What can we do as homeowners to protect the environment? What actions can we take to join in the sustainability efforts of environmental agencies and organizations? Look around your house. Your family’s simple actions can help reduce the impact on natural resources. By turning off the lights when not in use and reducing the waste as much as possible, you can help preserve the environment. But if you want to make a more lasting impact, start a sustainable garden.
A garden is good for the environment because it reduces air and noise pollution. It also prevents soil erosion and minimizes energy costs. Sustainable gardening, in particular, reduces the carbon footprint, filter groundwater, and provides food and home for various insects and animals. It also minimizes the chemicals that enter the environment. Sustainable gardening practices use natural weed controllers and organic fertilizers.
But how does a homeowner start a sustainable garden? What does the homeowner need to know about sustainable practices in the garden? Is this cheaper or more expensive?
Recycled Materials
The best thing about growing a sustainable garden is it is a more affordable practice than conventional gardening. Environmental sustainability means being responsible for one’s interaction with the environment so as not to deplete natural resources. It must also ensure long-term environmental quality, which covers the reusability and recyclability of the materials used in the garden.
One of the biggest areas that you need to cover in the garden is the landscape. Most people use pebbles, gravel, and grass. While these are all okay, you can help keep glass bottles, old windows, and other glass products from the landfill by using tumbled glass mulch for your landscaping needs. A glass crusher crushes the glass products into a mulch that gardeners can use as pathways, fire pits, and around potted plants.
The tumbled glass has no jagged and sharp edges, so this is safe to use for pathways and walkways. The best thing about tumbled glass mulch is it comes in different colors—blue, amber, and green. It creates a dream-like pathway in your garden, unlike the commonly used gravel and pebbles.
Organic Gardening
Use as few chemicals and substances in your garden as much as possible. The whole point of sustainable gardening is to grow plants and flowers organically. This means no chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and pesticides. Even when it comes to weed killers, you should only use the safest and most organic products in the market.
When starting to garden organically, start with building a good soil rich in nutrients. You can make your own compost using food scraps, twigs, and other things from your house and garden. The natural compost will amend the soil. If there are insects and pests in your garden, treat them organically, too.
Native Plants
Most people use perennials in their gardens. If you want to have a sustainable garden, stay away from those because their needs change. They might require more water and even fertilizer during certain periods of the year. You have to know what plants to use in your garden.
The best ones are those native to your region. They are indigenous to your region, which means they take less work and less water. They are already suited to the climate of the region, so you don’t need to take extra care of them, unlike with perennials and other seasonal plants.
Water Less
You should water your plants less. That’s why it’s important to carefully choose the plants that you are going to grow. You need to choose drought-tolerant plants, as well as use a garden layout that will maximize the water from your downspouts. You can place a barrel at the base of your downspouts to collect the rainwater that you can then use to water the plants. Xeriscaping is a method of landscaping and gardening that uses as less water as possible.
Grow Vegetables and Fruits
What’s a sustainable garden if you won’t use it to grow your own food? Since you’re starting an organic garden anyway, it’s best to be used to grow your own organic vegetables and fruits. Organic food is essential to a sustainable lifestyle. If you want to help preserve natural resources and co-exist with the environment, you have to choose the food you consume, too. Green and leafy vegetables such as lettuce grow quickly in the spring while tomatoes and peppers thrive during summer.
Growing a sustainable garden is not, by any means, easy. It takes a lot of work and effort to sustain these practices. However, when you read news about environmental depletion and so many things going on in the environment, that should push you to contribute to protecting the natural resources. The easiest way to do that is to start a sustainable garden.
