NEW VISTAS LANDSCAPING OUR EFFORTS WORKING TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY

Historically: Well designed landscaping, including New Vistas Plans, worked with these principles.
1. Plant trees to shade decks, patios, etc. for comfort and energy savings.
2. Plant live screens to block unwanted views and cut down on wind for energy savings.
3. Plant trees and shrubs to help our environment as they produce oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide.
4. Select trees, shrubs and flowering perennials for gardens that attract birds and butterflies.
5. Develop water gardens to attract bull frogs, tree frogs, and turtles.
6. Grow flowers to provide nectar for bees and food for other insects.
7. Plant flowers because they bring joy to our eyes and fragrance to our sense of smell.

Currently: Well designed landscaping, including New Vistas plans, works with these principles.
1. As “caretakers of this earth”, we can provide environments right in our own backyards for co-existing with the other living creatures around us.
2. Research shows that flowers, through their color and fragrance, change the chemical and emotional responses in humans. Our continuously blooming gardens can bring joy to your soul as well as your eye.
3. Native plants (plants that originally grew in a specific area and were not brought in from somewhere else) have a better chance of surviving without additional water from irrigation systems, after they are established for 2 growing seasons. ***While we can design a totally native planting for clients, we often design with a mixture, trying to be careful not to use invasive plants, especially next to a natural area.
4. “Xeriscaping”, grouping plants in the landscape by their water requirements, is done by New Vistas as we design differently for irrigated areas, un-irrigated locations, low lying wet areas, or dry slopes, so that clients can more easily care for their plants.
5. Avoiding the use of chemicals begins for New Vistas in our planting plans, where we try to use plants that are not frequently attacked by insects or diseases, requiring spray treatments. If there are plants that seem to be vulnerable to problems that are needed to complete the design, we recommend preventative treatments to avoid having to use other sprays throughout the season as much as possible. There are times when we find it helpful to use insecticides or fungicides to prevent a plant from being overtaken by insects or diseases. When using chemicals we try to use the safest (for people, pets, and the environment) of the available alternatives that actually “do the job”.
6. Reducing the “footprint” or amount of intervention that new landscaping causes.
……a. Working with the existing terrain, rather than altering it if at all possible is something New Vistas has always attempted to do.
……b. Our designs work at keeping all storm/surface water on the same property, not draining away.
……c. Limiting synthetic fertilizer use is done by New Vistas by bringing onto the site a composted form of horse manure to help improve the soil for starting plants.

For the Future: Limiting the use of resources is done by New Vistas in the following ways:
1. Saving water resources includes our recommendation to clients to water more deeply, less often.
2. Minimal resources are brought in from other sites, or removed from the work site, saving energy.
3. If existing plants can be kept where they are or moved on site, we consider this before removing plants. If a client has unwanted, healthy plants, we dig them carefully for the client to give away, or take them back to plant at our shop, or to use for donating to jobs that are non-profit, etc. as needed.
4. Trimmings or unwanted plant materials that are not in good condition are recycled on site if the client has a place for them. Otherwise they are taken to a natural materials recycling company where they are composted and/or shredded for reuse.
5. New Vistas salvages unwanted hard materials removed from a work site as well, mainly to be donated to jobs with non-profit organizations.
6. New hard materials use:
…… a. At New Vistas we recommend the use of an edging material to keep grass from creeping into beds and increasing upkeep. There is a wide variety of materials available. Clients can choose to use natural stone as an option that can always be moved and reused by future property owners.
…… b. The weed barrier question is often discussed. While the processing and the disposing of the material down the road are not sustainable in practice, the barrier does cut down on weed removal and especially on the use of chemical herbicides. Each client can make their own choice.
…… c. Stone mulches come out of quarries as a natural resource, but they last longer and can be cleaned and reused. Cypress mulch comes from trees in the southern part of the US, but there are no chemicals put into it. The colored mulches are often made from recycled pallets, often colored, and sometimes treated with fungicides to discourage deterioration. When clients want colored mulch, we try to provide products where the dyes are safe for people and the environment. There are many things to consider.

New Vistas Business Operation:
1. We spend time caring for the plants we have in stock.
…… a. Our trees come in large pots or balled with burlap that disintegrates in the soil. Either way, they are healed in the ground for a season, and then, if not sold, they are planted in the ground where they can continue to grow.
…… b. Our shrubs and perennials come to our shop in containers. We faithfully try to water and give needed treatments to keep them at their best. When the end of the season comes around, the plants that are still in inventory are not thrown out, wasting the energy and resources that have gone into their production. They are potted up into larger containers where they can continue to grow.
2. Our policy of fixing up and reusing touches every facet of our business from our vehicles, equipment, office furniture and paper products. It’s one of the ways we can cut down on waste and the use of resources. Planting pots are recycled through our own use or taken to plastics recyclers. We reuse our mulch bags, as well as our plastic poly house winter cover. Our office recycles magazines, cardboard, ink cartridges, etc. While we continue to try and do our part, there is always more that we can strive for.

Our clients are invited to share with us in this journey toward sustainability, learning from each other, and improving our environment in the process.

New Vistas Landscaping: “Small enough to get to know you, Big enough to serve your needs.”