To water a one-acre lawn with just 1 inch of water consumes 26,000 gallons – more than it takes to fill a standard 16’x32’ swimming pool! Do you know that your yard and garden can thrive with less water—and with fewer commercial pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers?
Join the Greenscapes movement. Set an example for your children, friends and neighbors, and make your yard the envy of the neighborhood!
Here are 10 easy steps to make your yard a thriving Greenscape:
- Download our 16-page Greenscapes Guide – With tips on how to create a beautiful, healthy, water-saving yard the natural way. (After filling out the online form you will be redirected to the guide.)
- Don’t water plants, lawns and gardens in the middle of the day – the water will evaporate quickly and you will need to water more frequently. Check out our Lawn Watering Guidelines.
- Mow smarter with these Best Mowing Practices.
- Use unused water from pet bowls, dehumidifers, waiting for water to heat up and boiled vegetables to water plants.
- Capture rain water for outdoor watering with a rain barrel.
- Plant drought-tolerant native plants that require minimal (if any) watering – planting a Monarch garden is one way to help butterflies and reduce your watering needs.
- Brown is the New Green – Download this file to post to social media and take the pledge to not water your lawn to save water for people, firefighting, and wildlife. Then tag 10 friends and ask them to join you. Or print the file to make a yard sign, poster or flier.
- Create a Healthy Yard – Get your lawn off drugs… and chemicals. Go organic! Here’s how.
- Recycle Water – South Shore water is too precious to waste. We need to put more of it back into the soil. Learn how to keep water from running off and wasting down the drain.
- Leave your grass clippings on your lawn and it will provide free fertilizer and reduce water pollution.
“We want people to realize they can have beautiful, healthy yards using techniques that can actually save them time and money, and also save our precious water resources.” ~ Lori Wolfe, NSRWA Director of Marketing and WaterSmart Program Manager
Greenscapes is sponsored by WaterSmart South Shore. WaterSmart is a nonprofit partnership between the NSRWA and 12 towns on the South Shore: Cohasset, Duxbury, Hanover, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Marshfield, Norwell, Pembroke, Rockland, Scituate and Weymouth. Our programs are based on the belief that education is key. Since its creation, WaterSmart has educated thousands of local school-age children, adults, and businesses on water conservation, stormwater pollution, where their water comes from, and how to care for it.
For more information, contact WaterSmart Program Manager Lori Wolfe, at lori@nsrwa.org or (781) 659-8168.
- Dumpster Maintenance and Waste Materials
- Gardening Green Expo 2024
- Greenscapes
- How to Build a Rain Garden
- Indoor Water Conservation
- Low Impact Development
- Parking Lot Maintenance
- Pet Waste Education
- Plant a Monarch Garden
- Rain Barrel and Composter Sale
- School Programs
- Septic Systems
- Sign Our Water For People Not Lawns Pledge
- Stormwater
- Water Conservation Tips
- Watersmart Business
