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Help Your Backyard Plants Get the Nutrients They Need
All plants require certain nutrients for good growth. Carbon and oxygen are taken in through the leaves during photosynthesis, while the rest of the required nutrients normally are taken up through the roots. Most nutrients and water are taken up...
Landscape Lighting Design Ideas to Showcase Your Home
(ARA) - Landscape lighting used to be simple. A few recessed can fixtures lining the front path, a couple downlights tucked in the trees, and you were done. Not anymore. When it comes to the great outdoors, homeowners have seen the light.
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Putting PASSION back into home decorating
For most people, they can count the times they redecorate their homes in a lifetime on one hand. It's a shame because this is not because they don't have great ideas about how they want their homes to be, but that the thought of redecorating brings...
Simple balcony makeover
That drab concrete balcony is often the last area to be addressed in any apartment makeover. Maybe it’s just too small to justify a procession of tradespersons traipsing through the apartment day after day to lay ceramic or terracotta tiles, grout...
Tips For Building A Song Bird Bird House
SONGBIRDS are among nature's greatest indicators of a quality environment. In and around many industrial centers where pollutants are rampant and in heavy agricultural areas where pesticide use is great, the number of songbirds has decreased in...
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Minimizing Runoff and Erosion Along Your Lakeshore, Stream or River Property
Designing your landscape to care for your shoreline is extremely
important not only for protecting the integrity of your
property, but also to protect to quality of your neighboring
water body. You can control sedimentation and conditions that
favor algae growth with proper planning. The appropriate
landscaping is also important to improve water quality.
Don't just jump into your landscaping, begin by doing the
appropriate planning. This will pay off in big dividends as you
will avoid costly mistakes.
1) The first step is to prepare a site plan. Begin by conducting
a site inventory on your property. Know where your water flows
during heavy rains or ice melt. If your site is bare, know where
the prevailing winds are from. Record all of this information on
a site map of your property. Also, document existing features
such as plantings, septic system, structures and anything else
that might affect a site plan.
2) Using this information create your plan of action for your
site. This might require attending a home landscape design
course, studying books from your library or talking with a local
agency such as your Soil & Water Conservation District for
suggestions. That failing, it might mean hiring a landscape
architect to provide a comprehensive plan.
3) Depending on your circumstances, some of the features which
might be useful in preventing runoff and erosion include the
following:
Create a "no mow zone" along your shoreline at least 40 feet
back if possible. You can simply stop mowing and let your buffer
return gradually to a more natural state. You can also remove
the existing turf and install native plants. The benefits
include reduction of runoff and improved habitat for birds and
other creatures.
Occasionally the creation of a dry creek bed can be useful to
intercept, direct and filter water during heavy rain events. Dry
creek beds can be used for drainage away from homes and
foundations that have insufficient slopes; they can be used to
minimize washing on slopes; and they can be constructed so that
they are quite attractive by creating an unusual landscape
feature.
Evergreen trees, deciduous overstory trees and shrubs all
intercept rain water, thus reducing velocity. Therefore, not all
rainwater reaches the ground. If possible, preserve your native
trees and shrubs and augment their numbers with additional
plantings.
Mulch can be used effectively to minimize erosion. If you have
ever looked at a home with no gutters, you have probably noticed
the line where runoff from the roof has hit the ground.
Installing 2" to 3" rock mulch beyond the dripline can help to
minimize effects.
Rain gardens are another effective means to minimize runoff and
erosion. A rain garden is a landscaped area that replaces an
area of your lawn. As the name implies, rain gardens are
designed to soak up rainwater, frequently from the roofs of
buildings, parking lots and impervious surfaces. It is designed
to accept water during a storm allowing it to slowly filter into
the ground, rather than rapidly running off into a storm drain,
lake or river.
If you are creating patios or entertainment areas, use materials
that are
not impervious. Flagstone or products such as EcoGrid
will allow for the creation of a wonderful patio with gaps for
the planting of grass or groundcovers. This allows rainwater and
runoff to find small cracks and crevices and filter into the
ground.
New home construction or extensive remodeling on a home can
disturb the site and lead to damage along the shoreline. The
following tips should be considered before beginning the
landscaping around a home construction project:
*Always begin by checking local codes and requirements for
shoreline development. Be certain you are permitted for your
activities prior to construction.
*Install a silt fence along your shoreline to help prevent
erosion and siltation from reaching your water body. Do not
remove the silt fence until after all work has been completed
and all shoreline areas have reached stability in slowing runoff
and preventing erosion.
*Always begin your landscape work at your shoreline and work
your way out. This way you will never have to cross your work
again with equipment.
*If your site has large bare and disturbed areas and is sloped
toward your shoreline, consider placing erosion control sediment
logs/straw waddles at intervals to slow runoff on a temporary
basis. Once your project has been completed they can be removed.
*As you initiate your landscaping on slopes, consider using
curlex erosion control blankets to aid in holding seed in place
and to assist with reducing runoff and erosion. This will
improve seed contact and germination. These are natural
materials and will degrade so you do not have to worry about
removing them.
*Consider using hydroseeding techniques for seeding in
conjunction with curlex blankets to increase germination and
seed viability.
*If you are having erosion on your shoreline from water action,
consider native plantings. Riprap is rarely the answer. Consider
using Shoresox, www.shoresox.com, as an alternative to minimize
the effects of water action while your shoreline plants are
becoming established. If you establish a lawn, keep it small and
never close to the water's edge. Do not apply fertilizer,
especially any that contain phosphorus.
*Set your mower blade as high as possible to help prevent
runoff. Never rake your grass clippings or leaves into a water
body or roadway. Start a home compost site and create a
wonderful soil amendment for your garden.
*Before any construction always contact your local "One Call"
service or a trained specialist for locating all underground
utilities.
*Avoid costly mistakes by taking the time to do proper landscape
planning.
A small investment in time and if necessary in hiring the
expertise of a landscape architect can spare your shoreline
while improving the quality of your lake, stream or river.
About the author:
Donna Evans is co-owner of Gizmo Creations LLC, a landscape
design and website design company. Gizmo Creations has over 20
years of landscape design experience and has designed landscapes
throughtout the Midwest and west coast. For additional articles
on landscape design and sample plans go to
http://www.gizmocreations.com.
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| Landscaping - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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| A key source of Great Lakes environmental information. |
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