Ecologically Sound Landscaping
By Jonathan Losee

Canada has substantial quantities of free water to help maintain our landscaping. You would think that it should be easy to install a new garden and have it grow without great assistance. This is increasingly not the case.
All gardens need additional water to get through the dry summer months - and there is growing support (and sometimes enforcement) of water conservation measures. Past summer droughts have caused municipalities to institute water restriction regulations, and even ticket landscapers for using improper watering techniques. Projects have suffered from lack of moisture.
Today, new projects are built in a more demanding atmosphere, and new gardens must be designed accordingly.
The following basic conservation principles can help builders achieve good results by providing homeowners with new and interesting landscaping while maintaining a conservative approach to garden construction.

Know your microclimates
A good garden designer's first question is "Which way is north?" This tells the designer many things: where the hottest and driest part of the garden will be, what portions will be in shade and which direction the prevailing winds come from. Understanding these criteria will assist in planning the vegetation and lawns.
Choose your plant material carefully
Plant material should be selected according to the aspect of the site (the location of the yard relative to the sun). Sun-tolerant plants should be chosen for the south and southwest part of the site, and shade-tolerant plants for the north side of the building. Now there is an additional principle to consider - drought tolerance. Plants for both the sunny side and shady side should require little water to sustain them.
Native plants require little more than natural rainfall to sustain growth - no one waters the forest and look at how well those plants grow. There are varied and interesting plant combinations, using native plants, that can achieve wonderful results. A growing number of local nurseries specialize in native plant propagation and can supply commercial projects. Ornamental grasses and drought-tolerant perennials are available for the garden and can offer a wide variety of textures, colour and form.

Provide maintenance during establishment
New gardens and lawns require watering to become established. In many jurisdictions, permits are required to water newly installed gardens. Irrigation systems help, and have proven to reduce maintenance costs for the first year. A system can be paid for in as little time as four years.
Irrigation design has come a long way, and there are new water-wise systems available, including drip irrigation, low-flow nozzles and soaker hoses which can provide adequate water without waste. There are even systems designed to harvest rooftop rainwater and store it in cisterns for use during hot weather. Once past the first critical year of growth, with a little care and additional watering during the summer months, any new garden should be sustainable.

Educate new homeowners
With water conservation practices implemented, modern gardens do not look like they used to. Gone are the days of lush big-leafed plants and verdant lawns. Landscapes now use native plants, ornamental grasses and drought-tolerant perennials, and lawns often turn brown in the summer. Homeowners must become aware that this is an acceptable alternative and adjust to this new way of thinking about gardens. HB

Vancouver landscape architect Jonathan Losee handles institutional and park design projects, as well as commercial, multi-family and private residential building. He is the lead landscape architect for Adera Group, a major British Columbia home building company.