the past because you don’t think they can compete with gas, then you might want to give them a second look. The UT Austin landscape team maintains the entire campus using all-electric landscape equipment.
Modern lithium-ion battery-powered equipment offers high-voltage power comparable to gasoline equipment, a wider selection of available products, and fast-charging, interchangeable batteries. Low maintenance, no exhaust, low noise levels, and easy portability make battery-powered tools a good choice for professional landscapers and lawn care teams. You might not want to switch over your whole equipment fleet to battery quite yet, but it’s a solid option with several benefits.
Come Visit Richardson Saw
As you craft sustainable landscapes, you need quality tools to get the job done right. Richardson Saw is your local dealer for top-quality landscape and lawn care equipment, including environmentally friendly options for sustainable landscaping.
If you’d like to learn more about what lithium-ion powered equipment can offer your business, or about modern low-emissions gasoline-powered equipment, come visit us at our location in Richardson, TX. We’ll be happy to answer your questions and help you find the right equipment for your business’s needs.
