Guest post by Penny Roussis

Tending a garden is beneficial not only to the overall aesthetic of your house but also to the environment. It can cut down CO2 in the atmosphere and it also provides shelter to birds, butterflies, and bees, which all take part in beautifying the space by pollinating flowering plants.

But did you know that gardening, if done right, can help Mother Nature even more?

If you’re a certified plant mom or dad, don’t get us wrong, we know that you’re already doing a great job. However, by integrating these tips, you can take your gardening to the next level, which can benefit you, your community, and ultimately the environment.

Here are some sustainable ideas to integrate into in your gardening:

1. Fixing your garden layout

The layout is more than just the arrangement of plants and bushes in your yard. It can dictate how everything works in your garden. And you can take advantage of the overall design by making it more sustainable.

For example, instead of simply arranging your plants by height or color, you can arrange them depending on their growth requirements. Some plants love the summer sun while others prefer the shade. Some species are more comfortable with moist soil while others are not.

Arranging your plants depending their needs helps to easily incorporate water conservation and soil preparation techniques. Once you’ve mastered these skills, you’ll be well on your way to reducing your environmental footprint.

2. Compost all your natural waste

Every time you’re cleaning up your yard, make good use of the dead leaves, branches, dried flowers, trimmed grass, and yes, even your dog’s poop! Beware, though, that adding dog poop to your compost requires special handling first and composted dog poop should not be used in your food garden. Otherwise, your organic food and yard waste can be used to build a compost pit that is safe for use with your vegetables and fruit plants. Composting your natural waste means that you will buy less commercial fertilizer, send less waste to landfills, and certainly save some cash! Instead of buying commercial fertilizers, with all of their environmental baggage, you can simply harvest the rotten waste to enrich your garden soil.

If you don’t like to get your hands dirty when harvesting the fertilizer, you can simply dig up the area of your garden you want to enrich and bury the waste there.

3. Use garden insects to your advantage

Believe it or not, your garden has its own pest control, thanks to the insects already living there. If you see ladybugs peacefully resting on a leaf, leave them alone because they help get rid of aphids. Parasitic wasps, spiders, praying mantises, and others are other types of useful helpers you might see in your garden and they can help reduce the damage caused by caterpillars, mites, and other herbivore insects that pillage your beautiful garden.

Don’t worry, these helpful insects won’t harm you, your kids, or your pets!

4. Try mulching

Mulching is an old gardener’s trick of covering your garden soil with tree barks, wood chips, dead leaves, and other types of mulches. This practice will help preserve the moisture and enhance the condition of the soil.

Below are some of the benefits of mulching to your plants:

Prevents the drying of the soil caused by the sun’s heat
Gets rid of the unsightly weeds
Provides additional nutrients to the soil
Keeps the soil intact to prevent erosion

4. Ditch your gas-powered lawnmowers

Your gas-powered lawn mower is one of the biggest contributors of CO2. To reduce your environmental footprint, use manual lawnmowers instead. Yes, switching to manual is a laborious task. But hey, at least you can get some exercise! Another alternative is to use an electric power mower. It takes a little more effort to move the extension cord out of your way as you mow, but it’s easier than manual lawnmowing and much more environmentally friendly than gas-powered mowing.

Using eco-friendly gardening supplies like an electric or manual mower is good both for the environment and for your health. Not only will you be able to trim some grass, but you’ll be able to slim down, too!

5. Conserve water

The ultimate goal of sustainable gardening is to utilize natural resources as much as possible. That’s why a sustainable garden is not complete without a barrel or drum for a rainwater collection system.

Collecting or storing rainwater is one the best ways to conserve water. Not only will it be enough to sustain the needs of your plant babies, but it will also help you reduce your water bill.

Just place an empty drum below that downspout that’s connected to your gutters and let the water flow into it. Adapting your downspout with a rain barrel diverter kit is the most efficient way to do this. Even better if the drum has a pre-installed faucet so you can easily access the water.

6. Use wood scraps as fences

If you’ve recently planted saplings in your garden, and you want to protect them from your curious pets, you can use dead branches or wood scraps as fences. This is a much more cost-effective technique than buying brand-new fences in your local store.

7. Use seaweed

If you live in a coastal area, you can take advantage of the seaweed that drifts by the shore. Seaweeds are rich in nutrients that promote healthy growth in plants.

Collect as much as you can, and dry them out under the sun. Then dry them again, in a low moisture environment like your shed. Finally, crush them into a coarse powder. Once you’ve done all that, your seaweeds are ready to nourish your plants!

8. Go for homegrown native plants

Native plants are the type of plants that naturally grow in your area or your region. They require less water, less soil treatment and less effort to maintain in general. That’s because they are already accustomed to the soil type in your garden, the weather conditions, and climate changes in your region.

These are some of the many sustainable gardening ideas that you can adopt. Keep in mind that these practices are not rocket-science. All you need is a little bit of knowledge, some tools, and a firm commitment to making this whole sustainability thing work.

Since these are all easy to do, you can teach your kids a thing or two about it along the way. Don’t worry, it's okay if they get their hands dirty. Since they’ll be the ones to tend your garden when you grow old, as they always say, it’s better to start them young.

You’ll be surprised how simple sustainable gardening can really be. It’s easy to learn, and not to mention a great bonding activity for the whole family!

Penny Roussis is a stay-at-home mom who loves blogging about home cleaning, gardening and other home-related tips. She also loves helping other struggling moms to strike a balance between raising their children and maintaining a clean and sustainable home.

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