How to create an energy efficient landscape

Tips and How-ToEnergy Efficiency 13th August 2021

The summer months are now coming to an end, but there’s still time to make the most of our gardens by creating a new and exciting landscape in the sunshine. Incorporating new flowers, plants, lighting and furniture can really brighten up your home and office space.

In this blog post, we offer some simple ideas on how to brighten up and improve your summer landscape by applying useful energy saving techniques.

Lighting

Solar

Natural sunlight is one of our most resourceful forms of energy. A great way to brighten up your landscape in the evenings is via the use of solar powered bulbs/panels. You can buy solar powered lights which charge in sunlight during the day then automatically switch on at night, saving you money on your electricity bills.

LED

LED lighting is another cost effective method to brighten up your grounds. Replace your existing bulbs with energy efficient equivalents to significantly reduce your electricity costs. Our sister company LASER Energy has an LED lighting framework which can potentially save you thousands of pounds on your energy costs. For more information click here.

Water

There are many different ways to reduce water wastage enabling you to have a cost effective summer. Here are a few ideas:

Install an efficient irrigation system (drip sprinklers).

Drip irrigation is one of the most water-efficient ways to nourish your plants. The water is slowly distributed into the soil allowing plants to receive the full absorption they need to grow. This not only improves your plant life, but also offers a cost effective route to landscaping.

Collect rain water

Collecting rainwater is one of the most important things to consider when it comes to your garden landscaping. According to the Royal Horticultural Society, at peak demand we use up to 70% of supplied water on our gardens. This high demand can force water companies to increase prices and deplete water from steams causing serious environmental damage.

Saving rainwater can be easy as long as you have a structure with gutters and a drain pipe. Water butts provide another efficient route for doing this, as long as you keep them well cleaned.

Water your plants in the mornings (not in the evenings)

Watering your garden in the mornings provides your plants with plenty of water to get them through the heat of sun during the day. Watering them at night increases the loss of excess water due to evaporation, thus denying them the full benefit of their required nutrition.

Lawn

Think about the potential lawn alternatives such as artificial grass. Whilst the initial outlay maybe more expensive than regular grass, there’s next to no upkeep costs resulting in a significant reduction of energy used to keep it trim. If you would like more information on how to transform your outdoor environment using artificial grass, click here.

Manual hand tools (non-electronic)

When gardening, there’s no reason why you can’t go back to the basics in order to save money on your energy costs. Try replacing electronic items with manual hedge tools. Replace hedge clippers for hedge scissors for example.

Summer work

If you’re a school, the holidays are often a good time to make any necessary upgrades to your building. If there is any work planned in which the gas and electricity could be affected, contact your suppliers and let them know. You could continue to be charged for your energy despite having all commodities temporarily shut off if you don’t.

Heating

Infrared heaters are becoming more popular by the day. These devices provide an energy efficient and cost effective heating alternative for your outdoor environment. They require hardly any maintenance and are completely weather proof, reducing the chance of heat escaping.

 

We hope you’ve enjoyed our tips for creating an energy efficient landscape.