Sustainable Landscaping

Sustainable Landscaping: Think Outside the Lawn

The landscaping practices we choose have important impacts beyond aesthetics. They also impact water quality, soil erosion, flooding, and the ability of birds, insects and other wildlife to survive in Winchester. A sustainable landscape can be beautiful without sacrificing those other important values. In fact, it can enhance them.

Many property owners want to maintain their yards in more sustainable ways, but don't know where to start, and/or don't want to pay a professional landscape designer. We have a solution! Winchester was awarded a grant in 2023 from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council to help homeowners, landscapers and others learn how to maintain properties in ways that save water, reduce pesticides and carbon pollution, improve wildlife and pollinator habitat, reduce soil erosion, and make properties more attractive. In collaboration with the towns of Arlington and Stoneham, Winchester created a Sustainable Landscape Handbook and held three training sessions on sustainable landscaping. You can access the Handbook by clicking on the link below. You can also watch brief videos that introduce sustainable landscaping practices and watch recordings of the training sessions by clicking on the below links.

Brief Introductory Videos

Planning your landscape
Implementing your plan
Maintaining your landscape

Sustainable Landscape Handbook

Click here for the Sustainable Landscape Handbook (English).
Click here for the Sustainable Landscape Handbook in Simplified Chinese (可持续景观手册)
Click here for the Sustainable Landscape Handbook in Portuguese (Manual de Paisagismo Sustentavel)

Sustainable Landscape Training Sessions

Workshop 1: Sustainable Landscape Design
Video recording available here
Slide deck available here

Contents: 
- How to analyze your yard
- Goals & Vision for your space
- What questions to ask your designer/ landscaper (for those who do not undertake the project on their own) to ensure that you are starting off sustainably
- Sustainable approaches (lawn alternatives, native plants, minimize lawn, reduced water use, battery powered tools)

Workshop 2: Sustainable Landscape Construction / Implementation 
Video recording available here
Slide deck available here

Contents: 
- Erosion control methods
- Where to find locally grown native plant material
- Great questions to ask the nursery
- Minimizing land disturbance on your property

Workshop 3: Sustainable Landscape Maintenance
Video recording available here
Slide deck available here

Contents: 
- Pest management
- Reduced and reused water on your property
- Organic fertilizers
- Electric lawn tools

Another good reference to help you plan for a more sustainable landscape on your property is the Winchester native plant list from the Conservation Commission.