Gardening is enjoyable and fulfilling for many people as it lets them connect to nature while enjoying the fresh air of the outdoors. Tending to your garden is the best way to keep yourself busy and enjoy the beauty of nature, so why not create the perfect space for wildlife to thrive? Being sustainable with gardening not only lets local wildlife thrive in your green space, but it’s also much kinder to the environment! Anybody who has a garden, no matter its size, can transform it into a sustainable, beautiful retreat that is buzzing with life!
But how do you create an eco-friendly garden to look after the planet and its gorgeous wildlife? You can transform your garden with these sustainable ideas to create an eco-friendly garden to use recycled materials, reduce the use of natural resources, and allows you to do less maintenance.
Plant trees
Planting more trees in your garden is a really effective way to make it more sustainable. This is because trees help to clean the air and create vital oxygen for us to breathe. They keep the environment clean and fresh, helping to restore our beautiful Earth. In fact, if everybody planted a tree in their community, garden, or workplace and nurtured it to maturity, we would store plenty of carbon to help clean the planet.
Choose resilient and long-lasting plants
A vital way to keep your garden sustainable is by selecting resilient and long-lasting plants that can adapt to change, weather, and conditions. Having these types of plants means there’s less maintenance and help required to maintain the ecology in your garden.
It’s ideal to replace plants with these varieties due to climate change as many plants are struggling with the ever-changing climate. Many places in the world are experiencing milder winters and quick frosts, as well as a lack of warmth and cool nights in the summer months. This is required for many plants, especially fruits, as they need consistent seasons to ripen and bloom.
Improve soil health
The soil you use is a key factor in creating an eco-friendly garden as it traps and stores carbon, as well as gives a home to billions of microorganisms and tiny creatures. Having the right soil helps to maintain the health of the planet, so it’s important to get it right.
Soil is made up of carbon which traps it beneath the surface and releases it into the environment when disturbed. Due to this, it’s essential to only disturb the soil when planting to avoid carbon being released too many times. You can also reduce this by making your own compost and applying a thick layer of it over your soil. This helps creatures like worms to thrive while improving soil structure and delivering nutrients to the plant’s roots.
Plant native plants
Try to include native plants in your garden to support the lives of insects and wildlife. Planting the right plants for the place you are located will also require less watering and feeding. Doing this is a great way to be more sustainable while also saving you money, as you won’t need to replace the plants often because they will all work wonderfully for your garden.
Create your own sustainable planters
Instead of purchasing brand-new planters for your garden, why not get crafty and make your own? Creating DIY planters can be very sustainable as you can upcycle old garden furniture and anything you have lying about that you don’t need anymore. From broken furniture and empty containers to wooden and plastic pallets, you can get creative and transform useless items into useful and stylish garden planters or veg plots.
Find some tools and supplies at your local hardware store, such as sandpaper and paint to transform these items into useful planters. You can also refresh your tired-looking garden furniture while you’re at it to make it look new again, preventing you from needing to buy new ones.
Leave your grass to grow
A hugely important way to make an eco-friendly garden is to try to avoid neat, tidy lawns. You should just let that grass grow longer to help wildlife and the planet. Let your lawn grow however it pleases and find native plants pop up to create a wildlife haven of color. You can then mow your lawn in the late summer and leave the stems to shed their seeds before removing the clippings. This is truly the best way to have a sustainable garden!
Encourage pollination
Pollinators are declining and on the verge of extinction if the planet continues with its environmental decline. They need your help as they are rapidly losing their habitats, which is the main reason why you see fewer bees, butterflies, and other insects roaming free in your garden.
To help our beautiful pollinators thrive, you should encourage pollination in your garden by planting a wide variety of plants to keep them going. Include a mixture of native, near native, and exotic plants to offer something for each pollinator and support diversity. Whether it is bees, moths, butterflies, or other pollinators, doing this can really aid them and boost their habitat and lives.
Use natural pest control
Try to avoid using pesticides when gardening as these are extremely harmful to the environment and your garden’s inhabitants. Instead, choose a natural and organic growing method to prevent the need for pest control.
If you achieve a sustainable garden, you won’t need to rely on chemicals as it will naturally have a gentler approach to pest control. In order to do this, add in companion planting and sustainable fertilizer.
Collect rainwater
You can easily stop wasting water and using too much of it on watering your garden and plants by making rainy weather useful. Purchase a water butt or use a large container to collect rainwater from your pipes. After a lot of rainfall, or over a period of time, you can then use the collected water to care for your garden and plants. Doing this ensures that you conserve water but still give enough to your garden to let everything thrive!
It is also a fantastic idea to try and put the hosepipe down and take away any sprinklers as these use a lot of water. Instead, use the good old-fashioned but reliable watering can to tend to your plants.
Feed the birds
Attracting birds to your garden is vital to be more sustainable as you’re helping wild birds find a natural habitat and keep them healthy. It’s really simple to attract local birds, all you need to do is put some bird food out for them. Hanging a bird feeder from a tree or scattering bird seed over your lawn will have birds soaring over to your eco-friendly garden in no time.
You could make this even more sustainable by making your own bird feeder, preventing the need to buy a new one. Use recycled materials such as plastic bottles, glass jars, or scrap wood. You could even bake homemade bird treats to hang up in the garden and attract local birdlife.
Use these sustainable ideas to create an eco-friendly garden to help local wildlife and the planet thrive. You can make a huge difference to the environment by implementing these ideas and have a more natural and colorful garden.
Further Reading
