It's All About A Sustainable World!!
Guest Blog Article by Clara Beaufort of www.gardenergigs.com
According to National Geographic, as much as 60 percent of a household’s water footprint is used in the yard. This is not only putting a strain on the environment, it’s pushing up your water bill, too. If you’re concerned about your own water usage, don’t worry because there are many techniques and tricks you can use to create a water-wise yard that’s still easy on the eye. Here are four areas you can look into.
Soil
High-quality soil beds can save you a great deal of water, so improving your soil is a must. Start by tilling the soil. Use a spade or hoe to break up and turn over soil down to a depth of six inches. If you don’t do this, you might have a hard layer of soil that prevents water seeping deeper into the earth. Tilled soil also allows plant roots to grow deeper so that the plants can absorb water from these lower areas, even when the topsoil is dry. Adding organic matter to the soil is important too, as this will keep water in place rather than allowing it to run off. If you have more money to invest, you can get your soil analyzed, to see exactly what you should add in order to improve it.
Shade
Improving your soil to increase water retention is all well and good, but it will be pointless if the heat of the sun simply evaporates the water. This is where mulch comes in. Mulch is simply organic matter such as decaying leaves or bark that you layer on top of the soil. It’s porous so water seeps through, but provides shade for the soil, protecting it from the sun. You can also manufacture a shaded area in your garden in which to showcase drought-tolerant, shade-loving plants. Such plants need a lot less water and maintenance than your average plants, so they are great choices for a water-conserving garden. They also look fantastic—check out these great options at Savvy Gardening. You can use fencing, larger shrubs, or trees to create a shaded area.
Plants
Many green-fingered enthusiasts make plant choices purely with appearance in mind; however, if you do this, you may inadvertently end up with some very water-hungry plants. Look up water-wise plants that are native to your area, and make your plant selections from these. Minimizing your lawn space is also an important part of conserving water in the yard because grass is more water intensive than most plant beds, needing 1 to 1.5 inches of water each week to maintain its lush, green appearance. This forces you to be more creative. Rather than the standard layout with the lawn in the middle and plants round the edge, you can try more interesting shapes.
Water
If you live in a drought-prone area, you’ll need to follow the principles of xeriscaping. With xeriscaping, you take water conservation into account in every step of your planning process. Improving the soil, limiting lawn space, and making water-wise plant choices takes you a long way, but you also need to think about irrigation. A simple option is to use drip irrigators around your flower beds which release water slowly and gradually—either set up per plant or spaced evenly throughout a flower bed. A more intensive approach is to use landscaping, creating grades, mounds, and trenches that direct rainwater toward your most water-hungry plants, which would usually be your shade tree, if you have one. You can also use traditional rainfall capture using buckets and barrels to make sure no water goes to waste.
There are a lot of options for making a water-conserving garden, from simple and cheap options like adding mulch, to larger projects like adding grades to your land. Whatever your budget and time constraints, there’s something you can do. So make a plan, put on your garden gloves, and get to work!
Photo Icon: Pixabay
Reconstructive Orthopedics - Medford, NJ
Our first project of 2018 is out the door and installed in Medford, NJ. Nine panels measuring 8' x 12' have been installed on the exterior of an Orthopedic Surgery Clinic in this Philadelphia suburb.
Our guys delivered the product through heavy snow storms from Milwaukee all the way to PA but got it on site for Grace Construction to install. The product looks great and our next step is to assist in plant material selection.
Vertical Greenwalls, LLC provides design assistance, cost estimating, specification writing and marketing materials for any project both large and small. For more information contact Ed Purcell at ed@verticalgws.com or 414-305-8957.
CIRCUIT - A | E | C | RE
Our good friend, Jean Casey, has started a new business which focuses on connecting job-seekers to employers in Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Real Estate professionals. The name of her new firm is Circuit - A|E|C|RE.
If you have staffing needs or are looking for a new position in the industry, check out her website at www.circuit-aecre.com. If you have questions, contact Jean. We know that she'll be happy to help you out.
Vertical Greenwalls, LLC provides design assistance, cost estimating, specification writing and marketing materials for any project both large and small. For more information contact Ed Purcell at ed@verticalgws.com or 414-305-8957.

Bringing Nature Into Work Spaces
Lara O'Keefe, in an article on the BISNOW website, wrote about the benefits and growing trends of incorporating plant material into work spaces. She highlights several great examples and discusses the benefits that these installations bring to employees and ultimately, their employers.
Check out her article through the link below to the BISNOW website . . .
Vertical Greenwalls, LLC provides design assistance, cost estimating, specification writing and marketing materials for any project both large and small. For more information contact Ed Purcell at ed@verticalgws.com or 414-305-8957.

The Benefits of a Green Home
Suzanne Shelton, CEO of Shelton Group, has a well brief and written article about the benefits of building a green home. In it she observes that buyers aren't necessarily looking for "Green" homes but consistently look for homes that have the benefits of a sustainable approach incorporated into its design from. They may not be asking for it as a design approach but the underlying notion is that sustainability has more and more become an integral part of the building design process. This is further evidenced by the fact that so many organizations have incorporated sustainable building standards into their regular approach to facility needs and solutions.
Check out her article through the link below to the Green Biz website, which is a great source for anything green . . .
Vertical Greenwalls, LLC provides design assistance, cost estimating, specification writing and marketing materials for any project both large and small. For more information contact Ed Purcell at ed@verticalgws.com or 414-305-8957.

Biophilic Design In The Workplace
Interface has published an excellent report on the impact of Biophilic design principles in the workplace. Some of the key findings demonstrate that there is a long way to go but that there is a growing base of understanding and appreciation for both the short and long term benefits of these concepts in the design of interior work spaces. Check out the report through the link below. You'll need to register with Interface but it's well worth it. . .
Vertical Greenwalls, LLC provides design assistance, cost estimating, specification writing and marketing materials for any project both large and small. For more information contact Ed Purcell at ed@verticalgws.com or 414-305-8957.

30 Greenwall Applications - Both Inside and Out
The freshome website ran a great story, in June 2017, about 30 Greenwall installations that are all exceptional examples of great design. They range from very small to extremely large and include both interior and exterior applications.
Whether it's a "Living Wall", a "Greenwall" or a "Livewall", they all improve the quality of those spaces. Check it out here . . .
https://freshome.com/living-wall-vertical-gardens/
Vertical Greenwalls, LLC provides design assistance, cost estimating, specification writing and marketing materials for any project both large and small. For more information contact Ed Purcell at ed@verticalgws.com or 414-305-8957.

Vertical Greenwalls Find New Niche
Greenwalls continue to be applied to new uses on projects such as multi-story parking structures, urban buildings and even single family homes. In many cases replacing expensive brick, block and wood cladding. Architects and landscape architects are now finding new and creative ways to utilize horizontal greenwalls as custom designed, low level screens for privacy and other interesting site opportunities replacing typical fencing.
“Customers are asking us to provide horizontal greenwalls to compliment our work elsewhere on their sites” says Adam Blouin, President of Fresh Landscapes. Working with Vertical Greenwalls, Fresh Landscapes completed its first installation for a residential client adding a unique element to the customer's site.
Vertical Greenwalls, LLC has expanded its line of stand alone greenwalls to include a range of products that fulfill extend from the building façade into the site for functional use and as accents. Curiously, when clients see the grids on the building or for that matter in the garden, they often request that vines not even be applied to the grid. This is due in part to the “shiny new car” aesthetic that clients experience when viewing the installations for the first time. By using vibrant color selections the greenwalls stand out and create excellent visual interest in the outdoor environment.
Vertical Greenwalls, LLC provides design assistance, cost estimating, specification writing and marketing materials for any project both large and small. For more information contact Ed Purcell at ed@verticalgws.com or 414-305-8957.
© 2016 Vertical Greenwalls, LLC