When the summer isn’t too warm, it’s the perfect season to savor the outdoors with a little relaxation close to home, in your own backyard. But the sun’s excessive rays this time of year means that maintaining your garden can require a lot of effort, not to mention too many resources. At Rhine Landscaping, we believe in creating sustainable spaces to minimize the work you have to put into your landscapes while simultaneously minimizing their negative impact on the environment. There are tons of ways to go green this season, but below, we’ve offered a few of our favorite ways to create an eco-friendly outdoor space.

Keep Mother Nature Natural: Keep your garden organic and as nature intended by kicking harmful pesticides to the curb. Do your research and look into chemical-free ways to dismiss insects that try to nestle up and make a home on your plants. Many simple household items serve as solutions to pests, like liquid detergent mixed with vegetable oil in a spray bottle. Know about companion planting – that is, which plants will repel the bad insects and attract the good ones to your crops.

Rain, Rain, Don’t Go Away: Or come again another day. Besides being appreciative of the rain because it cuts down on time spent running up your water bill by running your hose, Rhine Landscaping values rain because it can be recycled in several ways. Consider installing a rain barrel to collect and store runoff from your gutters. Become more self-sufficient by relying less on your water company and use the rain you harvest to help harvest your crops by nourishing them with water. Alternatively, a rain garden, which is a depression in the ground used to collect rainwater from driveways, roofs, and walkways, prevents harmful runoff from flowing into storm drains, streams, rivers, and lakes. This, of course, means your garden helps contribute to less pollution, erosion, and flooding – talk about eco-consciousness.

Take a Trip to the Mediterranean: Travel “between lands,” (the literal translation of the Latin root for “Mediterranean”) in your own back yard. Escape the on-the-go, work around-the-clock lifestyle of America for one that cruises along comfortably. Take a cue from Mediterranean landscape design by investing in an open-air courtyard, or another variety of hardscaping, whether it be mosaic tiled walls or gravel beds. Creating patio spaces in your outdoor living areas is a sure-fire way to cut down on your water use because it minimizes your square footage of difficult to maintain and drought-prone grass. Be sure the plants you do have in your non-hardscaped spaces are water wise and suited to your climate so that you can cut down on your water waste.

Whether you want to make like the Mediterraneans, take advantage of renewable resources like rain, or conserve nature as it was meant to be without chemicals, Rhine Landscaping can help you become a more environmentally friendly consumer.

If you have any additional questions about Landscape Design / Landscaping, contact Rhine Landscaping by calling 410-442-2445 or click here today!

Rhine Landscaping in Baltimore, Maryland can handle every aspect of your landscape, from hardscapes and patios / walkways, to retaining walls, water features such as fountains, fireplaces / firepits, swimming pools, landscape design, landscape installation, outdoor kitchens, decks, pavilions, basement waterproofing, drainage and more.

We can help you transform your landscape.

Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!