Y&L Landscaping is the activity of modifying the visible features of an area of land. It can include adding or removing plants, changing the terrain and building structures.
It differs from gardening, which focuses on the care and maintenance of plants. Landscapers can install and maintain many types of outdoor elements, such as: retaining walls, garden sculptures, fences, patios, pavement and water features.
A beautiful landscape complements a house and makes it feel like home. It can also make people feel good about themselves and their environment, and inspire them to protect it. Landscaping is a way to express your personality and style, so choose plants that reflect your taste and lifestyle. You can also use the landscaping to create a sense of continuity between your indoor and outdoor spaces. For example, you can plant flowers that bloom at different times throughout the year or put in a water feature to add some visual interest to your garden.
Whether you like the look of a cottage-garden style or an ultra-modern contemporary design, it’s important to find a balance between your landscape and house. Some homeowners try to match their house and garden aesthetically, but this is challenging because every person’s taste is unique. It’s better to focus on the practical aspects of landscaping, such as ensuring that your plants can thrive in your climate and providing shade for your home.
Many studies have shown a positive correlation between landscape aesthetics and ecological values. However, it remains a challenge to link these values to landscape structural metrics and ecosystem functions. For instance, the concept of naturalness has been used as a proxy for environmental quality, but it is not linked to classical measures of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
In addition, the human perception of beauty depends on how much knowledge they have about the biotic components in a landscape. It has been proposed that a more holistic approach to beauty, called the “aesthetics of ecological function”, will provide valuable information about biodiversity and its impact on humans. This could help develop operational conservation programs at local to global scales.
Energy Efficiency
A well-designed and maintained landscape can provide more than aesthetics. It can also save energy and money by decreasing your heating and cooling costs. It can also help reduce the amount of water you use for landscaping purposes.
Keeping your home cool in summer and warm in winter can take a lot of energy and run up your power bills. Strategically placed trees and other plants can greatly reduce these energy consumption.
Trees can provide shade and evaporative cooling, deflecting the sun’s heat and slowing the flow of air. Studies have shown that tree-shaded neighborhoods can be up to 6 degrees cooler than those without trees.
Vines can provide a similar effect when grown on trellises and tunneled over windows and roofs to create effective shading, decreasing the amount of solar energy that enters a house. Native plants can also contribute to energy savings by providing shade and acting as wind blockers, reducing the need for artificial cooling or heating.
Landscaping techniques that promote energy efficiency include minimizing irrigation and water use, on-site soil testing, avoiding gas-powered equipment, purchasing local materials, on-site composting and chipping to reduce green waste hauling, using natural hand tools instead of electric mowers, and incorporating drought-resistant plantings into the landscape.
The type of landscape that maximizes energy efficiency depends on climate zone, weather patterns and the orientation of a home to the sun. An experienced professional will understand these factors and work with you to ensure that your landscaping is both beautiful and cost-efficient. It’s important to understand that an efficient landscape is just as much of a priority as the right design and style.
Wildlife
Wildlife is affected by the habitat in which it lives. The habitat must provide the basic elements of food, cover and water for wildlife species to thrive. The human caused destruction of wildlife’s natural habitats at the local and global levels has resulted in the loss of many wildlife species.
Landscaping to attract wildlife helps reverse some of this destruction. Adding native trees, shrubs and flowers that provide a variety of nectars and fruit to a yard can make it more attractive for songbirds and butterflies. Including plants that produce nuts and other food for animals is also helpful. In addition, reducing the amount of lawn that is mowed allows for meadow areas, which can be a valuable source of food and shelter for birds and insects.
Providing a landscape with varied vegetation that is arranged close together, which is called “habitat diversity,” also helps reduce the chances of predators killing an animal when it moves from one element to another. This is accomplished by incorporating a variety of plant heights and shapes, clumping native grasses, including evergreens in the landscape and leaving dead trees and other brush piles to serve as snags for wildlife to hide or nest.
Native plants are those that occur naturally in a particular region and have co-evolved with the native wildlife species. Non-native plants are those that have been introduced to a region from other locations, such as Asia and western Europe, and may become invasive, meaning that they grow and spread uncontrollably in the wild, crowding out native species and altering the ecosystem. Using native plants in your garden is a more sustainable approach to landscaping for wildlife.
Health
Landscaping is a creative art form that creates outdoor environments that reflect the personality and taste of the owner. It is also a beneficial service for the environment, improving air quality, reducing noise pollution, and conserving water and energy. In addition, it provides psychological and physical health benefits. Spending time in a well-maintained landscape can reduce blood pressure, increase mental alertness, and boost the immune system. Landscaping also helps reduce stress levels by reducing the production of cortisol, a hormone that causes high blood pressure. The soothing effect of a natural landscape can also improve concentration and memory, while encouraging physical activity.
In cities, dense landscaping helps filter out pollutants and prevent stormwater runoff by absorbing and storing excess water. Trees can also provide shade to minimize the amount of sunlight that reaches buildings, which lowers energy costs by decreasing the need for air conditioning. In addition, a well-designed landscape can help reduce the amount of chemicals that are used on a property by using natural pest control methods such as mulch, earthworms, and birds to deter harmful insects.
If you are looking for a career with great pay and benefits, then look no further than the field of Landscaping. The industry offers positions for technicians, supervisors, managers, sales professionals, and even horticulturalists. This is a great career for people who love to work outdoors, have a strong sense of creativity, and want to make the world a better place. Learn more about Landscaping careers and apply today! It’s the perfect fit for soon-to-be graduates, current students, and career changers who want to find a way to combine their passion with purpose.