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Permalink Reply by John Moe on March 2, 2009 at 10:29pm

Nick;

I've been working on awareness to lawns in general, and the incredible impact they have; mostly because they are ubiquitous. I believe any small change we can make to the design (less lawn, for one example) and maintenance (let them grow a bit longer and aerate them to allow permeability) of lawn areas would have a huge imact in water savings, chemical use and suprisingly, carbon footprint (lawnmowers are little carbon factories).

Here's a link with some information about Low Input Lawns from a local Extension Office: http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG7552.html

John Moe
Minneapolis

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Permalink Reply by John Moe on March 3, 2009 at 5:54am

As a followup to this, designers can change the way we specify lawn areas. We can spec seed or sod species that tolerate, or thrive under, lower maintainance regimens. We can set up proper site conditions by including even simple soil profile requirements and mitigating soil compaction.

Also, check out this page on Smart Irrigation Controllers.
http://www.allianceforwaterefficiency.org/Smart_Irrigation_Controll...

And another link about low input lawns:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h325lawn-lowmai...

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Permalink Reply by Nick Aceto on March 3, 2009 at 8:35am

Thanks John,

This is precisely the feedback I am looking for. I' am currently working with a professor in the horticulture dept. at CSU looking for ways to use plants and trees in sustainable (ugh,,that word again) community planning. Smaller lawns/lot sizes may be a huge contributer to water savings and other issues..thanks!

-n

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Permalink Reply by Roland Beinert on March 3, 2009 at 11:04am

See if you can find a copy of Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development by John T. Lyle. You may have already heard of it. It was written by a landscape architect. He wrote another book that I've never read called Design for Human Ecosystems or something similar. Maybe I'll hunt down a copy of that one myself.

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Permalink Reply by Nick Aceto on March 3, 2009 at 12:38pm

Thanks Roland, perfect..

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Permalink Reply by biancaKOENIG on March 3, 2009 at 12:52pm

Have you reviewed the LEED ND materials? http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=148
Once in there, they cite all of their references. Also, check out your local USGBC Chapter for more info because sustainability is best accomplished with regionally specific designs.

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