What better place to lower your carbon footprint and reduce the impact you have on the planet than in your own green space.
Sustainable gardening is important for so many reasons. Just a few, simple eco-friendly changes can protect the environment from damage, flooding and contamination; support the planet and all the creatures that call it home; and counter climate change. But what makes a garden eco-friendly? Read on to discover the factors every eco-friendly garden should have and why.
Sustainable plants are vital to the success of any eco-friendly garden space. With less need for interventions such as watering and fertiliser/pesticide use, precious resources can be preserved.
You’ll also enjoy a garden that requires very minimal maintenance yet still makes a great place to spend time from season to season. You should avoid watering your lawns as part of your eco-friendly mission too.
When establishing and nurturing an eco-friendly haven in your own backyard, the saying “less is more” really shouldn’t apply! Go crazy with your foliage by growing plants EVERYWHERE.
Plants can be grown up walls and fences; on the roofs of outbuildings and garden structures; in baskets, pots and containers; and in abundance across borders to fill your green space with life and support the planet. The presence of plants after all minimises the production of harmful greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, to reduce the impact of climate change. A garden rich in plants and other foliage also supports biodiversity and human wellbeing.
When choosing your foliage, select varieties that are native, wild and made for pollinators like bees, butterflies and other insects.
Your choice of plants may be pretty resilient, but that doesn’t mean they won’t need a helping hand from time-to-time. Collecting rainwater is easy and highly efficient. It’ll also save you plenty of money on your water bill and help the planet.
Whether using an intricate rainwater harvesting system, rainwater barrels or butts, a trap, or some carefully placed buckets and watering cans, gathering what the great British weather so generously gives us is a must. By collecting rainwater, you’ll lower the risk of flooding and erosion to make your garden and the wider environment healthier.
The health of your soil is a key consideration when planting a more sustainable garden. You should however avoid using peat compost at all costs.
The peatlands where peat soil is harvested is responsible for the release of huge amounts of carbon. In fact, the billions of acres of peat found around the world hold more carbon than all the globe’s forests combined!