The Yard Zone

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.