Sustainable Paving Ideas for an Eco-Friendly Garden

Eco-friendly gardens are slowly becoming necessary for homeowners who want to spend quality time outdoors. The low-carbon homes trend has taken off and currently includes gardens and pavements. Besides hot composters, mulching, growing vegetables organically, and avoiding pesticides, many other simple changes can make your garden eco-friendly.

Unfortunately, most homeowners overlook the importance of making hard landscaping sustainable. If you are redesigning your garden, be it the installation of a new driveway or patio, you should consider the paving solutions available. For homeowners in Houston, TX, Steve Romine and the team from Pavement Services can be of help. Below are eco-paving tips for an eco-friendly garden space. r

1.     Use permeable pavers

Permeable paving materials are not only good-looking but also offer sustainability benefits. They are excellent for paving your driveway, patios, and walkways. These materials contribute to environmental sustainability in many ways.

For starters, they are porous, making stormwater runoff management easy. They have gaps that allow rainwater to infiltrate, preventing water pooling and the resulting garden erosion. Secondly, permeable paving materials also contribute to a cool and comfortable outdoor environment.

Unlike impervious paving options like asphalt and concrete, which radiate heat, permeable pavers allow the ground to breathe and cool. This prevents the formation of a heat island and cools your outdoor space.

2.     Use recycled paving materials

Recycling is an important element of sustainable living, and paving materials aren’t an exception. You should choose paving materials made from recycled pavers like rubber, glass, or concrete. Recycled paving materials significantly reduce the demand for new materials. For instance, reclaimed asphalt or concrete means manufacturers won’t have to find raw materials. This is an attractive way of repurposing waste materials and reducing landfill waste.

3.     Grass pavers

Using grass pavers in your backyard and outdoor spaces helps create a sustainable and visually appealing patio or driveway. Though not entirely a new concept, grass pavers are interlocking paving units with gaps that should be filled with soil and grass. This combination offers a perfect balance between greenery and hardscape. You should consider grass pavers for the following benefits:

• Environmental benefits: Using grass pavers contributes to biodiversity and enhances the ecological value of your landscape. Grass-filled gaps are perfect breeding grounds for natural habitat. It also improves air quality and filters pollutants.
  
• Excellent stormwater management: Gaps in grass pavers allow water infiltration, reducing stormwater runoff. This minimises the risk of erosion and flooding.
  
• Has a cooling effect: Grass provides an unmatched cooling effect, which eliminates the formation of a heat island, especially in urban areas.
  
•  Low maintenance: Maintaining grass pavers is cheap compared to other paving materials. There’s nothing much to do apart from occasional mowing.

4.     Reclaimed bricks

You should also consider using reclaimed bricks as your paving materials. They are a sustainable option for new bricks. They also add history and character to the garden. Reclaimed bricks are salvaged and repurposed from demolished buildings. Using these bricks reduces the environmental impact caused by brick production and landfill waste.

Endnote

Adopting sustainable paving solutions in your backyard and the entire landscape improves its visual appearance and contributes to environmental sustainability. Choosing materials that reduce landfill waste and carbon emissions and promote water absorption, like natural stone, allows homeowners to create an eco-friendly outdoor space.