Cultivating a successful, beautiful garden is gratifying, rewarding, and even money-saving! Ensuring you’re making eco-friendly gardening choices will bring peace of mind that you’re caring for the planet, too.
When it comes to sustainable gardening, understanding your garden’s needs can help you create an economical, eco-friendly garden.
Learn how to enrich your soil, reduce water waste, eliminate pests, and repurpose household items to reduce waste. Whether you want to create the decorative garden of your dreams or grow your own food, these easy steps will get you started.
Start Simple
The foundation of your garden will be your soil. Consider composting or purchasing organic fertilizers to enrich your soil with nutrients. Composting is a great way to make the most of food scraps as fuel for your plants.
Some organic fertilizers are made of animal manure, bone meal, worm castings, seaweed, kelp, and fish emulsion. Combining some of these natural fertilizers can allow you to custom-mix your own organic, eco-friendly fertilizer. Understanding your soil’s needs can also help you with winter gardening, making gardening possible year-round.
When it comes to caring for your soil, make sure you only disturb it for digging. Healthy soils with high levels of organic matter tend to be carbon sinks, meaning they store more carbon than they release. When the soil is disturbed, gardens can become a carbon source, releasing carbon into the air. As microorganisms break down the organic materials in the soil, preserving the soil layer will help the carbon remain where it belongs.
Purposeful Plants
Carefully choosing your plants can aid in reducing the resources needed for your garden. For example, companion planting can naturally help reduce garden pests.
The beauty of most companion plants is that they not only repel pests but also tend to attract beneficial insects. These team players vary from marigolds and nasturtiums to herbs like clove, basil, dill, yarrow, and chamomile.
Opting for native or drought-resistant plants helps limit the amount of water needed to keep them healthy. Knowing your plant options can help you find plants that are both drought-resistant and pest-repellant, such as yarrow.
Consider your climate and location to decide which drought-resistant plants will also thrive in your temperature zone. Succulents, bougainvillea, and lavender can tolerate both hot and dry conditions.
Watch Water Waste
In addition to exploring drought-resistant plants, consider other ways to limit your water use. If it is legal in your state, collecting rainwater can allow you to water your garden without guilt. We often overwater plants, leading to pests and fungus. Understanding your garden’s watering needs will help you create a beneficial watering plan and eliminate water waste.
Another way to conserve water is to consider the time you spend watering your plants. Morning watering can help the soil absorb moisture before the day heats up. Adding a layer of mulch to the top of your soil can also help keep your soil moist with less water.
If you are feeling particularly crafty, consider creating a drip irrigation system. These systems can be as simple as recycled or glass bottles with a drip system to a complex network of tubes and a timer, This will allow for a scheduled, direct application of water while reducing runoff and wind waste.
Extending this idea, you might consider rainscaping. Rainscaping is structuring your garden to make the most out of stormwater. This can not only reduce some of the watering demands but also help prevent damage from erosion or areas prone to water buildup.
Pests: Organic Options
Keeping your plants healthy with the proper nutrients and not overwatering will go a long way with pest prevention. As mentioned, companion planting can help fight unwanted insects. Releasing beneficial insects into your garden can also be a natural, environmental pest control.
Another completely natural method of eliminating pests is removing larger bugs by hand picking them.
There are some organic pest control options available. Neem oil repels major pests and helps fight fungus. You are also in control of the amount you use as a spray or soil drench.
Another organic pest “mixture” is vinegar, garlic, tomato leaves, and cinnamon. You can find recipes and spraying methods here.
Consider biopesticides, products created from natural sources. These can be household items such as canola oil or baking soda. Other biopesticides are created from bacteria, microbes, and minerals.
Sustainable Supplies
In eco gardening, an obvious goal is to avoid using plastic. When you do encounter plastic pot liners or plastic products, recycling them is a sustainable option. Most gardening centers have a system for recycling plant pots.
Combine healthy exercise with environmentalism to avoid using diesel or gas-powered tools. Using hand tools to prune, mow, till, or cultivate the soil can help you stay active and more environmentally conscious. Consider tools made of bamboo or other biodegradable materials and opt for electric tools over gas-powered ones when possible.
Lighting can bring a certain dazzle to your garden at night. Using solar power allows you to enjoy fun “light-scaping” without increasing your energy consumption and saving you money!
Repurposing can help offer natural and affordable options for your garden. Here are some ways you can recycle and repurpose your way to green gardening:
- Save your seeds. When your plants go to seed, harvest them for the next growing season.
- Grow your groceries. Food items like lettuce, green onions, garlic, celery, ginger, potatoes, some herbs, and other food scraps can be regrown. You can always compost what can’t be regrown.
- DIY plant markers. Use corks, aluminum can tops, rocks, popsicle sticks, or spoons to create your own plant markers. With a little imagination and some arts and craft supplies, you can get very creative with upcycled plant markers.
- When it comes to projects, what could be better than fast and free? Create your own compost bin from free pallets.
- Reuse old cushions as garden kneelers to save your knees.
- Explore your kitchen items for tools. Old spoons and forks can make great trowels.
- Creating a recycled watering can is as easy as poking holes in the top of a gallon milk jug.
- Skip the plastic pots and seed starters. There are many biodegradable pots and seed starter options available–and plenty of creative ways to make your own! For example, egg cartons or toilet paper rolls make great DIY seed starters.
From biodegradable pots to eco-friendly gardening gloves, there are so many modern choices to help make gardening smarter and greener.
Eco-friendly gardening can have a positive impact on both your wallet, the environment and your wellbeing. These steps not only save you money but also help you become a green gardener, promoting sustainable practices and giving back to the planet.
