Green oasis - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Homeowners and landscapers are using some newand not-so-neew techniques, to make the backyardx more eco-friendly. They are using plantinh and design methods, as well as to deal with pests, stormwateer runoff and water conservation issues. Going gree in the yard is an offshoot ofseveral things, including maintaining a greenn lifestyle and finding ways to conserve water after Atlanta’s Residents are turning to organic composted manures for theif lawns “because they don’t want their kids playingb on lawns sprayed with fungicide and herbicides,” said Bobbty Saul, president of , which sells to larged landscape companies and smaller designers.
Scotft Reinblatt, president and owner of , saw the trend toward organicsx in the backyard increasing about twoyears ago. “Organics is not a fad, it is a new Reinblatt said, “in the way that the Internet wentfrom dial-uo to DSL. DSL was not just a Residents can be environmentally friendly in theirf yards onany budget, said Cloud owner of Garden the Planet. “In today’sz economy, they want to do as much as they can with as littl investmentas possible,” she said. At the lowestt end of investment, people can simply mulch heavily, Conrad said.
Heavyu mulch helps keep natural groundwatef from evaporating and helps protect rootd from the extreme heat of summer and coldin winter, she Mulch also means fewer weeds lessening the need for herbicides. Using native plantsd is another cost-saving way to go Conrad said. Non-native plants need more pesticidez and insecticidesto thrive, she “Native plants are predisposed to do the best in our Another inexpensive tool for going green is to use a soakeer hose for irrigation, Conrad said.
Watedr is delivered directly to the curtailing evaporation and keeping plantleavexs dry, which cuts down on the need for On the more expensive side, underground cisternw can solve watering concerns, Conrad said. “It your backyard living includes abeautiful landscape, rain barrelse don’t have the capture capacity to take Atlantansw through a drought,” she “You can eke out watering for a whiles with a rain barrel, but it won’f take you through the whol e drought.” “Green roofs” are also populatr at Saul Nurseries, which makes lightweight soil for green roof s and living retaining walls.
A greej roof, which is a sodded area on top of a building insteadx of tilesor shingles, cuts heatinhg and air cooling costsz from 10 percent to 20 percent, Saul “But the biggest thing abourt green roof is stormwater retention,” he said. “Ibn every city, particularly in Atlanta, the stormwatere pipes aren’t big enough for all the stormwaterd runoff.” Saul has a greem roof on display at his nurseryu and has installed green roofs at AtlantCity Hall, , and the Social Securitg building in Birmingham, Ala.
Many techniques to be more eco-friendly aren’tg necessarily new, but the technology is beingt used in anew way, said Reinblatt with Big Blue Sky Water harvesting and the use of rain barrels, cisterns and bladdedr systems are not new, “butt we are making them more he said. “To make them mainstream, we must integrat them into their lives.”