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Sustainable gardening includes the more specific sustainable landscapes, sustainable landscape design,
sustainable landscaping Sustainable landscaping is a modern type of gardening or landscaping that takes the environmental issue of sustainability into account. According to Loehrlein in 2009 this includes design, construction and management of residential and commercial g ...
,
sustainable landscape architecture Sustainable landscape architecture is a category of sustainable design concerned with the planning and design of the built and natural environments. The design of a sustainable landscape encompasses the three pillars of sustainable development: e ...
, resulting in sustainable sites. It comprises a disparate group of
horticultural Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
interests that can share the aims and objectives associated with the international post-1980s
sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...
and
sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...
programs developed to address that humans are now using natural biophysical resources faster than they can be replenished by nature. Included within this are those home gardeners, and members of the landscape and nursery industries, and municipal authorities, that integrate environmental, social, and economic factors to create a more sustainable future.


Sustainable Sites Initiative

The Sustainable Sites Initiative is a commercial accreditation body in USA which certifies landscapers and sites using guidelines and performance benchmarks for sustainable land design, for which their registered trademark can be earned after a fee.
American Society of Landscape Architects. ''Guidelines and performance benchmarks''. The sustainable sites initiative. Retrieved on: 2009-03-16.
It was founded in 2005. Using the United Nations
Brundtland Report __NOTOC__ ''Our Common Future'', also known as the Brundtland Report, was published on October 1987 by the United Nations through the Oxford University Press. This publication was in recognition of Gro Harlem Brundtland's, former Norwegian Prime M ...
’s definition of sustainable development as a model, it defines sustainability as:
...design, construction, operations and maintenance practices that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
by attempting to:
...protect, restore and enhance the ability of landscapes to provide
ecosystem services Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. Th ...
that benefit humans and other organisms.
There is no uniform national standard for a sustainable landscaping project in the USA. Sites are rated according to their impact on ecosystem services: The following ecosystem services have been identified: * Local climate regulation * Air and water cleansing * Water supply and regulation * Erosion and sediment control * Hazard mitigation * Pollination * Habitat functions * Waste decomposition and treatment * Global climate regulation * Human health and well-being benefits * Food and renewable non-food products * Cultural benefits INPUTS :*Fossil fuels :*Embodied energy and water :*Compost :*Mulch :*Ecology & biodiversity :*Fertilizer :*Hard landscape materials :*Equipment :*Products OUTPUTS * Energy & water * Food * Green waste * Ecology & biodiversity * Chemicals * Old hard landscape materials * Old equipment * Old products PROCESSES


Principles

Enhancement of ecosystem services is encouraged throughout the life of any site by providing clear design, construction and management criteria. Sustainability requires that environmental, social and economic demands are integrated. Guidelines supplement existing green building guidelines and include metrics (benchmarks, audits, criteria, indexes etc.) that give some measure of sustainability (a rating system) by clarifying what is sustainable or not sustainable or, more likely, what is more or less sustainable. Impacts of a site can be assessed and measured over any spatio-temporal scale. Impacts of a site may be ''direct'' by having direct measurable impacts on biodiversity and ecology at the site itself, or ''indirect'' when impacts occur away from the site.


Site principles

The following are some site principles for sustainable gardening: Saturday, 7 December 2019 * do no harm * use the
precautionary principle The precautionary principle (or precautionary approach) is a broad epistemological, philosophical and legal approach to innovations with potential for causing harm when extensive scientific knowledge on the matter is lacking. It emphasizes caut ...
* design with nature and culture * use a decision-making hierarchy of preservation, conservation, and regeneration * provide regenerative systems as
intergenerational equity Intergenerational equity in economic, psychological, and sociological contexts, is the idea of fairness or justice between generations. The concept can be applied to fairness in dynamics between children, youth, adults, and seniors. It can al ...
* support a living process * use a system thinking approach * use a collaborative and ethical approach * maintain integrity in leadership and research * foster environmental stewardship


Measuring site sustainability

One major feature distinguishing sustainable gardens, landscapes and sites from other similar enterprises is the quantification of site sustainability by establishing performance benchmarks. Because sustainability is such a broad concept the environmental impacts of sites can be categorised in numerous ways depending on the purpose for which the figures are required. The process can include minimising negative environmental impacts and maximising positive impacts. As currently applied the environment is usually given priority over social and economic factors which may be added in or regarded as an inevitable and integral part of the management process. A home gardener is likely to use simpler metrics than a professional landscaper. Three methods for measuring site sustainability include
BREEAM BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method), first published by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in 1990, is the world's longest established method of assessing, rating, and certifying the sustainability of ...
developed by the BRE organisation in the UK, Leed, developed in America and the Oxford 360 degree sustainability Index used in Oxford Park and developed by the Oxford Sustainable Group in Scandinavia.


See also

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Carbon cycle re-balancing Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caused by emissions from fossil fuels bur ...
*
Climate-friendly gardening Climate-friendly gardening is a form of gardening that can reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from gardens and encourage the absorption of carbon dioxide by soils and plants in order to aid the reduction of global warming. To be a climate-friend ...
*
Context theory Prototype theory is a theory of categorization in cognitive science, particularly in psychology and cognitive linguistics, in which there is a graded degree of belonging to a conceptual category, and some members are more central than others. It ...
* Foodscaping *
Green roof A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage ...
*
Landscape planning Landscape planning is a branch of landscape architecture. According to Erv Zube (1931–2002) landscape planning is defined as an activity concerned with developing landscaping amongst competing land uses while protecting natural processes and ...
*
Manure tea Manure tea is the product of the manure of livestock being steeped in a bag submerged in water. This tea is used for the fertilization of crops. This is an organic alternative to chemical fertilizers and is a more sustainable practice of fertiliza ...
* Public Open Space (POS) *
Roof garden A roof garden is a garden on the roof of a building. Besides the decorative benefit, roof plantings may provide food, temperature control, hydrological benefits, architectural enhancement, habitats or corridors for wildlife, recreational oppo ...
*
Sustainable architecture Sustainable architecture is architecture that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings through improved efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, development space and the ecosystem at large. Sustainable ...
*
Sustainable design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...
*
Sustainable landscaping Sustainable landscaping is a modern type of gardening or landscaping that takes the environmental issue of sustainability into account. According to Loehrlein in 2009 this includes design, construction and management of residential and commercial g ...
*
Sustainable landscape architecture Sustainable landscape architecture is a category of sustainable design concerned with the planning and design of the built and natural environments. The design of a sustainable landscape encompasses the three pillars of sustainable development: e ...
*
Sustainable planting Sustainable planting is an approach to planting design and landscaping-gardening. Practical examples * When creating new roads or widening current roads, the Nevada Department of Transportation will reserve topsoil and native plants for donati ...
*
Sustainable urban drainage systems Sustainable drainage systems (also known as SuDS,Urban agriculture Urban agriculture, urban farming, or urban gardening is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around urban areas. It encompasses a complex and diverse mix of food production activities, including fisheries and fo ...
*
Urban forestry Urban forestry is the care and management of single trees and tree populations in urban settings for the purpose of improving the urban environment. Urban forestry involves both planning and management, including the programming of care and ...
*
Xeriscaping Xeriscaping is the process of Garden design, landscaping, or gardening, that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water and has gained accep ...


References


External links


Information on designing a sustainable urban landscape


{{aquatic ecosystem topics, state=collapsed Horticultural techniques Sustainable design Landscape architecture Types of garden