The Colorado Green Building Guild (CGBG) recently hosted a panel on green initiatives in the landscaping industry and LID Landscapes’ General Manager Scott Natter was a featured speaker.
There were approximately 25 attendees, consisting of architects, builders, material suppliers, gardeners, and homeowners.
“We try to include a wide variety of sustainability topics, and green landscaping is a vital part of creating a holistically designed green building,” said Scott Rodwin, President of CGBG. “LID’s strong knowledge and reputation for creating sustainable landscapes made them an obvious choice for the panel.”
Natter focused his speech on effective landscape practices that help limit the impact on the surrounding environment through the reuse of natural resources, the limitation of harmful chemicals on the site, and the innovation of new technologies. For example, he said that battery-operated machinery cuts down on noise pollution and reduces an individual or company’s carbon footprint overall.
He also stated that while there are some organic herbicides on the market, their effectiveness is limited. “The most effective organic method of weed control is manual weeding,” Natter said. “The larger complication is the training of the general public of the fact that there is an acceptable level of weed growth in the landscape when it comes to a truly organic service.”
While zero tolerance in a landscape is almost achievable, the time, effort, and money involved is often higher than most people realize or want to invest.
“To destroy all weeds requires an enormous amount of human and machine energy, and those efforts create a disproportional amount of carbon emissions,” said Natter. “With that said, we can use techniques to naturally control weeds, such as fertilizing lawns to create a denser blade growth which effectively limits the germination of weed seeds in the lawn area.”
Natter also explained that LID Landscapes recycles yard waste materials from job sites, such as soil, sod, grass clippings, and twigs, which is then used as an organic mulch on residential and commercial sites. Additionally, LID crushes old concrete and flagstone scraps into reusable sub-base materials which is used under hardscapes such as driveways, patios, and walks.
“In all of our projects, we consider the existing plant and natural materials and figure out how we can use them most effectively in the creation of a beautiful new landscape,” said Natter.
The two other panelists included Brian Coppom, Director of the Boulder County Farmer’s Market, and Lauren Kelso, Site Director of Growing Gardens. “The audience was very enthusiastic and enjoyed the diversity of perspectives from the panelists,” said Rodwin.
CGBG plans to host another panel on green landscaping next year.
Images courtesy of CGBG.
Leave A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.