Here are garden design ideas for your small garden or landscape.

When garden planning or during yearly garden inventory these are effective tips for the climate friendly gardener. 

*1. PLANT A TREE - provide shade and evapotranspiration, help cool the air in summer.  Fast growing, deciduous trees that require little maintenance also provide maximum benefits in terms of carbon capture.  As gardeners (and 5th graders) know, growing plants absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. As they grow to maturity, trees can absorb and store as much as a ton of CO2, the greenhouse gas primarily responsible for global warming. Trees are amazing! Consider planting a shade tree on the south side of your home to reduce air conditioning loads. 

*2. CHOOSE PLANTS THAT ARE ADAPTABLE - If possible, plant species with a wide hardiness range, similarly avoid choosing species outside of their hardiness zone. Understanding microclimates within your garden may tempt you to plant a lemon tree on a sunny New York City terrace garden but there is great risk— with temperature extremes, one or two bad winters may kill the plant. Many gardeners I know had fig trees within their Brooklyn garden designs.  These figs had been fine for over a dozen mild years, until the long hard winters of 2013 and 2014, when so many of them succumbed. Ninebark, oakleaf hydrangea, serviceberries, birches are especially adaptable to a range of conditions in the eastern United States.

*3. PAVING - Minimize/avoid paving over large areas of your garden -  consider replacing existing impermeable areas with more permeable surfaces, including vegetation. Use permeable paving (preferably recycled material), to reduce stormwater runoff and maximize precipitation capture.

*4. IMPROVE YOUR ENERGY EFFICIENCY - Plant a climber or hedge to provide shade and insulation for your house. Finding cost savings are greatly appreciated by our clients.  One of the best ways to reduce your contribution to global warming is to use more energy-efficient products and reduce your household’s electricity and gasoline consumption. In your backyard alone, there are a number of actions you can take, including replacing regular outdoor light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, installing outdoor automatic light timers, and purchasing solar- powered garden products. Roof gardens and terraces in New York City are multi-functional in their ability to reduce heating and air conditioning costs, retain stormwater and absorb carbon dioxide, reducing green house gases all of which contribute to global warming.

*5. DIVERSITY - Incorporate a diversity of native plants into your landscape whether a terrace garden design or suburban landscape design. You can also help to maintain some of the important connections between pollinators and their hosts and ensure food sources for this wildlife by incorporating a diverse range of native blooming and fruiting plants into your garden.

*6. CARBON CAPTURE - Grow perennial plants over large areas. As these grow in the same place year after year they minimize annual soil disturbance, helping carbon capture. Even when space is limited on a New York City rooftop terrace design, every square foot of area helps!

*7. REDUCE LAWN and FOSSIL FUELS - Consider reducing the area of lawn in your garden, replacing it with other permanent planting. Bear in mind the energy and carbon efficiency of garden equipment.  Refrain from using gas-powered lawn equipment or products that use fossil fuels in their production, like synthetic fertilizers. Gas mowers spew as much pollution in one hour as a new car does in 40 hours — that’s how terrible the gas-mower technology is.  An alternative we recommend in our smaller Brooklyn garden design or Manhattan garden design practice is the use of compact electric mowers.  Synthetic fertilizers can be replaced primarily by compost and organic mulches, supplemented with organic, slow-release fertilizers when an extra boost is needed.

*8. DON'T LEAVE GARDEN SOIL NAKED - Make compost and mulch, covering garden soil with organic matter such as bark/mulch to prevent evaporation of water. Instead of blowing leaves into plastic bags for them to be trucked away to landfills or to an incinerator, turn them into soil, by composting. Instead of spending money at Home Depot, Lowe’s or nearby garden center and “schlepping” home store-bought compost, use your own homemade. Home compost operations help lighten pressure on landfills, result in more water-retentive soil for the gardener and.. save $$$. “Recycling” these wastes will not only reduce methane emissions from landfills but alsoimprove your garden’s soil and help it store carbon. 

*9. MINIMIZE MAINTENANCE - Think “right plant, right place” to minimize water use, minimize maintenance — thereby maximize energy saving and energy capture. Install plants with others that have similar cultural needs. The concept of plant communities resonates here. Low maintenance garden design is the preference for virtually all homeowners and garden designers.

*10. A PRECIOUS COMMODITY  - Water is a precious commodity - reduce your water bill and minimize maintenance by installing drip irrigation.  Irrigation is only needed at the roots of the plant material.  Add organic matter to make your soil hold moisture better,

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