If you’re a certified plant mom or dad, you’ll certainly love the idea of sustainable gardening. If you haven’t heard of it, it simply means gardening in an eco-friendly way by using organic methods and replacing chemicals with greener alternatives.
It’s not a rocket-science, trust us. In fact, even your kids can help you maintain a sustainable garden. You also don’t need high-tech machines. Just the good ol’ eco-friendly gardening supplies and tools you have in your shed and a sack of determination will help make it work. Well, garden fencing from suppliers like gardenfencing.com is very important as well because once your harvest is bountiful you must keep critters out.
If you’re ready for some experimentation, below are some ideas that you can pull off to make a gorgeous and sustainable garden!
1. Garden layout
Planning the overall design of the garden is the very first step to sustainable gardening. This will allow you to incorporate water conservation and soil preparation techniques to help you easily maintain the garden in the future while reducing your impact on the environment.
When mapping out your layout, think of all the plants that you want to nurse in your garden and study their growth requirements. For example, some plants enjoy a hot sunny day while others prefer the shade. Also, some plants love a moist soil bed while others prefer the not-too-moist areas of the yard.
Knowing where to place the plants you want to grow can ultimately help you conserve water and protect the soil integrity of your yard at the same time.
2. Compost your organic waste
Keep the dead leaves, rotten flowers, trimmed grass, and your dog’s poop! You can use them to build your own compost.
Composting the organic and other food waste that your entire household produces will certainly save you a ton of money. You can harvest the composted materials as organic fertilizers which you can use to enrich your garden soil. And as you already know, healthy soil means healthy plants!
3. Use insects against pests
Nature has its own way of battling and controlling pests. Instead of using chemicals, allow beneficial insects like ladybugs to thrive in your garden. They devour aphids whole while other insects munch on caterpillars, mites, and other harmful bugs to protect your plants.
The best thing about it is that they’re completely harmless to you, your kids, and your pets!
4. Mulching
Mulching is the practice of covering the soil with mulches like leaves, tree barks, and wood chips to preserve the soil’s moisture and enhance its condition. It’s an old gardener’s trick that’s beneficial to plants if done properly.
Below are the benefits of mulching that your plants will thank you for:
- Prevents the soil from drying due to the sun’s heat
- Eliminates weeds
- Maintains the temperature and moisture of the soil
- Enriches the soil by adding nutrients to it
- Prevents erosion of the soil
- Creates the perfect garden ambience
5. Rethink how you mow your lawns
Sustainable gardening is also about reducing your carbon footprint. That’s why instead of using gas-powered lawn mowers, you can switch to manual machines. It may sound like a ton of work, but it could be a great exercise, too!
You can also attach your manual lawn mower to your bike if you have one. Then pedal your way around the yard and trim down some fats while trimming the grass!
Making a sustainable garden is hitting two birds with one stone: it beautifies your yard and ultimately saves the Earth.
So if you’ve been planning to give your garden a new look, you might want to transform it into a sustainable one while you’re at it. Just follow these sustainable gardening ideas that you can do by yourself with some help from your kids!
