The Yard Zone
The space outside your walls should be as thoughtfully considered as the space within. Aside from contributing to pleasant, functioning outdoor space, well-placed landscaping can protect your house from solar gain in the summer while letting it inside during the winter.
Perform a yard audit.
Talk to a landscape architect who is versed in your region’s native species.
Install SmartPlants.
After you give turf grass and any other resource-sucking plants the boot, plant low-maintenance perennials. Consider a purposeful schmear of Arboreal Shading Devices, Sylvanic Carbon Vacuums, and Solar-Powered Humanoid Food-Generation Stations.
De-water.
Your nifty new native yardscape will require far less watering than whatever was there before. Continue the love by reducing your impact on your community’s storm sewer system: Plant a rain garden and collect rain in a barrel.
Get dirty.
Maintain your existing dirt by mulching, and create new dirt by composting your kitchen and yard waste.
Get lit.
Install a motion-control sensor or timer on your exterior lights—–or use a solar-powered light.
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