Steele: Let Mother Nature maintain your yard

I was delighted to read Don Burnetts column in the June 5 edition of the Capital News, headlined Save natural state of hillside lots.

Frequently, new homeowners come to my xeriscape class to find out how to recreate the natural beauty that attracted them to their property.

Unfortunately, the native vegetation was destroyed in the building process, leaving disturbed soil infested with invasive weeds.

Sadly, it is very difficult to restore what has been lost.

Putting a true value on natural landscapes is long overdue.

Building with Nature, by Andy Wasowski, is an excellent book detailing how owners and builders work together to maximally preserve the natural landscape. Used copies of this are available online.

I strongly recommend it to anyone involved in land development or construction as well as those planning to have a home built.

In Kelowna, we have a wonderful example of this method of building by the late John Woodworth, a prominent architect and ardent conservationist (founding and 25 year member of the Nature Trust of B.C, chair of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, co-founder of Brandts Creek Marsh, and recipient of the Order of Canada for conservation work).

As his final project he designed a home for his wife and himself on the extremely steep hillside beside his long-time residence.

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Steele: Let Mother Nature maintain your yard