Could You Swap To More Sustainable Landscaping Materials?

With Earth Day (22nd April) fast approaching, it seems appropriate to turn our thoughts towards more sustainable landscaping materials. It’s very difficult for anyone to be 100% planet friendly when meeting the needs of garden design and landscaping clients. However, here at Arbour Landscape Solutions we try to make sourcing eco-friendly materials just that little bit easier.

Let’s face it, if it weren’t for the landscape industry a lot of quarry workers, porcelain makers, foresters, lumberjacks and hauliers would find life a lot more difficult. And so in that respect, we are all of us supporting businesses all over the world. But if everybody were to be mindful of the environment when specifying and procuring landscaping materials we could make a decent contribution towards preserving the health of our planet.

The Arbour Eco Range and Arbour UK Made Ranges on our website instantly show you materials that have been created and sourced with extra care to protect our earth. So why not consider swapping from your usual ‘go-to’ products to some that are a little more eco-friendly?

Here are a few swaps to consider.

Swapping Porcelain Paving For UK Sourced Natural Stone

Beautiful garden featuring UK sourced natural stone. Created by Stonetree Landscapes

The porcelain paving stocked in Arbour Landscape Solutions’ yard is without a doubt, sublimely beautiful. But so is the Buff Yorkstone paving that we source from UK quarries. Having a close working relationship with the quarry means that as well as procuring standard sized slabs, coping stones and setts in this beautiful material, we can easily have bespoke pieces made to your exact specification.  

Sourcing landscaping stone from the UK makes for a far lower carbon footprint as they have fewer miles to travel to reach their destination.

Swap Standard Bedding Mortar For Ultrascape Eco Bed

Ultrascape Eco Bed is ideal for environmentally sensitive schemes. It contains 20% recycled materials and has been specially blended to comply wit BS 7533, BREEAM and CEEQAUL schemes. It’s easy to mix, open to vehicular traffic in 24 hours and available to order online from  Arbour Landscape Solutions.

Using Reclaimed Stone Instead Of Newly Made Pavers

Have you considered using reclaimed pavers or setts in your projects? Admittedly you may have fewer colours and sizes to choose from but the satisfaction derived from reusing landscaping materials is a feeling like no other.

Take a look at our reclaimed granite setts. How characterful would a courtyard garden or a path be if it were made from these beauties? 

Using Composite Decking Instead Of Timber 

We’ve seen massive changes in the timber market these last few years and while it’s doubtlessly a beautiful material to work with, irresponsibly sourced timber can have a negative effect on the health of our planet.  Arbour Landscape Solutions make it our policy to only trade in FSC Certified timber. But before you buy timber decking, have you considered using composite decking instead?

Made from recycled timber, composite decking can itself be recycled if necessary. But why would you need to? It’s rot proof, doesn’t need any chemical treatments during its lifetime, will not warp or twist and it’s stain resistant. What’s not to like?

Forget Boring Bare Roofs - Install Living Roofs Instead

How many garden structures do you build in a year that don’t support plant life in any way shape or form? Plants are essential to the health of our planet and whilst not every garden surface can be a potential planting bed, we could incorporate a lot more living roofs into landscaping projects.

 Bin stores
  Garden sheds
 Garden offices
 Log stores
 Bike sheds 
 Garages
 Outhouses

There’s plenty of scope for swapping bare roofs for living roofs. Come to think of it, how about also swapping bare walls for living walls too?

Visit greenrooftraining.com to download a comprehensive guide to designing and building living roofs.
 

Lightweight concrete steps lead up to a bespoke outdoor kitchen - also crafted from lightweight concrete. Have you also spotted the living roof on top of the pergola?

Swapping Stone Steps For Lightweight Concrete Steps

It’s not just the components of a landscaping material that make it planet friendly or otherwise. It’s the energy used in processing them and the fuel burnt to deliver them that contribute towards their carbon footprint.

These lightweight concrete steps are relatively new to the Arbour Landscape Solutions range but we’re already in love with them. Visually they’re rather attractive. But get this - these beauties weigh more than 50% less than standard concrete which means they are easier to install than most stone steps and they put a lighter load onto our delivery lorries, thus (hopefully) reducing fuel consumption.

Pop into our yard where you’ll see concrete steps being used to access our office. Or, order samples of lightweight concrete online and see what you think of it.

What Swaps Will You Make?

Those were just a few suggestions for subtle swaps that will help to make your landscaping project a little more planet friendly. Take a look at the Arbour Eco Range and the Arbour UK Made Range for more ideas.

Don’t forget too, that Arbour Landscape Solutions offers a number of sourcing services that could save you time and money.

Find out about machinery and equipment rental services.

Discover our tree and plant sourcing service…. Have all of your planting needs delivered in one batch rather than utilising transport from several different suppliers.