» San Francisco Peninsula

Sustainable Living

Kellau — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 21:37:11 +0000

With the sun finally coming out for the summer, I’m sure many of you are contemplating new ways to spruce up your home and garden. Here are two great green ways to create your own food source:

Chicken Coops

For those of you considering changes in your home to promote sustainable and healthy living, why not consider building your own chicken coop? Chicken coops are easy to build, provide you with fresh, organic eggs, and reduce the amount of fuel and energy required to transport and store store-bought eggs. The chickens themselves can be used for organic pest control and even provide free, high quality fertilizer that will help you keep your garden beautiful all summer.

Not sure how to go about building your chicken coop? Location is everything! Be sure to account for the hot summer climate when designating a spot for your chicken coop. Also, remember that ventilation and natural light are crucial to keeping chickens healthy and happy! If you’d like ideas for chicken coop construction, a great, low-cost resource is http://www.buildingachickencoop.com/. Once you’ve set up your chicken coop, be prudent in cleaning and sanitizing the coop. Before you know it, you’ll have a thriving chicken coop with plenty of eggs to cook delicious breakfasts!

Fruit and Vegetable Gardens

Imagine being able to pick up all the ingredients you need to cook a delicious meal, only a couple steps from your door! Interested in creating your own food source? Why not build your own sustainable fruit and vegetable garden? It’s easy and a great way to get outdoors!

The first step in developing your own fruit and vegetable garden is planning. Make sure to research what types of plants you’d like to grow in your garden. Also, understanding the soil structure of your garden and regular fertilizing will help you in planning for the vegetation in your garden. Water is also a key ingredient in the growing of your garden; make sure to implement a system of providing constant water to your plants and use methods to conserve water as well.

At Landsystems, we encourage new means of sustainable living. Don’t hesitate to contact us for a free consultation if you’re interested in designing your own garden. Already have a vegetable and fruit garden? Let us know if we can help you improve on it! We’ll have you eating fresh cucumber and tomato salads and garnishing your meals with your own produce in no time!

Green Gardening Tips…

pegueropaul — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 23:27:09 +0000

#4 Sustainable Pests and Disease Control

There are many different green ways to control pests and disease from everyday products obtained from around the house.

One simple way of controlling slugs and snails from some of your favorite plants is to place a tuna can full of beer right next to the base of the plant. The beer can sit there for a long period (1-2 months) of time where you don’t have to constantly replace it. The snails and slugs are attracted to the beer so they don’t invade the plant.

A mixture of canola oil(tablespoon), ivory soap(tablespoon) and water(2 cups) creates a natural insecticide for aphids, mites, and mealybugs. Put all these ingredients in a regular size spray bottle and spray the top and bottom of the leaves every other day for a week.

Beneficial insects such as prey mantis, ladybugs, hover-flies, and lacewings are a good way to controlling the pests in your garden. The only problem is that if you apply the oil, soap mixture to the plants it will also affect these guardian bugs, so be wise when applying.

If you have mildew growing on top of the leaves of your plants due to overhead sprinkler water, a simple spray solution of 1-3 parts milk to water can handle much of the problem. This solution also helps for rust and black spots on roses.

Paul Peguero

Meet Nate, our LEED AP Green Landscape Designer

pgbrumis — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 01:48:42 +0000

Here at Landsystems Landscapes, located in Redwood City of the San Francisco Peninsula, we’re trying our best to green our operations, but most often the power lies with our customers. Generally speaking, customers’ desires drive the design process. Since a good landscaping design and construction firm will help provide input and steer the customers towards wise choices, we’re providing more and more tips on how to create a more sustainable landscape, from gardens, fences and arbors, to pools, spas and outdoor kitchens and entertaining areas. One of our best assets at Landsystems is our knowledgeable staff, including our LEED AP designer, Nate. I asked Nate to provide some background info on LEED and green design….

My name is Nate Brodie and I have been with Landsystems for about 8 months. I’m a LEED AP (standing for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design accredited professional from the US Green Building Council).

A little bit about Green Design Landscape Design

The LEED rating system addresses the selection of sites for new construction that will support sustainable design principles. The system also addresses water efficiency, energy efficiency as well as sustainable materials and indoor air quality. The rating system was developed for the construction and renovation of buildings and also the building’s landscape and environment. There is a pilot program for residential projects, but there is also a Bay Area specific program for home construction called Build It Green. More information can be found at www.buildgreennow.org. (Build it green is also less costly for “certification”.)

More about LEED Credits for Landscaping:

Although most credits address building construction, many overlap with landcape design practices. Water efficiency is obviously an area where landscape architects can make a big difference. Increasing permeabilty of a site (the ability of surfaces and soils to take in groundwater and recharge the water table) can take a lot of pressure off of our storm water systems as well as contributing to the overall health of the ecology. Also the reduction of irrigation has huge implications regarding reduction of water, which is often taken for granted. We live in a very dry region, believe it or not, and although we don’t pay high monetary costs for our water, we pay extremely high ecological costs. We can greatly reduce our water use in the landscape by using irrigation technology, reducing water intensive landscaping such as lawn and non-adaptive plant species, and storing rainwater for irrigation and other uses.

Drought resistant gardens are perfect for the Bay Area's dry climate

Other LEED credits that apply to landscape design include heat-island effect and light pollution. Heat island effect is caused by large areas of hard surfaces and particularly dark surfaces. This mostly applies to commercial projects with parking lots and expanses of pavement, but also is applicable to residential projects. We generally want to decrease hard surfaces such as driveways and patios and replace them with planting or light reflecting materials. Also the planting of trees can greatly reduce the heat-island effect. The reduction of heat will keep your home much cooler in the summer and reduce your energy use (and COSTS!) Solar panels can also be used for shading to reduce heat while producing green electricity! This works great for awnings, parking structures, etc.

Light pollution prevents us from seeing the stars at night and also has other ecological implications on humans and wildlife alike. We can reduce this pollution by using new light technology, such as LED lighting as well as reducing the amount of light that is directed out and up. Reducing light levels overall will also reduce our energy use levels. An LED light will last around 100,000 hours, a xenon bulb will last about 10,000 hours and a standard incandescent or halogen lamp will last at most, 2,000 hours (98% less lighting time than and LED – wow!).

Use Sustainable Materials

The other LEED principles we can apply to the landscape is the use of sustainable materials and sources. We want to reduce the amount of energy that goes into supplying the finished products. Local materials and resources are great for reducing energy costs. Bluestone that comes from Colorado uses less energy from travel that Bluestone from Connecticut. And both of these materials use far less energy than Travertine stone that is generally shipped from Turkey. The closer the source, the better! We also would like to use recycled materials. These may be pre-consumer recycled materials (materials diverted from the landfills after the industrial process, such as scraps or byproducts) or post-consumer materials (materials that are being used a second time in the same form they were originally used, such as reusing an old door for a potting table design, or reusing brick that was saved from a demolished house).

Importance of Green Landscaping in the Bay Area

The Bay Area is a particularly important region for the practice of sustainable design. We are in a very sensitive ecosystem, where rivers, streams, ocean and other waterways are in abundance, but also where the impact of development is extremely high. Anything we can do to reduce our footprints will be greatly appreciated by the environment and will ultimately increase our ability to sustain life here in this great place – with a very enjoyable Mediterranean climate.

These are just some of the methods we can use as designers to make our landscapes more sustainable. It requires the knowledge of a designer, but also the interest and willingness of a client to make it happen. Some of the costs involved in sustainable design are higher upfront, yet pay off in the long-run and some are cheaper from the beginning (recycling, water reduction, etc). In any case the environmental costs are always much, much lower. Please let us know if you are interested in making a difference with your landscape project.

Thanks Nate! Let us know your questions or comments by contacting us or commenting here on the blog. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. Our links are right here on our site.

Green Gardening Tips

Nate — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:49:13 +0000

Here begins a series of tips for going green in your garden.

#1: Grow and compost fruits and vegetables. Growing vegetables is one of the single most sustainable actions. Not only do you enjoy the benefits of the fresh produce just outside your kitchen, but equally beneficial is the composted organic material. Applying compost to your soil diverts unecessary garbage from the landfills and also provides nutrients and improved structure to your soils. Later we will discuss the importance of your soil structure and its ability to absorb water. Until then, start planning your summer garden (remember Landsystems can always help with that!). The time to plant is April and May. Follow this link for planting tips on your favorite vegetables http://www.thegardenhelper.com/vegtips.html.

Thanks for listening in!

Nate

Landystems Landscaping Blog for the SF Bay Area & Peninsula!

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:24:39 +0000

Welcome to the Landsystems Landscapes blog! We’ll be covering a variety of topics related to landscaping, sustainable techniques, outdoor gardening and living, and enjoying our amazing little piece of the world known as the San Francisco Bay area.

This is our first entry, and we figured you’d like to get to know us a little better. Landsystems was founded over 25 years ago in Redwood City, and we’ve been proudly serving Silicon Valley and the Peninsula ever since, specializing in complete landscaping design and solutions – from backyard cooking areas, to gardens, arbors, gates, fences, driveways, water features and even pools & spas – all designed to make your home more liveable and satisfying.

To get a better feel for the company’s beginnings, I asked founder and principal Tim Vine a few questions….

Tim, how did you get started in Landscaping?

My horticultural leanings began early with an entrepreneurial endeavor growing vegetables south of London and selling them to neighbors, friends and family. Having graduated college (in Horticultural management) I worked within the green industry in the UK, Sweden and France. My father was a great gardener and his sister’s mother use to (allegedly) grow oranges in Dundee, Scotland. On a whim I applied for, and received, a J1 visa for the US and, well, I have been here mostly ever since.

What types of projects do you enjoy most?

I enjoy projects that change people’s lives either by creating outdoor spaces that the family can use as an additional room, barbecue areas and bars that move the entertaining outside, or by creating customized spaces specific to the desires of the client….bocce ball courts, fun swimming pools, fragrant gardens, tranquil spots to relax under a grove of trees…anything to let people enjoy the amazing Mediterranean climate of the Bay Are!

Landsystems been interested in environmental sustainability for years. Now, the State of California and water agencies may begin to limit water use (some say by as much as 20%) even in non-drought years. Can you talk a little bit about the Green/Sustainable techniques that Landsystems utilizes?

We have been interested using green techniques for a while because it’s the right thing to do. Some of our sustainability efforts include:

Using low water drip irrigation for nearly all planting for 20 years+

Utilizing grey water systems & underground cisterns, when practical
Promoting recycled mulch in all planting areas
Suggesting plants that are adapted to this area (including indigenous/native species or those from other Mediterranean areas of the world)
Recycling concrete when possible for use as retaining walls
Balancing fill company wide so little is taken to landfills
Chipping as much vegetative waste material as possible for use as mulch
Designing projects to existing topography so retaining walls are minimized
Implementing permeable hard surfaces where possible to minimize run off
Selecting plant species that do not need regular insecticide/fungicide spraying

Thanks for sharing Tim! Please feel free to comment or contact us directly with any questions or ideas for blog topics. And don’t forget to bookmark this site and our home page for updates: http://landsystemslandscapes.com