Your outdoor room deserves a beautiful landscape and hardscape design that provides a lifetime of hours soaking up sun and fresh air. Sustaining your patio as well as the environment makes sense for now and generations to come. EP Henry’s permeable pavers make “eco-design” of your hardscape possible.
Eco designs focus on environmental impact. Water drainage is one of the more important concerns in any building project. Permeable pavers are part of an interlocking block system that uses small pebbles in place of solid mortar. Rain water seeps down into the soil, the Earth’s built-in filtration system, instead of running over the surface. “Run-off” is rainwater that skips that natural filtering and instead pools and floods drains, taking pollutants with it. To learn more about our permeable paver systems, check out our ECO page FAQ’s.
In the meantime, check out these 5 easy ways to make your outdoor room more welcoming to people and Mother Nature.
Get a No-Mow Yard
Great for small spaces, retirees, dog-owners and more, the “no-mow” backyard is gaining popularity in landscaping design. Moss cover, “prairie patches” and drought-friendly stone hardscaping are some options homeowners are adopting. The concept is simple: no grass to mow. Lots of green and stone covering is out there to choose from.
Plant a Bee-Friendly Garden
Although these little buzzers can strike fear into the heart of children, honey bees are rarely aggressive and are our toughest little workers for the environment. Choose a sunny corner of your yard to plant a “bee-friendly” mix of wildflowers or herbs like oregano, lavender, and mint.
Set up a Rain Barrel
Collecting rainwater in a storage container is a great way to save on water bills and help the environment. Collected rainwater is great for watering plants and outdoor cleaning projects. Make sure you regularly clean your water barrel and make sure the seal is tight. Mosquito populations can thrive in just a capful of sitting water. Non-toxic additives also keep biting insect breeding down, too. Regular dish soap and water works well for cleaning.
Build a Mini Garden Center
Gardeners with easy access to their tools and supplies do more gardening. Lately we’ve seen hardscape designs that build in a potting bench. This is a great idea. A permanent potting bench can find new life as a bar and serving area when life calls for more partying and less planting. Having soil, accessories and seeds out and ready to go is also the best way to attract kids to the art of gardening.
Update Your Fire pit
We can cut down on the use of fossil fuels even if we can’t go totally “off-grid.” Gas fireplaces don’t burn wood, which taxes the environment heavily. If you have a gas fireplace in your home or in your outdoor space, a new technology called “fire glass” may be something that can replace lava rocks and artificial logs. Fire glass also has a better heat emitting ratio and stays warm for hours. Plus, it looks like magic. Many stores now sell fire glass kits to use with your gas-burning elements.
Check out our ECO website for more details on how to handle your rainwater with an environmentally friendly and beautiful hardscape design.