Millions of dollars are spent each year designing, implementing, and maintaining the urban landscape. When a plant looks unhealthy or has been injured by an insect, a mite, or an abiotic disorder, often our first impulse is to apply a pesticide. However, applying the wrong pesticide could destroy the pest's natural enemies, which left to its own devices could sometimes take care of the problem without any human intervention. Additionally, long-term problems related to an ailing landscape are caused when maintenance processes are not carried out properly.

A better approach is to manage the health and beauty of the urban landscape through a method called "Sustainable Landscape" and "Plant Health Care" (PHC). In any case, a landscape developed with sustainable practices will improve the environment by conserving resources and reducing chemical applications. Many of these problems can be avoided or reduced by utilizing sustainable landscape services. These practices are also synergist and coherent to Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

Sustainable landscape is an approach to designing and constructing the artificial landscapes that surround our buildings. These landscapes should maintain themselves and survive by being part of the natural cycles of the local environment. A sustainable landscape will reduce labor inputs, and decrease the costs associated with landscape maintenance. The great thing about sustainable landscaping is that it can simultaneously influence aesthetics, air quality and climate modification.

There are literally hundreds of definitions for sustainable but the basic idea is that if something is sustainable it can keep going indefinitely. Natural systems have been operating successfully for millions of years. Nothing made by humans can do that. In many cases this means finding out what the original local environment was like. This is often difficult, as in our cities and even in rural areas the landscapes are significantly changed since early settlements. Sustainable landscape means putting back much of what was in place before development. It may also mean introducing things that were not there before.

The basic components of sustainable landscape are Landscape Planning & Design, Plant Selection, Implementation and Maintenance. The key to creating a sustainable landscape is that the Planning & design process should be considered first. Plant selection, implementation, and maintenance build on the design process, each having sustainability as a major consideration.

Since pest problems are often symptomatic of ecological imbalances, the goal is to plan and manage ecosystems that prevent organisms from becoming pests. By including "Plant health care" (PHC) considerations throughout the planning and design phase of a landscape, costly and undesirable maintenance practices and the need for chemical controls can be minimized or avoided. The Plant Health Care approach focuses primarily on preventative measures - those that encourage plant vigor and maintain healthy, balanced growth. Plant vitality is the best protection against pest problems.

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