Eco-Friendly Sustainable Landscaping in Canmore, Alberta
Pine & Pillar is a Canmore-based, eco-friendly and sustainable landscaping company. We incorporate the best methods from across the gardening and landscaping community to make sure your landscape is beautiful, practical and resilient.
If you’re not looking to strip landscapes of their natural beauty, but want a yard that will require the least amount of work in the long-run and be able to handle Camore’s unpredictable climate – we’re your people!
Water Conservation
Water conservation is essential in sustaining the world’s supply of water and preserving this natural resource. Exterior landscaping has been a part of the recent development of green building and conservation practices. Homeowners in Canada tend to use 20-40% of their water outdoors.
One way to cut down on outdoor water usage is by planting ground cover. These are plants that don’t consume much water, which help to retain water in the soil. They form a dense covering over the soil, many of which help grass to withstand higher foot traffic. We like to use native plants that work well with the environment; many imported ground covers will outcompete native plants. An excellent native ground cover is Silverweed, it grows quickly and helps to maintain areas of erosion. Oak Sedge tolerates foot traffic and can be used to stabilise slopes, or as an alternative to grass. Creeping Juniper is great for maintaining soil quality and covering large areas. All of these plants will tolerate drought well, and help to fill out your yard.
Another way to cut down on water consumption is by installing more efficient irrigation. Micro and drop irrigation are excellent for saving water, with the added benefit of being low-profile. This can be used in conjunction with mulch to control weeds and improve the amount of your water that actually gets to your plants!
Rain yards help to reduce rainwater run-off by using specific landscaping practices. Rain yards capture water using native plantings. They help rainwater slowly filter into the ground, reducing the amount which runs into the drain.
Composting
Composting is essential to the health of your yard. It helps to retain moisture and nutrients, provides for better plant growth, and helps to preserve soil structure. Composting is also a way of recycling products and reducing waste, which keep materials out of landfills. Compost is made from combining green (nitrogenous material) and brown (carbonaceous material) to create a nutrient-rich organic material. A good ratio of brown to green is 25:1. We like to use leaves as a brown carbon source, and have found that we prefer to use them dried over fresh for more efficient composting.
Recycling
At Pine & Pillar, we do everything we can to keep our yards and construction sites as eco-friendly as possible. We recycle everything from our excavated material to our construction and manufacturing materials. Excavated material can create a massive amount of waste depending on the scale of the project; that’s why we recycle all of our excavation material. We will use the mixed excavated material on your site, or if this is not possible, we will work with suppliers to re-sell the material.
Our construction materials are 100% locally sourced where possible, we will work you to find the best options for your project.
Eco-friendly Hard-landscaping Solutions
Pine & Pillar believes in using all types of green building materials on every project. The philosophy behind “green” construction is that it is better to install energy efficient products that will last longer, than to replace them with less durable, more expensive products.
Permeable pavements are becoming ever-more popular as people become more conscious of their environmental footprint. They have a porous surface and an underlying stone reservoir that stores water runoff before it gets into the subsoil. This reduces run-off because it allows water to slowly infiltrate the ground. It also improves the distribution of water across your yard by eliminating the waterlogged areas that pavements can create as water pools up around them.
Utilizing solar energy can be an excellent way to improve your energy footprint. Solar panels can be installed discreetly in or around your yard, or on your roof, to collect energy from the sun. They improve the environment by reducing carbon emissions and air pollution.
Outdoor heating and cooling solutions can also be optimized to provide the least possible energy use. While all heaters use energy, some use much less than others. Electric quartz heaters are around twice as efficient as regular mushroom heaters. Heaters can also be installed to avoid heating unnecessary areas.
Wildlife Friendly Landscaping
It’s important to think about the wildlife in your area when planning your garden. This can be done by installing the minimum amount of fencing required, instead of a fence all the way around your property. We also recommend using local native plants so that any existing wildlife will feel more at home. Appreciating wildlife can be as simple as planting native plants. Not only is this good for the species that live there, but it’s also good for the environment.
There is lots we can do to make your yard as wildlife friendly as possible. Planting bee-friendly plants can help attract pollinators to your yard, nourishing the plants you already have, and helping to sustain the rapidly declining bee population. Adding things fence holes, bird boxes, bug hotels and hedges help to provide a home to all sorts of wildlife. This is a great route if you want to achieve a natural, living environment. Perfectly manicured yards are not so great for this approach, but there are still many things we can do to bring wildlife into your yard.
Our hope is to provide a balance of the values that we, as human beings, need to sustain all that is good in our world. With, sustainability and eco-friendly landscaping at the forefront of our values, Pine & Pillar strives to make a difference by working with local suppliers and contractors to build affordable, renewable solutions for our clients. We always aim to provide our clients with the best quality work at a reasonable price. From our high-quality craftsmanship to our competitive prices, there are lots of reasons why we stand so far above the competition.
Get in touch today by clicking here to discuss your landscaping needs, and how we can help you make your yard as eco friendly as possible.