Author Archive: suereed

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Welcome to Energy-Wise Landscapes!

Welcome to Energy-Wise Landscapes!

Imagine that someone offered you a way to save money, improve the beauty and value of your property, and contribute to a cleaner, healthier environment, just by making one decision. Would you be interested? What if that decision involved little or no cost to you? This may sound like some sort of too-good-to-be-true, late-night TV [...]

January 10, 2013 | 0 Comments More
Who wants to mow this steep hillside every week? And why? Imagine waving grasses, or meadow flowers, instead

Mow Less Lawn? Yes, You Can!

As we approach the best season of the year – beautiful autumn, hooray! – there’s still plenty of time to save energy in our landscapes. Care to take a guess about how much gasoline we use every year in mowing the great American lawn? If you’re thinking hundreds of thousands of gallons, you’re almost right. [...]

September 4, 2011 | 0 Comments More
A shade tree plus lush foliage below equals maximum cooling.

Energy-Wise Landscape Design – “evapo-transpiration”? Tree Sweat?

Here in the last precious month of summer, there’s still a lot we can do in our gardens and grounds to help our houses stay cool… and save energy! We all understand the energy-saving value of a good shade tree, right? (for a reminder, see my post “Gotta Love a Shade Tree). But beyond keeping [...]

August 21, 2011 | 0 Comments More
Rain-Sipping Landscapes

Rain-Sipping Landscapes

Rain-Sipping Landscapes Here’s a cool way to save energy in your gardens and grounds: water wisely. What? Doesn’t this just save water? Well, yes and no. Of course being careful with water is a good idea in and of itself. In the arid and drought-prone regions of the country, landscaping specifically to use little or [...]

August 7, 2011 | 0 Comments More
Older homes show us the way.

Gotta love a shade tree!

Everybody knows that sitting in the shade feels good on a hot day. But do you realize how much energy you can save by shading your house? And, more important: can you imagine how to actually do it? The EPA estimates that shade can lower the temperature of a house’s roof and walls by 45%, [...]

July 23, 2011 | 0 Comments More