CHAPTER 2:
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF NATURAL LANDSCAPING?
The numerous potential benefits of natural landscaping may be divided into
economic, environmental and educational/recreational themes. These categories
are the focus of this chapter.
ECONOMIC BENEFITS
The" bottom line" can be a strong motivation for installing and maintaining
natural landscaping instead of a conventional lawn. The savings that can
be realized through natural landscaping for municipalities, park districts,
school-districts, corporations, and institutions campuses are dramatically
illustrated in the examples below, where approximately nine-tenths of the
cost of conventional landscape maintenance was avoided! For some organizations,
reducing site maintenance costs may be a significant factor in being able
to balance the budget.
Reduced costs of landscape installation and maintenance
Cost data show that conventional installation of sodded turf grasses may
exceed $12,000 per acre. Planting turf grass seeds may cost in the range
of $4,000 to $8,000 per acre. This contrasts with installation costs of
$2,000 to $4,000 per acre for seeding native prairie grasses and forbs.
Planting plugs of native plants considerably increases installation costs
but this may be preferred in selected locations where a "head start" is
desired.
Native plant installation costs can often be reduced where the project
sponsor or co-sponsor is a public or private entity with plant propagating
capabilities. Also, volunteers are often willing to assist in the installation
and maintenance of native landscapes, which further reduces costs.
The major savings of natural landscaping is the lost cost of landscape
maintenance. The combined costs of installation and maintenance for natural
landscape over a ten year period may be one fifth of the costs for conventional
landscape maintenance.
Native perennial plants are well adapted to the local soils and to environmental
conditions such as summer heat and drought. The costs of the following
maintenance factors are significantly reduced or eliminated through natural
landscaping: labor, water, fertilizer, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides,
replanting annual flowers, and mowing. In some locations the costs of water
for sprinkling can be very high and are avoided by natural landscaping.
The reduced consumption of fossil fuel for lawn maintenance equipment is
an additional benefit.
Typical original maintenance requirements of natural landscapes are
quite simple, involving annual mowing or burning, and some weed removal
(mostly in the few years after installation).
In the Appendix are detailed installation and maintenance cost analyses
based on the project experience of firms with experience with natural landscapes.
Reduced expense for stormwater management facilities
In many locations, natural landscaping can accommodate storm and flood
waters thereby reducing the need for expensive, "highly engineered" conveyance
and detention facilities. Drainage swales in particular cost considerably
less to install than storm sewers. Where practical, curbs and gutters can
be eliminated, or the curbs can be slotted. To the extent that natural
drainage measures can increase infiltration of stormwater, they will reduce
runoff volumes and costs of downstream conveyance and detention structures.
Detention basins designed with natural landscaping to resemble wetlands
or natural lake systems reduce costs over conventional basins. Native wetland
and prairie vegetation eliminate the need for expensive riprap stabilization
and paved low flow channels. Further, natural vegetation in detention basin
bottoms and on side slopes is less expensive to maintain than conventional
turf landscaping, in addition to being a more reliable soil stabilizer.
Creation of a distinctive community image that strengthens real estate
markets
High quality natural features such as river corridors and woodlands strengthen
the identity of a community or neighborhood. Distinctive natural landscaping
that preserves the unique characteristics of a community is a unique community
asset.
Real estate within a distinctive landscape setting, if done well, can
possess a marketing edge and positively affect property values. A community
that appears to care for a high quality environment establishes a marketing
niche that traditional area developments cannot offer.
Natural landscaping projects require materials, labor and professional
services that generate income as well as enhance the environment. Nurseries,
landscape architects, environmental restoration professionals, environmental
groups, and neighborhood organizations are increasingly responding to the
market for natural landscaping materials and professional expertise. Some
inner-city neighborhood organizations are considering the economic development
potential of cultivating native plants and seed products for environmental
restoration projects. Sources for natural landscaping materials must be
from businesses rather than from the "wild."
Supports the natural landscaping component of the "green industry."
There are many opportunities for creative entrepreneurs in all aspects
of natural landscaping.
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
In many ways, natural landscaping reduces the stress that the "weed-free"
lawn places on clean air, clean water, soil stability and other environmental
qualities of life.
Reduced soil erosion
Natural landscaping has distinct advantages over conventional turf grasses
in stabilizing easily erodible soils. Native plants are particularly effective
on steeply sloped sites, stream banks, and areas where moving water is
present. The roots of native prairie plants are very dense, fine, and often
very deep (in some cases, 5 to 10 feet in mature plants) and hold soil
well. By contrast, typical turf grass root systems are only four to six
inches deep.
Wetland vegetation provides effective soil stabilization along streambanks
and shorelines by absorbing some of the erosive energy of flowing water
and waves.
Native vegetation is finding a new use in "bioengineering" approaches
to slope stabilization. Recent demonstration projects for streambank and
shoreline stabilization, such as along the Skokie River in the Chicago
Botanic Garden, have successfully used native plants such as prairie cordgrass
and various willow species.
Improved water quality
Native vegetation in naturalized drainage ways enhances the infiltration
of contaminated stormwater. The dense, deep root systems augment the permeability
of the soil and help the uptake of certain stormwater pollutants. Native
vegetation buffers are particularly effective along the edges of streams,
lakes, and wetlands. They can intercept runoff and subsurface water pollutants
from urban and agricultural land uses and construction sites. Emergent
and submerged wetland vegetation provides an additional benefit along the
edges of lakes and streams by serving as a growing surface for microorganisms.
These microorganisms break down certain pollutants thereby reducing their
harmful effects.
An additional benefit of native vegetation landscaping is its ability
to thrive without fertilizers, or heavy use of pesticides and herbicides.
Turf grass and other conventional landscapes are heavily dependent on chemical
applications, and the excess chemicals inevitably find their way into our
waterways where they cause excessive plant growth and toxicity to fish
and other aquatic organisms.
Reduced air pollution
Standard lawn maintenance equipment creates significant amounts of air
pollution. Equipment such as lawn mowers , chain saws, leaf vacuums, and
other fossil fueled lawn maintenance equipment emit high levels of carbon
monoxide, hydrocarbons (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides, which contribute to
the formation of ground level ozone (smog), toxins and other particulates.
USEPA estimates that a gasoline powered lawn mower emits 11 times the air
pollution of a new car for each hour of operation. Gasoline lawn and power
equipment, on average, produce 5 percent of "smog" forming VOC in nonattainment
areas (such as the northeastern Illinois region). Smog is a noxious irritant
which impairs lung function and inhibits plant growth. In addition, the
"driver" of such equipment is typically positioned where exposure to such
carbon monoxide and toxic emissions is greatest.
Small gasoline spills evaporate and pollute the air as well. USEPA estimates
that every summer, the few ounces spilled during each refueling of lawn
and garden equipment adds up to 17,000,000 gallons of gasoline nationwide.
Natural landscaping can significantly reduce the need for fossil fueled
lawn and garden equipment and this reduces the associated air pollution
and health risks. In addition, the native plants themselves can help to
improve air quality by reducing particulates and gaseous air pollutants.
Reduced noise pollution
Noise from lawn and gardening equipment has become a source of increasing
dissatisfaction in some communities. The use of natural landscapes reduce
the use of this equipment.
Climatological benefits
Trees and other vegetation benefit the climate on three levels: human comfort,
energy conservation, and urban climates.
Human comfort. Plants intercept infrared radiation directly by providing
shade and indirectly by covering surfaces that reflect or reradiate solar
energy. Trees and shrubs can channel air movement. Moving air feels cooler.
In the winter, windbreaks reduce the wind chill factor.
Energy Conservation. Windbreaks on the north and west sides of buildings
reduce winter heating costs. In the summer, trees and other vegetation
make non-air-conditioned buildings more comfortable and reduce energy costs
for air-conditioning.
Reduced greenhouse effect
Natural vegetation can help to combat global climate change (the "greenhouse
effect") by removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. Plants remove
CO2 from the atmosphere and store the carbon in the body of the plant,
the root system and the soil.
Planting native plants can facilitate this CO2 removal. The soils beneath
the tallgrass prairie can contain an immense amount of soil organic matter
and nitrogen. Studies have indicated that temperate prairie grasslands
are superior soil carbon sinks when compared to forests of similar climatic.
It is the combination of fire, plants, root depth distributions and microbes
that produce the large amount of soil carbon.
Habitat restoration and protection
Due to extensive urban and agricultural development, high quality natural
communities cover only .07% of Illinois' land and water, according to the
Illinois Natural Areas Inventory. With this decrease of habitats, many
plants and animals have lost the special conditions and requirements they
need for their survival.
Natural landscaping plays a part in attracting native animals and re-establishing
a natural population of wildlife and the natural cycles within which they
thrive. In addition, natural landscaping can be used to create buffers
which reduce urban stresses and proximity of exotic species to high quality
natural areas.
Native insects, including butterflies and moths, attract a wide array
of songbirds, who eat the insects and the plant seeds. If a restored prairie
is large enough, it might attract nesting grassland birds such as meadowlarks
and bobolinks, birds whose habitat is decreasing in most parts of their
range in the state. The degree of habitat value in natural landscaping
depends on many factors relating to the ability of a site to provide the
conditions required by specific plant and animal species. Site planning
for natural landscaping should strive to preserve existing wildlife habitats.
As part of planning natural landscaping, it is desirable that an inventory
of plant and animal species currently using the site be taken. Where desirable
species are already using the site for nesting, phasing in a project by
keeping enough habitat to protect those species should be considered before
forging ahead with replanting the entire site.
Canada geese have become pests in many city and suburban locations where
there are turf grass lawns in proximity to open water. A buffer of thick
and tall native plantings around the waterbody will discourage geese from
grazing, especially during the growing season when the plants are taller.
Beautification
Though it is difficult to quantify, beautification is an important reason,
sometimes the fundamental reason, for natural landscaping. Many people
living or working in natural landscapes appreciate the variety of textures,
colors and shapes of native plants and the dramatic progression of hues
throughout the seasons. The wildlife, especially the birds and butterflies
attracted to the plants, also enhance the aesthetic appeal of natural landscaping.
EDUCATIONAL AND RECREATIONAL BENEFITS.
There is an old saying that:
" People will only conserve what they love; that they will only love
what they understand; and that they will only understand what they are
taught."
Natural landscaping may not be the only way to demonstrate this old
adage, but it is a powerful instrument in our tool kit for the future.
Conservation education
Natural landscaping puts people in touch with a variety of plants, and
if the plantings are native to the area, people can gain a sense of being
in a unique and special place. Natural landscapes are an invitation to
appreciate plant diversity, seasonal flowering cycles, sustainability of
native landscapes, and wildlife habitat, all of which are absent in conventional
landscapes. This familiarity can strengthen community support for habitat
preservation and restoration, environmental protection, and open space
acquisition.
Municipalities, school districts, park districts, and forest preserve
districts are critical entities for bringing natural landscaping into the
public eye. This can be done through educational programs such as nature
walks and talks, exhibits, and volunteer days sponsored by the above organizations.
These opportunities provide positive examples of public land management
and increase the awareness and understanding of the public about the community
which they reside.
Passive recreation opportunities
Natural landscapes provide recreational opportunities such as bird watching
and photography. The diverse colors, shapes, sounds, textures, odors, and
tastes found in the natural environment provide the observer with sensory
experiences not found in more sterile, traditional landscapes. Nature offers
both tranquillity and excitement. It can serve as a place to relax, a place
of diversity and excitement. By incorporating native landscaping throughout
the community, it also offers the opportunity for children to experience
and learn from nature in their own yard and community.
Enhanced regional recreational corridors
Recreational activities such as walking, running, bicycling and
skating are extremely popular. Increasingly, these activities are accommodated
by local and regional trails and greenways. Natural landscaping in greenways
can help create new attractive recreation areas, rejuvenate others, and
provide connecting corridors.
Scientific Study
Natural landscapes provide scientists (and amateur observers) with numerous
opportunities for study. Research can lead to improved propagation techniques
in urban settings and improved availability of plant materials. Scientific
study can assess the impacts of urban development on native species and
the benefits of introducing native species on plant, animal and human communities.
Natural greenways provide opportunities for grade school, high school,
and community college students to study nature and carry out their own
research close to home.
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