Energy-Efficient and Environmental Landscaping

A Landscape Design Classic Revived

by Anne Simon Moffat, Marc Schiler, and the staff of Green Living, 1993. Appropriate Solutions Press, South Newfane, VT. Softcover, 230 pages, $17.95.

Landscape Design that Saves Energy (Morrow, 1981) was out-of-print, worry no more.

Appropriate Solutions Press, publisher of

Green Living Magazine, has just reissued the book as part of E

nergy-Efficient and Environmental Landscaping. While written more for homeowners than landscaping professionals, the book still offers a wealth of information that will be useful to builders and designers.

Energy-Efficient and Environmental Landscaping is organized into four sections. Section 1, Energy-Efficient Landscaping, is the updated version of

Landscape Design that Saves Energy. After a review of the basics of energy-efficient landscaping, the section addresses four specific climates: cool climates; hot–arid climates; hot–humid climates; and temperate climates. Landscaping strategies and specific plant recommendations are presented for each region. In hotter climates there is greater emphasis on cooling load avoidance, while in cooler climates strategies to reduce heating loads are emphasized.

Section 2 covers a number of other issues relating to environmentally responsible landscaping, with individual chapters written by experts in the field. Issues covered include water-efficient landscaping, natural lawn care, landscaping for wildlife, native plant gardening, recycling yard waste, and responsible pest management. Section 3 builds on the first two sections with step-by-step procedures by which

homeowners can develop and implement landscaping plans. The final section contains a number of useful appendices, including climate zones for the U.S., tables of solar angles, listing of shading densities for 35 common trees, and a listing of plants according to size and form.

While

Energy-Efficient and Environmental Landscaping will not answer all your questions on energy-conserving site design and landscaping, the book remains a good starting point for landscape planning.