Gardening is a pastime that comes with the promise of relaxing both the body and mind. Some gardeners become too relaxed and stop taking care of the sustainability of their garden or even worse, about eco-friendliness. It is easy to get carried away with pesticide and herbicide use in the never-ending quest for perfection. However, this is a price too high to pay so you simply have to adopt sustainable garden routines that will guarantee you have a beautiful and healthy garden for years to come. The methods you can implement are cost-effective and easy to introduce but they do require a lot of hard work and before all, a sincere willingness to see them pay off. There are numerous ways to aid sustainable gardening, so we will list only the topmost 5 that are best suitable for backyard gardens that are of smaller or medium scale since commercial gardeners already know very well how to approach the matter.
Going native
Exotic and decorative plants are always tempting to plant and in general, there is no problem with their introduction into your garden’s ecosystem. However, they should be planted systematically and with great care since they have the possibility to disrupt the fine balance of the entire space. Namely, the earth, insects, mammals, and other herbs are all local, so they will not react well to a large number of alien plants. The majority of plants in your garden should, therefore, be comprised of local species, well-adjusted to the existing surroundings. Also, don’t plant a single local plant species and think that is that. No, there has to exist a diversity of local plants that will guarantee the balance of the ecosystem is harder to disrupt.
Be careful about the health risks of certain gardening practices, particularly chemical pesticides and herbicides. In recent times, there has been growing concern and awareness regarding the health risks associated with the use of certain chemicals in gardening. The infamous roundup weed killer lawsuit has brought attention to the potential dangers of using such products. It’s crucial to prioritize organic and natural alternatives to minimize the health risks associated with synthetic chemicals.
The soil also has to be of the best possible quality, so don’t avoid adding humus and other fertilizers if the soil in your garden is full of clay or sand. You can even create your own compost that will be used to enrich the soil when you need it the most. Not only is this method organic but it saves you money on ready-made compost that has to be purchased from the store.
Go easy on the lawn
Green grass is nice and all but it shouldn’t be the focal point of the garden. Anywhere up to one-third of the garden should be covered by lawns, as any number higher than that threatens other species present. The thing is, lawns require a lot of attention in the sense that they need chemicals and a lot of water to thrive in weather conditions such as drought. This puts additional stress on the rest of the greenery and some plants at the edge of the lawn might even dry out because nearby grass has taken up all the water. Leaving things as they are is the best was to handle nature, so trimming a self-grown tree is much better than mowing the lawn all the time. Unless you use a sickle, a lawnmower will use gas that is a huge expense when compared to other costs of maintaining a garden.
A garden full of flowers
The species you decide to plant may vary but you can hardly go wrong with flowers. Not only will they beautify your garden with their colors and scents but they are actually valuable goods that can be sold on the local market. Just ask the Dutch who dominate the world trade in floricultural products, like tulips. Of course, you are not aiming to conquer the planet with bulbs from your flower garden but you could sell some to your neighbors at the very least.
If you are wondering which flowers are best to plant, you have to look at the present season. Since winter is slowly ending, perhaps various spring flowers are the best way to go. Everything from a Japanese crab apple to daffodils will make your garden look stunning. When creating a flower garden, you have to decide whether to concentrate all the flowers in one part of the garden or to scatter them around the whole space. If your garden is 100% non-commercial, then the latter option is better.
How to group plants
Once we’re at the topic of grouping plants, the best criterion to do so is their water consumption. Basically, once you start carrying the water canister around, it becomes hard to keep track which plant requires more or less water. That is why you should organize your garden in patches that are comprised of plants with similar watering requirements. Minimizing water use is one of the main maintenance goals that you should set even before beginning. Going natural is the best option because Mother Nature provides each plant with enough water needed to grow, so you should really intervene only during droughts or if you live in an arid region of the world, like Australia. Water usage is one of the essential factors in a sustainable garden.
Introducing mulch
If you thought that mulch is purely decorative and had little to do with sustainability, you were wrong. Mulch actually preserves the moisture inside the soil and it regulates temperature, so it directly influences the aforementioned water consumption. Furthermore, it reduces weeds which cannot grow next to plants and it prevents the dissipation of organic matter that stays at the base of the plant instead of wind scattering it around. In order to save money, you can use organic mulch like pine straws, pine bark, and wood chips. Mulch can also be acquired in garden centers and DIY stores where they sell multicolored mulch. It is usually produced from wood chips and there are several types to choose from. Finally, you want to be 100% eco-friendly, you can use natural mulch such as fallen leaves which perform the same function in the wild.
Conclusion
A garden is supposed to be the crown jewel of your home. That is why you have to ensure its longevity by making it sustainable in the long run. Just don’t forget to be eco-friendly all the time and apply at least one of the 5 pieces of advice provided here.
I love the tips especially grouping the plants. I remember not wanting to group my garden by how much water they needed because I liked being able to “design” my plants they way I wanted to. Probably because I’m a frustrated landscaper. In the end, I’m glad I did relent but only after one of my neighbors started boasting about how much less water they were using after grouping the plants in their garden.
Thank you and I liked your neighbor boasting story. Thanks for sharing. BB