You're Gonna Love Green
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Other Useful Websites You’re Gonna Love Green • Edmonton Horticultural Society Publications YOU’RE GONNA www.edmontonhort.com Apartments & Condominiums Programs and activities for all levels of gardeners. Eco-Landscaping L VE GREEN • Edmonton Native Plant Group Edmonton Green Home Guide edmontonnaturalizationgroup.org Edmonton Green Living Guide (coming soon!) Information about where to buy native plants/seeds. • The Urban Farmer To download these publications, Eco-Landscaping www.theurbanfarmer.ca visit www.edmonton.ca/LoveGreen. Environmentally friendly ways to reduce yard maintenance, Natural, sustainable and edible landscapes. costs and greenhouse gas emissions. • Wild About Gardening (Canadian Wildlife Sign up for our newsletter Federation) We have a biannual newsletter, as well as occasional www.wildaboutgardening.org updates on events and promotions. Sign up at Advice, tools and resources for backyard www.edmonton.ca/LoveGreen. gardening. Recommended Reading • Go Wild! with easy to grow prairie wildflowers and grasses Cherry Dodd, Edmonton Native Plant Group • Living Near Urban Lakes Sarah Weaver Kipp City of Edmonton − Environment Phone: 311 (in Edmonton) / 780-442-5311 (outside Edmonton) Website: www.edmonton.ca/LoveGreen Take Action on Climate Change Cover Photo By: www.edmonton.ca/LoveGreen Edmonton Horticultural Society/Jon D. Brehaut 2014-07 Eco-landscaping reduces waste, fertilizer and chemical needs, conserves water Other Tips and saves money through reduced energy and yard maintenance costs. It also • When landscaping, ensure that the lot is graded so helps reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions responsible for climate change. that rainwater and snow melt runoff is absorbed or collected where it is useful. Ecoscape: low maintenance • Use existing, salvaged/recycled or locally available Backyard compost materials for landscaping. landscaping Compost your yard waste and kitchen scraps • Landscapes that produce food can help reduce the Incorporate diverse types of native, drought- (e.g. eggshells, cores and peels) to reduce energy required for commercial food production, resistant plants (including grasses and ground waste and produce your own natural fertilizer refrigeration and transportation. covers), practical turf areas and mulches into and soil conditioner. Composting is easy, and a your landscape design to create an attractive, family of three can reduce GHG emissions by low maintenance yard. This type of design more than 125 kilograms per year. Reducing Related City Websites not only reduces water use but typically your household waste means less waste needs Visit www.edmonton.ca/LoveGreen and click on reduces fertilizer, pest and disease control to be collected, transported and processed. Residents for more eco-landscaping information. requirements, helping the environment while Mulch saving you time and money. Also, group plants • Edmonton in Bloom Cover the soil surface around your outdoor according to watering needs to reduce water www.edmonton.ca/BeautifyEdmonton plants with compost, shredded bark or other use. Learn about projects that help make Edmonton organic material. Mulching in the spring beautiful. And nominate your neighbour’s yard for Plant trees reduces weeds and the need to water. a Front Yards in Bloom Award! Categories include A well-placed line of evergreens on the north Mulching in the fall protects plants against natural and edible yards. and west side of your home provides shelter winter. Mulch can also create a habitat for against winter winds and reduces your home’s beneficial insects, which will help reduce • Good Growing Neighbours demand for heat. Deciduous trees on the reliance on pesticides. www.goodgrowingneighbours.ca south side of your house provide shade in the Tips on pesticide reduction. Use a push or electric mower summer while still allowing sunshine in during the • Root for Trees Consider using a manual push or electric winter. www.edmonton.ca/RootForTrees mower. A typical gas-powered mower produces Help plant more trees in the city. Collect rainwater 48 kilograms of GHG emissions in a season Use a cistern or rain barrel to capture and and as much air pollution as a car driven 550 • Waste Management store rainwater for irrigation. It reduces runoff kilometres. www.edmonton.ca/for_residents/composting- and the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions grasscycling.aspx associated with tap water. Grasscycle Information and tips on grasscycling and Leave grass clippings on your lawn when you composting. Water the lawn early in the morning mow. Clippings will quickly break down, helping More than half of the water applied to lawns can your lawn retain moisture, adding nutrients • yegTreeMap be lost to evaporation and run-off due to over- and reducing the need for fertilizers. Keeping www.opentreemap.org/edmontonton watering. Watering during the cool part of the grass out of your garbage by grasscycling can Map trees planted on public and private property day reduces losses to evaporation. Single, deep reduce over 500 kilograms of GHG emissions and measure their environmental value. waterings (25 mm / 1 inch once every 7-10 days) per household per year. It also eliminates the are more effective than several light waterings. need to bag the clippings, saving both time and Adding compost or 12-15 cm (5-6 inches) of money. good quality top soil will help hold water and fertilizer, reducing your need for watering..