Sustainable Landscaping is an environmentally-friendly landscaping method that employs some basic principles that can reduce the impact we have on the environment plus the amount of time, money and labor we put into maintaining it. These methods help create a functional, aesthetically pleasing landscape that can be easily maintained in the years to come.

The basic principles include such practices as improving your soil, preventing water runoff pollution through the use of rain gardens, choosing the right plant according to conditions, and replacing lawn areas that are difficult to maintain with better adapted shrubs, trees and ground covers.

For more information:

• Visit the University of Minnesota Extension Service’s Sustainable Urban Landscape Information Series at www.sustland.umn.edu.
• Learn about Raingardens on this City of Maplewood, MN webpage: http://tinyurl.com/j2xe3
• Consider Soil Testing at http://soiltest.coafes.edu .