The green space around your home does more than add curb appeal.
For starters. experts estimate that landscaping can add anywhere from 15 to 25 per cent to the value of your home, depending on where you live. But your lawn also provides some more surprising health and environmental benefits, as well as a soft, safe place for kids and pets to play.
- Water filtration. Healthy turf acts as a water filtration system, purifying the water as it filters through the root zone and down into our underground aquifers.
- Preventing erosion. Lawns keep soil in place, helping to prevent erosion from wind and rain.
- Air purification. Grass also acts as an air purifier by trapping and removing exhaust and other pollutants from the air that are then broken down by the root system.
- Oxygen boost. Lawns produce an amazing amount of oxygen. A 50-by-50-foot lawn releases enough oxygen for a family of four every day.
- Cooler temperatures. A lawn that size also has the same cooling power without the energy cost, as three or four air conditioning units, cooling the air temperature around a home by 4°C to 8°C compared to hard surfaces. And before you think about replacing your natural turf with synthetic, consider that on hot days, grass will be up to 39°C cooler than dry, synthetic turf.
If you’re worried about the health of your lawn, remember that all grasses have the ability to go dormant when water intake is reduced, as it is during the driest parts of the summer. They will bounce back healthy and green again when the rains return.