What is Sustainable Gardening?
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| Photo Credit: Lane Greer |
| When you lose your lawn, look what wonderful things can happen! |
Most people are familiar with the term “organic gardening,” but what about “sustainable gardening,” and its cousins: eco-friendly, environ-
mentally sound, biointensive, low-input, alternative and natural gardening?
Sustainable farmers and gardeners contribute to the earth rather than take away from it. In sustainable systems, plants are grown without depleting natural resources or contributing to pollution. And, in order for anything to be sustainable, it should continue for a long time. This means that it should sustain itself as much as possible, without constant inputs from you.
So how can you practice sustainable gardening? Here are a few ideas:
- Limit the size of your lawn. Lawns use more water and fossil fuels to maintain them than any other planting. Have a mixed-grass lawn rather than a monoculture. Choose the right type of lawn grasses for your area. Use an electric or human-powered mower. Or remove your lawn altogether and create natural or planted areas with perennials, shrubs and trees instead.
- Contribute to your yard or patch of space in whatever ways you can. Make compost out of vegetable peelings and yard clippings. Shred newspaper to make mulch, and cover weeds with cardboard instead of applying herbicides.
- Take stock of the plants in your yard. Do they contribute to feeding birds and other wildlife? Are any of them native? Are you constantly replacing plants (and if so, why)? Buy plants that are hardy to your area.
- Use natural fertilizers like compost, rock phosphate, kelp or seaweed, fish meal and alfalfa meal. These feed the soil and the microorganisms it contains. They also encourage a natural rate of plant growth, which helps eliminate some pest problems.
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| Facts |
- Organic produce has to meet rigid guidelines set by the USDA, but sustainably grown produce does not.
- Sustainable, eco-friendly, environmentally sound, biointensive, low-input, alternative and natural gardening are all synonyms for plants grown in an environmentally friendly way. This usually means that few or no chemicals are used, and use of fossil fuels is kept to a minimum, which helps decrease pollution.
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| Tips |
- Start with something simple: Make a compost pile.
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Next Steps
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Articles
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Quick and Easy Compost
Learn how to make compost in much less time than with traditional methods.
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Making the Most of Your Leaves
When raked and used properly, those fallen leaves on the lawn can provide at least two useful materials for your garden. Turn your fallen leaves into a growing gift – learn the quick, easy and affordable way to make leaf mulch and leaf mold.
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Native Gardening – Why All the Hype?
If you want a low-maintenance garden, enjoy the company of wildlife and want plant diversity in your garden – go native!
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