Climate-Resilient Landscaping for Changing Conditions

It is no secret that traditional weather patterns are changing amid climate change.  It brings more variable and extreme weather, flooding, heatwaves, and warmer winters.  Where I live the last three winters have been very warm except for one storm bringing below freezing conditions each winter.

However, that one storm brought extreme cold and killed a lot of my plants because they were not dormant.  You may have had similar issues.  The winter kill has given me an opportunity to redo some of my landscape to make it more resilient in the face of similar climate changes in the future.

Gardening In a Warmer World

When the USDA updated its hardiness zone map in 2023, most places got a zone warmer.  Mine went from 7b to 8a.  When I started gardening, my zone was 7a.  Gardening in a warmer world means both reducing your carbon footprint and planting things that do well in your new, warmer zone.

Lower Carbon Emissions

Reducing the carbon emissions associated with how you garden is the first step in helping your garden and you adapt to a warmer climate.

Reduce Gas Powered Machines

Instead of using gasoline or diesel-powered mowers, leaf blowers, hedge trimmers, string trimmers, and snow blowers, use electric ones.  When electric gardening tools first came out, they were under powered and did not do as good a job as gasoline machines.  However, electric batteries have gotten stronger and most electric tools can do just as well as gasoline ones now.  As your gasoline powered machines wear out, buy electric machines to replace them.

Plant Lawn Alternatives

Turfgrass lawns are largely sterile deserts that only feed a few pests, like chinch bugs, grub worms, and deer.  Reducing the size of your lawn reduces the water, fertilizer, and pesticides you need to buy.  Turfgrass has its place.  Nothing beats it for traffic tolerance.  However, reduce your turfgrass area to a small area for kids and pets to play in and plant the rest in native wildflowers and ground covers.  Creeping thyme, creeping buttercup, bird’s foot violet, and other ground covers all make nice alternatives for low traffic areas.  You can even use climbing vines like Virginia creeper and trumpet vine as ground covers.  

A few companies are making sod that doesn’t have grass in it but contains wildflowers instead.  Right now, they have chosen to put wildflowers that grow in a wide variety of areas in it, sort of a one size fits all strategy.  Hopefully, they will produce sod that has different flowers depending on the region in the future, instead of one size fits all.  Still, it makes planting a wildflower meadow in your front or back yard easy.

Use Fertilizer Wisely

Synthetic fertilizers, especially nitrogen fertilizers, is a significant contributor to greenhouse emissions.  Synthetic fertilizers are man-made using fossil fuels.  Most people over fertilize, which means you waste your money and the excess fertilizer washes into storm drains.  Excess fertilizer also triggers rapid growth.  The succulent new growth is attractive to pests.  In addition, the plant roots struggle to absorb enough water to keep the new foliage healthy.  Get a soil test for your landscape and follow the fertilizer recommendations to save money and use less fossil fuel.

Positive Changes You Can Make

I have listed above the things you should reduce or stop doing.  Here are some positive actions you can take to improve the environment in your area.

Plant More Trees

Trees can help you conserve energy and save money on your utility bills.  In the northern hemisphere, plant deciduous trees on the east, south, and west side of your home to shade and cool your house naturally in the summer.  Plant evergreen trees on the north side of your house to shield your house from the cold winter winds.  This evergreen windbreak will also shield valuable plants from snow drifts and strong winds.

Grow More Variety

Grow a variety of native trees, shrubs, perennials, and ground covers in your landscape.  Native plants have evolved to thrive with the amount of rainfall in an area.  They are also well adapted to the area’s weather.  While it is true that the drought then flood cycle is tough on any plant, native plants that are watered when it is dry save more money than non-native plants that have to be watered all the time.  Native plants are adapted to the soil fertility and do not require as much fertilizer as non-native plants.

In addition, planting native plants helps native wildlife.  They co-evolved with the native plants of the area.  Keeping as much plant diversity as possible also means that no one disease will wipe out all your plants at once. Don’t plant all one type of tree in your wind breaks and hedges or they could all be wiped out by the same disease.

Marginally native plants that like warmer climates will probably be able to grow well in our warmer climate.  Marginally adapted plants and native plants alike that don’t like the increasing summer heat may be unable to grow well anymore.  When something dies, replace it with a native plant you have seen thriving in your area.

Protect and Improve Soils

Soils are surprisingly fragile.  A few months of heavy construction traffic can compact soils and make it hard for plants to grow there.  The key to keeping soils fertile is adding compost every year.  Mix it into the top two- or three-inches soil every year to increase the soil’s fertility, aerate the soil, and make it able to absorb more water and air.  Plant roots need both to feed the plant.  In exchange, plants produce water vapor and oxygen for us to breathe.  

In early spring, you can spread an inch of compost on your lawn, then rake it in with a leaf rake.  Landscape beds need an inch of compost and an inch of mulch every year.  The mulch helps stabilize the soil temperature and moisture as well as choke most weeds before they get established.  You need a layer of mulch three inches thick to do that.  An inch of mulch decomposes each year, so you need to add an inch on top to replace that.  The decomposed mulch adds still more organic matter to the soil.

Manage Stormwater Runoff and Conserve Water

Floods and droughts are both increasing.  Plant native plants to conserve water, because many areas are running out of drinkable water.  Use a rain barrel to catch water to use in the landscape.  Use rain gardens to slow water down and recharge aquifers.  Don’t water sidewalks and driveways with your sprinklers.