Elements Group Green Design & Maintenance Program
Elements Group has created a new Green Landscape Program for clients in the Austin and San Antonio markets. It has design, installation and maintenance aspects.
Program specifics include:
- Landscape design that adheres to the City of Austins Green Gardening Initiative
- Design planning that follows Xeriscaping, site protection, energy conservation and water conservation principles
- Landscape construction that minimizes harm to the environment, conserves water and energy and reduces waste
- Environmentally friendly maintenance techniques and equipment
- Free native tree plantings for all customers
Elements Groups landscape designers recently went through comprehensive, multi-disciplinary training by the City of Austin. They have all completed the Austin Energys Green Gardening Certification Program and can provide clients with environmentally-sound options for landscape design, installation and care. Some of those alternatives include native plant gardens, edible landscapes and wildlife habitats.
Homeowners desiring to be more ecologically aware are ideal matches for our Green Landscape Program. Elements Group architects and designers focus their design attention not only on beauty but on energy and water conservation. For example, they utilize native trees to block wind and sun in order to save money for homeowners on their energy costs. They also use a variety of techniques to conserve and recycle groundwater.
In addition, the maintenance division of Elements Group has formed a Green Team headed up by a Texas A & M horticulturist which maintains properties. The Green Team uses propane equipment to minimize noise and air pollution. In addition, the team utilizes a variety of organic fertilizing and pest control products and techniques to lessen the chemical footprint on a property.
Some of the elements of our Green Program are:
- Xeriscapic plant selection - Xeriscapic designs do not have to look like arid desert landscapes. There are many native and well-adapted plant selections for the Austin area that are very drought tolerant once they are established. Water is a very precious commodity and over half of an average households water use is from irrigating their yards.
- Reduced Lawn Areas - Lawns require large amounts of water, pesticide, fungicide and fertilizer to keep it attractive. At Elements Group we try to limit lawn areas by increasing bed space and leaving existing native areas undisturbed as much as possible. There will always be a place for lawns in the landscape, and we will almost always install sod on our jobs, however, with good design practice we can reduce the lawn areas and still have open areas for recreation.
- Improving Soil tilth and friability with compost - Compost improves soil texture, permeability, drainage and water-holding capacity. It also adds microorganisms which work symbiotically to make nutrients available to plant roots. We put down of compost on the bare soil before laying sod, and work in a compost/topsoil blend in all planting beds before planting.
- Rainwater Harvesting - There are many ways to make sure the water that falls on your properties, stays on your properties. None of us needs to be reminded of how prized rainwater is, especially over the last few months. Rainwater is best for watering beds and lawns because there are no added chemicals. We have been very excited at Elements Group over design techniques such as rain gardens and vegetative swales which have water-loving plants in depressed areas where rain water that normally would run off in to the streets can be collected and released slowly back in to the soil. We can also coordinate rain water collection systems like rain barrels or cisterns into the design.
- Outfitting our crews with propane powered equipment - We are currently outfitting one of our crews with propane powered equipment. Propane powered machines provide 1/3 reduction in emissions and 14% better fuel economy than gas powered equivalents. The new mowers will mulch lawn clippings back in to the lawn rather than hauling them off to a landfill.
- Organic Maintenance - Our green maintenance program will also offer organic non-chemical pest and disease treatments, preventing toxic pollutants from entering our groundwater supply.
- Wildlife Habitat Design - Many clients want to encourage wildlife in their landscapes, some are even seeking wildlife habitat certification from the city. Our architects and designers are very knowledgeable about plant selection for food, shelter, water sources and cover to encourage wildlife in the landscape.
- Edible Gardening - There has been a strong interest lately in growing food for the family table. Elements designers are very knowledgeable about species of produce that are well suited for the Austin area, and can help your clients with design and installation of vegetable gardens and selection and planting of fruit and nut trees.
- Reducing on-site waste - Why haul it off? By chipping unwanted trees and using the mulch on site we reduce cost and resources used to transport and dispose of dead tree limbs and cleared trees. We also prefer to stockpile existing good soil on site if possible for reuse, rather than trucking in new soil.