USGBC Green Home Guide. April 5, 2012. By Cassy Aoyagi: Sustainable landscaping saves time and quickly produces both cost savings and health benefits for existing buildings as well as new construction. Of all the tricks of the trade, replacing a thirsty, traditional lawn – or not planting one in the first place – has the most profound total cost benefits.

First, the benefits. Simply swapping a traditional lawn for a native grass can eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which can adversely effect the health of children and pets.

Los Angeles Times. January 1, 2012. By Dalina Castellanos: The lawn at the site of the Occupy L.A. encampment is gone, but the park-restoration process is moving at a bureaucratic pace. Some would prefer to watch grass grow.

Occupy L.A. protesters planned to leave their mark on City Hall’s park with graffiti declarations and treehouses when they were evicted in late November. Instead, they left behind a park stripped of its lush north and south lawns, creating a financial and planning burden for the city and a waiting game for the displaced farmers market that has held sway every Thursday.

iVillage. By Sadia Latifi: Thanks to warmer than usual winter and spring weather, mosquito outbreaks are expected to be pretty bad this summer. We asked experts for their go-to tips to keep you bite-free

Plant foliage native to your region, says Cassy Aoyagi, president of FormLA Landscaping. Mosquitos and other pests are often attracted to environments created when non-native plants require the use of excessive water and fertilizers. “We can also import mosquitos from other areas when we import their habitats,” she said.