Certainly we all enjoy looking at pretty flowers, sitting under the shade tree, or playing catch on the grass but your landscaping provides more than just aesthetics and comfort. Your landscaping also has numerous health and environmental benefits! According to a recent article printed in Colorado Green NOW and written by the staff at Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado, landscaped areas also provide these benefits:

• Children with ADD experience reduced symptoms when exposed to green environments.
• As bee habitat is threatened by development, landscapes provide homes and refuge which allow bees to continue their critical work of pollinating.
• Studies of stressed or depressed people found 95% of them felt calmer and had a more positive attitude after a short time outdoors in a landscaped area.
• 55 sq. ft. of lawn provide enough oxygen to support 1 person for 1 day.
• Turfgrass removes atmospheric pollutants—carbon dioxide, ozone, hydrogen fluoride, and perosyzacetyle nitrate. It also captures harmful dust, smoke particles, and other pollutants.
• Each year, one acre of trees can absorb enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to equal the amount produced by driving a car 26,000 miles.
• Trees in cities mitigate rising temperatures by shading hot pavement and cutting energy use in buildings.
• Green spaces cleanse water. When allowed to run through landscapes, water typically exits cleaner than when it entered, reduces stormwater runoff and keeps pollutants out of groundwater.
• Lawns help mitigate urban heat islands by remaining 15 degrees cooler than bare soil and 30 degrees cooler than pavement or rock.
• Lawns can sequester carbon for 25 to 30 years.

Have you had your outside time today? Enjoy your garden and all of its benefits!