Do I Really Want All This Lawn?  Is Synthetic Turf a Viable Green Alternative?

Yes it’s true, by installing synthetic turf instead of lawn you are decreasing you carbon footprint. Less water will be used and therefore water will be conserved and your water bill will be lowered.

• Reduced use of fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides will result in fewer pollutants reaching our waterways.
• Reduced energy use will lower carbon emissions.  For example, it takes a tremendous amount of energy to produce fertilizer.
  And just one hour of mowing your lawn produces the same amount of emissions as driving a car 93 miles.
• But should we just replace our lawn with synthetic turf?  No. Synthetic turf is only one way to replace lawn.  The first step is to look at your property as a whole and ask yourself some questions:

*  What on my property works and what doesn’t?
* How do I want to use my space?
* Where do I want to entertain, how much space is needed?
* Where do the kids play and how much area do they need?
* Pet needs?
* Storage areas?
* Gardening beds?

Once you consider these questions you might discover that you want to make some changes.  Of course Lifestyle Landscapes, Inc. would be happy to help!

One of the first changes that many people could make is to remove lawn from the narrow side yards between your house and your neighbor.  These are generally just circulation paths from front to back or storage for the garbage/recycle bin.  The easiest way to handle these areas may be a gravel path.  It is a simple beginning that might lead to further changes and less lawn.

Lawn has an icon of the American Landscape since the mid-19^th century.  It is time to re-think that tradition.

Arlene

Last month, at the Bellevue Home Show, Lifestyle Landscapes made two presentations describing Rain Gardens and Developing a Sustainable Landscape.  The attendees at the Rain Garden Seminar have requested we post information about selecting a garden site.  We discussed a number of criteria pertaining to the sizing of a Rain Garden.  The following slides include this information.  If, after reviewing this information, you have unanswered questions, give us a call and we will be happy to provide answers – 206 621-2626.

Size of Rain Garden

Percolation Test

Dig a hole at least 2’ deep and 1-2 feet in diameter. •
Put a ruler in the hole and fill the hole with 8-12 inches of water. In Summer, fill and let drain three times. On the third time record the depth every hour. When the rate of change stabilizes i.e. is the same for three hours, that’s the infiltration rate in inches/hour.

Baxter

Combined Sewer Storm Water Systems may seem an unlikely topic for a landscape blog.  I believe an understanding of the way storm water and sewerage are disposed of in Seattle (through the same pipes), leads to an opportunity for home owners.  Water that runs off our streets and roofs into storm drains, it contains chemicals and bacteria.  Puget Sound cities often collect this water and route it to a combined sewer/storm water water treatment system before it is released into rivers or the Puget Sound.  During heavy storms in the Seattle area, the system becomes over loaded and untreated sewage flows into Lake Washington and Puget Sound.

Seattle has initiated a campaign to detach building downspouts from the water treatment system and, where suitable, divert the water into rain gardens and cisterns where it can infiltrate into the ground, or retained until the storm subsides.  This Seattle initiative creates an opportunity – homeowners may help protect our waterways and to enhance their landscape.

Starting in Ballard, but eventually extending to other catchments, Seattle Public Utilities is setting up a subsidy program to encourage homeowners to detach their downspouts and route storm water to cisterns and/or rain gardens in their yards.  These cisterns and rain gardens are ‘storm water treatment facilities’.  If you should decide to pursue this idea, and receive the subsidy, you will need to follow a relatively simple permitting process, commit to maintain the system for at least five years.   Lifestyle Landscapes is trained to the permitting and installation processes.  With our designers help, you will end up with a new rain garden and the knowledge you have helped clean up Puget Sound and Lake Washington.  In the long term, you will have increased the value of your property by enhancing its green credentials.

Irrespective of whether your home is eligible for this Seattle based program, installing a rain garden will enhance your property and improving the environment.

Baxter

At Lifestyle Landscapes, we always work within the boundary limits of our clients’ property. There are spaces adjacent to, or included in a clients’ property which they may be responsible for maintaining, but limit the use of the property.  These areas are called Right-of-Ways, Easements and Setbacks.

Setbacks are typically determined by municipalities and are used to contain development within the property lines.  Typically, structures over 18″ height are not allowed in the setbacks.

Similar to setbacks are buffers where local codes allow only specific types of plant material.

Easements are typically established to provide for installation of, and access to, utilities such as sewer, electrical, water, or gas.  Easements may be established to allow access for owners of adjacent property.

A Right-of-Way is also like an easement, but, normally, utilities are not installed under a Right-of-Way.  The Right-of-Way and Utility Easement is typically owned by the municipality or utility district but the homeowner is responsible for its maintenance.  When working in a Right-of-Way, it is important to be aware of municipal codes specifying allowable construction in these areas and defining the conditions under which permits are required before construction projects may be undertaken in these areas.  Plantings in Right-of-Ways might consist of low maintenance shrubs or trees.  However, in utility easements, vegetation may be limited to shrubs and ground-covers.

Michal