GREENSCORE
 
GREENSCORE is a "green" practice and product scoring or rating system. Discover your impact on the environment. while learning to identify true "green" products.
 
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Yard and Garden transformed to a sustainable landscape. In a sustainable landscape, resources such as sunlight, water, and wind, are managed to create diversity and abundance. Nature - plants, soil organisms, animals - does most of the work in ways that minimize the use of inputs that are environmentally unfriendly, composting, protecting and conserving local water resources, and more
 
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Do You:
Take advantage of the free resources - sunlight, wind, water - on your land?
Feed the soil and establish a diverse soil community? Use compost instead of synthetic fertilizers? Compost provides a full complement of soil organisms and the balance of nutrients needed to maintain their well-being. A healthy soil minimizes weeds and is key to producing healthy plants.
Cover the soil? Protect it from wind, rain, and hot sun by covering it with plants or mulch? Wood chips, plant leaves, grass clippings, and hay are all mulches.
Capture, store, and reuse water? Water can be stored in plants, healthy soils, ponds, and rain barrels. Use these and other features to diversify the landscape.
Experiment with a green garage roof? Turn an unproductive space into a productive one by purchasing a kit and replacing shingles with plants.
Use native plants in your landscape? Native plants have adapted over time to the local environment and support native animals. Annuals, ornamentals, and other plants can be added to provide food for you, increase plant diversity, and meet your individual tastes.
Create a multi-layered and multi-aged landscape? Seven layers are available for planting - tall trees, short trees, shrubs, herbs, groundcovers, roots, and vines.
Place plants in communities? Locate plants in communities using companion planting, polycultures, and guilds to strengthen partnerships and minimize inputs of labor, water, and nutrients. Roads, parking lots and other impermeable surfaces also contribute to water pollution by channeling dirt and chemicals into storm sewers and eventually into nearby lakes and rivers.
Optimize plant diversity? A diversity of plants helps insure healthy soils and plenty of food in wet seasons, dry seasons, and everything in between.
Focus on perennial plants? Perennials - plants that live for more than one year - are more efficient at capturing sunlight and turning it into yields. Perennials also mean less work for you and less disturbance of the soil.
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