Water Smart Landscaping

When you choose the correct native plant for your planting conditions (for example, if you have full sun and sandy soils, choose plants that like those conditions, not plants that like shade and wet soils), once those plants are established, they require little to no supplemental watering. Native plants have fibrous, robust root systems, which assist them in obtaining more water from the soil. They are also evolved to be as successful as possible in our local soil and weather conditions, which makes them generally more hardy.

A major focus of water smart landscaping is helping the community reduce its outdoor water use, especially by reducing the need for irrigation through in-ground sprinkler lines or above-ground with a hose and sprinkler. But, if you don’t irrigate your lawn, is any of this beneficial for you? Absolutely! Encouraging these changes in your community and leading by example has numerous benefits!  

-Whether you’re on city water or well water, getting your water from Lake Michigan or an aquifer, protecting water quality is tantamount to having a thriving community in West Michigan, in terms of our personal health, the health of the local economy, and the health of our ecosystems. These landscapes aid in restoring or protecting water quality. By reducing the need for chemicals to upkeep a lawn or landscape, there is less runoff of those chemicals into our waterways. In addition, because native plants encourage healthier soils and have robust root systems, they aid in filtering pollutants out of stormwater runoff as it enters our surface water and groundwater sources. 

-Some local utilities, like the Holland Board of Public Works, experience serious increases in outdoor water use during times of intense heat and drought, and these increases can be directly connected to outdoor water use. There is a real possibility that if these spikes in water use don’t decrease, they would have to expand their facilities, which would be a construction headache and potentially raise everyone’s rates. Helping your neighbors, coworkers, and family see what’s possible with native landscapes can help encourage them to reduce their irrigation needs. 

-Lastly, these efforts beautify our homes and neighborhoods, increasing our quality of life in too many ways to count!

Nope! Established native landscapes are significantly less work than grass lawns, but they are not maintenance-free.  Generally, established native plants don’t need watering, fertilizers, or pesticides. If plants are properly spaced and the bed is full, they also need minimal weeding.  So what maintenance is needed? Woody species should be pruned according to each species needs, to remove unhealthy or broken branches, and maintain a desired height or shape. Herbaceous species should be cut down to 3-6 inches tall every 1-2 years, in the spring after the temperature consistently reaches 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut material should then be raked out of the landscaping bed. 

While there is way too much unutilized lawn in the world, there are times when it has a purpose! On a larger scale, recreational fields and green spaces for gathering are important for community connection. On a residential scale, having a place for dogs to run, kids to play, and having some comfortable seating and maybe a fire pit are all important reasons to have lawn in your outdoor living space. We encourage homeowners to think about how much grass they need to meet their needs, and then convert the unused spaces.