The case for low-maintenance, climate-friendly landscaping

By AMY SOWDER 

Relax. Do less. Let it be.

That’s the core message from the founders of Healthy Yards, a Bedford-based sustainable landscaping organization dedicated to helping homeowners rethink the approach to yard care.

“I’ve been gardening 30 years and prided myself on my lawn, but then I learned how threatened nature is [by traditional lawns],” said Fiona Mitchell, co-founder of Healthy Yards along with Filippine Hoogland. “It takes time to transition to more relaxed aesthetics.”

“When we started our organization [more than five years ago], there was very little information available for homeowners on climate-friendly landscaping,” Hoogland said. “Fortunately, today, there are plenty of great resources, especially in our region. We have a rich network of local organizations, garden clubs and initiatives that promote sustainable gardening.”

Hoogland and Mitchell were on the Bedford 2020 land-use task force and realized that there are a lot of people who want to do the right thing in their gardens, but they don’t know how. And that’s how they started the nonprofit organization, which collaborates with other groups with similar goals and offers many resources. Partners include Bedford 2030, a nonprofit organization that addresses climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and preservation of natural resources. 

Mitchell is also a Rooted Solutions coach, one of Bedford 2030’s initiatives, which means she’s an expert who can walk around your home to give customized tips and suggestions in a report for a more sustainable yard that meets your goals, budget, time, aesthetics and specific yard conditions. Rooted Solutions a free program for those who live in the Bedford Central and Katonah-Lewisboro school districts. 

Andrea Good is another Rooted Solutions coach, as well as a certified national green infrastructure professional.

“Healthy Yards has gone above and beyond in creating awareness on changing traditional horticultural practices that have really led to a deterioration on our ecosystems,” Good said. “We want to change the aesthetic that perfectly manicured, monoculture turf lawns separated by large patches of mulch and tightly clipped hedges is the ideal. All those types of plants require additional watering and fertilizer and they basically take and don’t give back.”

Healthy Yards educates homeowners on how to provide a habitat for beneficial insects and birds to create a biodiverse, resilient ecosystem. If you have such an ecosystem, nature can heal itself more quickly after intense weather events, she said.

According to Good, a goal of 85 percent native plants is ideal, attracting the birds that eat the pests others might spray to remove.

“One of the hardest things for a homeowner to do is less, especially this time of year, with everybody is out there weeding, blowing leaves and picking up sticks to make their yards neat and tidy,” Good said.

No one expects perfection, but a few simple changes each year can add up, your perspective can change and then you’re a part of a movement.

For more information, visit healthyyards.org.