Encouraging First Families to Practice and Promote Sustainable Landscaping

What's New

• Nice story on the Sundance Channel Blog: "Michelle Obama isn't the only first gardener out there."
• We welcome Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment, in the Washington, D.C. area, as the newest supporting organization.
• Here's a great article about the governor's mansion grounds in Harrisburg in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Don't miss the video in the left sidebar.
  Encouraging news out of Frankfort, KY!  First Lady Jane Bashear started a veg garden recently and in reading the news reports we noticed this website about her Green Team. It lists first among its excellent practices, "Grounds Keeping - Today, using fuel-efficient equipment, water conservation, native plants, fewer chemicals, and soil nutrients. The Future, organic solutions and plantings to reduce the mansion's carbon footprint." We hope to learn much more about all this and report here in detail. [Photo credit.] 

Green the Grounds in a Nutshell

Vegetable gardens are popping up everywhere - at the White House, the California governor's mansion, in front of city halls and in backyards across America - in large part because the progressive food movement got the word out. 

But many in the gardening and environmental communities are saying, "Vegetable garden?  Great start!  Now how about fixing the environmental problems on the grounds?"  (Starting with making sure the lawn care practices aren't polluting the Chesapeake Bay.)  But with all the media attention on the Obamas' vegetable garden there's no mention of switching to environmentally responsible landscaping practices on the rest of those 18 acres around the official residence. 

So Green the Grounds was created to bring attention to the other good land-use practices that could be adopted and promoted on these highly prominent landscapes - starting with the White House but including governors' mansions and official residences of mayors in cities that have them.  So as Americans are learning to grow their own food and eat healthier diets, they can also learn healthier ways to treat their backyards and frontyards - healthier for family members and for the surrounding ecosystem, as well.  

More About Green the Grounds

How to Help

Sustainable Landscaping Basics