Deciding to landscape your yard is a big decision and it is one that you should not take lightly. You want your yard to be unique, setting it apart from every other yard in the neighbourhood. As more people grow aware of their carbon trail, sustainability has slowly found its way out of the organic food section into other green areas such as landscaping. Most people feel that by landscaping their property their doing their part for the environment. Unfortunately, few realize that traditional concepts of landscaping cause more harm than good to the environment.

Native plants have a better chance of survival due to their familiarity with the local weather. They often require less care because they are already well adapted to the environment. Therefore you end up saving the money you would have otherwise spent on fertilizers to sustain an exotic plant. Not to forget, you also avoid the irreversible affects that these chemicals have on the soil.

Sustainable landscaping is also designed to integrate food plants in a practical way within an ornamental setting. This type of landscape provides an aesthetically pleasing garden that simultaneously produces fresh local fruits and vegetables for you, the home owner. The same design principles for a decorative garden are used, but with substituting edible plants for some of the otherwise unproductive plants typically used in a decorative garden. Using edible plants in landscape design can enhance a garden by providing a unique ornamental component with additional health, aesthetic, and economic benefits, typically mixing of edible and non-edible plants to keep a balance between beauty and usefulness.

A fully sustainable landscape is one of the most rewarding yards that a family can have, for both looks and practicality.