Eco-Friendly Lawn Care: Good For Your Family And The Planet!

One of the many reasons why trees are important is because they are suitable for the environment. When you plant a tree, you’re helping your community and the world. Plus, we can adopt certain lawn care practices as property and homeowners that are even more eco-friendly. If you’re interested in learning more about how to be a good neighbor and citizen of the world, here are some eco-friendly tree care tips you can try at your home, business, or property.

Use water conservation techniques.

We can help our trees save, rather than hurt, the environment by using water conservation techniques when they require supplemental watering during periods of drought. Some trees and shrubs need a little extra help surviving and thriving through a sweltering Texas summer, especially when they’re young. Here are some things you can do to make sure your tree saving supplemental watering practices are as eco-friendly as possible:

• When choosing which grass, plants, or trees to use in your landscaping, consider using native varieties that require less water and maintenance to thrive in North Texas conditions. Many Texas trees are drought tolerant.
• Try xeriscaping to achieve a beautiful garden without a skyrocketing water bill. As of 2013, Texas law even protects the rights of Texans to conserve water by prohibiting homeowners associations from restricting a homeowner’s use of drought-resistant landscaping.
• If you have a built-in sprinkler system, try to use it as sparingly as possible. Check the sprinkler heads to make sure they are working correctly, and adjust the nozzles to water the pavement. If you have certain plants, trees, or shrubs that require extra water, use a hose for those instead.
• When you water your landscape, water early in the morning to prevent evaporation and don’t water on windy days.
• Use drip irrigation for your flower beds, trees, and shrubs, and use low-angle sprinklers for your lawn.
• Install a rain barrel. Recycling water is a great way to conserve by collecting and using rainwater from your rain gutters to water your landscape.

Cut back on energy usage.

Conserving energy usage with our trees and in our yards is another way we can utilize eco-friendly practices. Here are some ideas if you’re looking for ways to conserve energy at your home:

• Shade trees can reduce energy usage in a home. A small tree can block sunlight from entering through your windows and help dramatically reduce energy usage. A large shade tree can block sunlight from hitting your roof, walls, or even entire sections of your home. In Texas, where we experience weeks of cloudless skies and blistering heat, a drought-tolerant shade tree could do wonders for your electric bill.
• Be smart about which tools you use for yard work. This is one of the best things you can do for the environment. Gas-powered lawn care equipment emits an excessive amount of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and other emissions that are harmful to the planet. When you’re able, try opting for hand tools or battery-operated tools instead. As a bonus, you’ll save money on fuel as well!
• Create compost. This practice is two-fold: it provides a rich, organic compost to use on your landscape, and it also saves energy usage by keeping you from needing to run the garbage disposal. If you usually throw your food scraps and other compostable materials away, then it cuts down on your household waste.
• Look into energy-efficient outdoor lighting options. Many homeowners leave their outdoor lights on all night. If you’re using incandescent light bulbs, you’re unnecessarily wasting a lot of energy. Consider switching to LED bulbs, which use significantly less energy, produce less heat, and last much longer.

Reduce your use of chemicals

Sometimes it’s hard to get around using chemicals in our yards, but it’s best to avoid or reduce the use of chemicals whenever possible. Below are some tips for how to do that:

• Soil conditioning makes trees healthy and helps prevent pests and diseases. If your tree gets sick or infested with insects, sometimes it’s necessary to use chemicals to fix the problem. Having healthy trees that are less likely to get sick in the first place helps prevent the use of chemicals. Getting a healthy tree starts with having healthy soil. Test your soil every spring to ensure your trees and shrubs have the balanced soil conditions they need to thrive. Consider working with a certified arborist for this task. TreeNewal’s ISA Certified Arborists are available to visit your property to assess your soil and create a custom tree care plan for your trees and shrubs.
• Be conservative with fertilizer and look for eco-friendly options. After soil testing, try to only fertilize in the spring and fall. That way, you’re less likely to over-fertilize your lawn. When you do fertilize, look for organic, eco-friendly products. Your landscape will be healthy, use less water, and require less usage of lawn care equipment.
• Mulch your beds, trees, and shrubs to keep the soil healthier for longer. Mulch acts as a protective blanket that retains moisture and nutrients in the soil, which means you’ll use less water and fertilizer to optimize the health of your soil and, therefore, your trees. Just don’t over-mulch, which could cause deoxygenation and other issues.

TreeNewal is here for you.

TreeNewal believes in the importance of trees. TreeNewal is a certified arborist tree service with multiple ISA Certified Arborists on staff and a team of highly qualified tree care experts in Dallas. If you need professional tree care, our tree doctors in Dallas are the best in the business. They can make knowledgeable recommendations for optimizing your tree’s health. We care about tree health care at all stages of the tree life cycle. We are experts on both young and mature trees, and we offer a full range of expert tree care services, such as tree planting, tree trimming and pruning, pest and disease control, root aeration, and tree removal. For more information about our tree care services, go to our website at treenewal.com. To set up an appointment, call us at tel:(817) 592-6846.

To learn more about Eco-Friendly Lawn Care: Good For Your Family And The Planet!, call our Argyle and Southlake-based teams

at tel:(817) 592-6846 or send us a message.

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Learn more about TreeNewal’s ISA Certified Arborists!

Our Dallas/Fort Worth-based tree doctors can explain how sustainable tree care services add more value to your bottom line.

Healthy trees, healthy lives.