Designing for Sustainability

A Beautifully Designed Sustainable Landscape Will be Environmentally Friendly, Easier to Maintain, and Inviting

Sustainable landscape design is a process in which negative environmental impact is eliminated completely through skillful and sensitive design approach. Sustainable landscape design is also called “environmental design” or “environmentally-conscious design”. It is based on economic, ecological, and social principles regarding the importance of sustainability.

Sustainable landscape design is likely to include the consideration of geothermal construction, solar and wind powered lighting, heating and cooling systems, waste heat and water recovery systems, and other green initiatives.

Grant's Gardens, Inc. design philosophy has been evolving over the years. We believe that landscape design should be simple, soothing, maintenance friendly and resource friendly; conforming to the principles of sustainability. We specialize in sustainable landscape design and our landscape installations continue to be functional, maintainable, environmentally sound, cost-effective and visually pleasing. An important outcome for Grant's Gardens, Inc. is that our landscapes connect people with their environment.

Most landscapes in the greater Sarasota area are neither well managed nor sustainable due to poor plant selection, soil compaction, poor water quality, and excessive chemical usage - making it extremely difficult to ensure the original design intent.

Protection and preservation is another key ingredient to ensuring a sustainable landscape. Preserving large hardwood trees, existing microclimates and soils continues to be a high priority for our design teams.

Post construction is a difficult time for a new and establishing landscape. Restoration and rehabilitation are important themes that need to be planned for way in advance.

Low impact development is an innovative stormwater management approach where stormwater is managed at the source using uniformly distributed decentralized micro-scale controls. LID’s goal is to mimic a sites predevelopment hydrology by using design techniques that infiltrate, filter, store, evaporate, and detain runoff close to its source. LID treats and attenuates stormwater through small, cost-effective landscape features located at the lot level. These landscape features/elements known as Integrated Management Practices, also known as a treatment train, are the building blocks of LID.

Sustainable landscapes use non-toxic, sustainably produced, or recycled materials which have a lower environmental impact than traditional materials. These materials should come from nearby, sustainably managed renewable sources that can be composted when their usefulness is exhausted.