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Landscaping

Two Landscaping strategies that meaningfully mitigate greenhouse gases

  1. Electrifying landscaping equipment
  2. Sustainable Landscaping (naturalizing the land so it needs less energy-intensive labor to sustain beautifully)

Click Here for a fact sheet that provides a nice summary (from Oregon).

 

ELECTRIFYING LANDSCAPE EQUIPMENT

CO-BENEFITS of electric equipment

  1. reduced GHG
  2. improved air quality (for communities and the person using the equipment)
  3. lighter equipment that is easier to maneuver
  4. quieter (for communities and the person using the equipment)

 

COST COMPARISON (7x savings)

NYSERDA made a great cost calculator to compare electric cost vs gas cost for operating various landscaping equipment.

Comparing costs associated with using 1 of each of the tools (9 different tools in the calculation), the Electric equipment is 7x cheaper (at 36 cents/kwh compared to the gas equipment using gas at $3.64/gal) and results in 14 metric ton CO2e reduction in GHG. It saves money, health, and GHG.

  • Electric cost was 16.5cents for supply+18.14 cents for distribution+0.68 cents for system benefit charge = $0.36/kwh, June 2024

PROFESSIONAL REVIEW of different Electric Tools

  • https://www.protoolreviews.com/category/tools/outdoor-equipment/
  • Note, we are not advocating for any of these tools, nor have we vetted this review site.
  • We offer it here simply as another voice in your decision making.

INCENTIVES for Electric Equipment

 

SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPING

Cornell defines landscape sustainability as designing, constructing, operating, and managing campus grounds to enhance and promote healthy ecosystems. Healthy ecosystems provide ecosystem services.

This can include transforming a cultivated area, like a turfgrass lawn or flower garden, into habitat that mimics local ecological communities, like meadows or wetlands, and provides habitat for native plants and wildlife. This process requires knowledge of local climate and ecology to select designs and plant species suitable for the area.

A principal component of sustainable landscaping is to plant native species (indigenous terrestrial and aquatic species that have evolved and occur naturally in a particular region, ecosystem, or habitat). Native plants can provide a variety of benefits including:

  • Requires fewer energy and chemical inputs/save you money
    • Do not require fertilizer
    • Require fewer pesticides than traditional lawns
    • Reduced use of gas/electricity due to reduced maintenance needs
  • Require less water
  • Help reduce surface runoff by allowing water to infiltrate
    • Helps reduce occurrence of flooding and erosion
  • Help reduce air pollution by removing carbon from the air
  • Provide food and shelter for wildlife, especially pollinators like butterflies and honeybees
  • Promote biodiversity and enhance opportunities to view wildlife
  • Improved scenic value
  • Educational value

A few resources related to native plantings from entities within New York State are included below.

Guides to Native Planting in New York State

  1. NATIVE NY SPECIES: https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/docs/lands_forests_pdf/factnatives.pdf. A NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) resource with native plant species recommended for gardening and landscaping in New York State. The resource includes habitat preferences for listed species, a description and pictures of what the species looks like, and, for some species, a description of what type of garden the species could enhance or other interesting bits of information about the species.
  2. WATER GARDENING: https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/docs/lands_forests_pdf/waterguide.pdf. Naturalizing your property does not need to stop where the water starts. Native species can enhance the aesthetics and ecological impact of your aquatic garden. This water gardening guide from NYSDEC can be used to help naturalize your aquatic garden. The guide includes suggested plants and animals native to NY and lists of invasive plants, fish, and snails that should NOT be used for aquatic gardens.
  3. For Great Lakes Shorelines: https://seagrant.sunysb.edu/images/uploads/pdfs/GreatLakes-ShorelinePlantsGuide.pdf . Do you own or manage property along New York’s Great Lakes shorelines? If you do, this guide is for you! New York Sea Grant created this guide to help shoreline owners implement natural or nature-based shoreline stabilization approaches that reestablish natural and stable shoreline slopes that can control shoreline erosion and improve local water quality.
  4. LOCAL RESOURCE PLANNING: https://www.townofbrighton.org/DocumentCenter/View/5404/Landscaping-with-New-York-State-Native-Plants?bidId= An example of a localized resource that the Town of Brighton, NY’s conservation board produced to aid residents in their municipality select native plants for their landscape. For each native plant species, this resource includes habitat preferences, landscape functions, and ecological functions. It also includes species to avoid, like American beech (Fagus grandifolia), ash (Fraxinus), and Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), due to concerns about beech bark disease, emerald ash borer, and hemlock woolly adelgid, respectively. There is also a limited list of species to avoid, their adverse effects, and native alternatives.
  5. INVASIVES: https://dec.ny.gov/nature/invasive-species/resources-regulations/regulations. As crucial as what to plant, is what not to plant. For that reason, knowing how to identify, avoid, and remove invasive species (a species that is non-native to the ecosystem under consideration and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health) is also important. If you would like to learn more about prohibited and regulated invasive species in New York, please review the lists of prohibited and regulated plants and animals on the NYSDEC’s website listed above.

Webinars

There are several opportunities to learn about sustainable landscaping. This list will be updated periodically to include registration links for upcoming webinars and links to recordings of webinars that have already occurred.

  1. Sustainable Landscapes Lunch & Learn Series. Webinars are held the third Wednesday of each month from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm. To register, please visit the link provided above. 2025 webinars will be held on March 19th, June 25th, September 17th, and December 17th and will focus on seasonal ecological garden practices. To register, please visit the website linked above. Previous webinars have covered a variety of topics including soil health, sustainable lawns, native plantings for shorelines, invasive species, and rain gardens. View recordings of previous webinars here.
  2. https://cornellbotanicgardens.org/cultivating-a-sustainable-future-cornell-botanic-gardens-native-lawn/. This episode of Verdant Views, originally presented on November 14, 2023, explores the journey behind Cornell Botanic Gardens’ native lawn project, from its inception to the multitude of benefits it brings, and the invaluable lessons it has taught us. Host Kevin Moss is joined by Todd Bittner, Director of Natural Areas, and Krissy Boys, Horticulturist and Educator.
  3. https://cals.cornell.edu/effective-communication-sustainable-landscapes. Listen to a recording of NYS Integrated Pest Management’s (NYSIPM’s) community program coordinator, Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, discuss how to reduce pest risks in a safe and effective manner. Topics include the risk of pesticides like Imadacloprid and the Our Land Our Water educational campaign on Long Island to better manage pests and mitigate negative impacts to humans and the environment; tick safety;invasive species in landscaping; and IPM outreach approaches, challenges, and successes on Long Island.

In-person Experiences

If you are a visual learner and want to see what sustainable landscaping practices look like, there are opportunities on Cornell’s campus and other areas around New York where you can observe and learn about these practices.

  • Cornell University Sustainable Landscapes Trail. This trail brings visitors to over a dozen sites across Cornell’s Ithaca campus that were designed for sustainability, provision of ecosystem services, and aesthetics. Trail users can observe and learn about features that promote benefits including, but not limited to, stormwater management, integrated pest management, pollinator habitat, and biodiversity.