6 Tips For Maintaining a Healthy and Eco-friendly Garden
Maintaining a wonderful, thriving garden is a great joy. The feeling can be even greater if your approach to gardening is eco-friendly sustainable.
Many aspects of gardening have a greener method than the one you are using now. Also, learning more tricks that will make your garden healthier is always welcomed.
1.Proper spacing
Proper spacing greatly contributes to the health of your plants. There needs to be proper air circulation around them, and potted plants should be planted in large pots.
For example, low growing plants and groundcovers thrive when grouped in beds. It also reduces the chance of weed appearing and saves water. Enough space between the rows of plants repels fungal attacks as well.
2.The right plants
This term implies planting only flowers, plants, and trees that can actually thrive in your climate and soil. So, don’t choose the plants according to their sheer attractiveness – have the actual conditions in mind when choosing.
More precisely, know what the light conditions are, soil quality and drainage, moisture in the soil and air, as well as the dimensions of your garden or garden beds. Also, it’s good to pick plants that are more resistant to pests and diseases – that way, you will have more joy because they will truly thrive and last long without you having to trouble yourself much.
3.A thing or two on mulch
Mulching brings many benefits to your garden, such as reduction of weed growth and diseases and regulating soil temperature and moisture.
A great thing about mulching is that various types of organic matter can serve as mulch material, for example, leaves, paper, grass clippings, hay, and even sawdust. It’s best to apply mulch in spring but not too early – wait until the soil is 65˚F or more.
In case you grow potatoes, strawberries, or raspberries or you enjoy having azaleas and rhododendrons, coffee grounds and pine needles will make great mulch for them because these plants love acid.
4.Smart use of water
Saving water is a comprising part of eco gardening. It’s environmentally friendly and good for your wallet.
As you will probably be using mostly tap water in the backyard and the garden to water the plants, it’s best to have an 82ft garden hose that can reach all the corners and still not make a mess in the garden because it’s retractable. Practical hoses like that also prevent you from wasting water.
Also, whenever you can, try to collect rainwater in standalone butts – just cover the top with a mesh screen to prevent bugs from coming in. Rainwater is great for plants because it has a perfect pH balance for them. You can connect the butts with the hose when possible. During droughts, you can also use greywater from the bathroom and kitchen to water the plants.
5.Non-peat based compost
Non-peat based compost products are the greenest type of compost you can use for your eco-friendly garden. You can easily find them in local gardening stores. The best one among them is the coir-based compost.
Coir is a waste product that occurs from processing coconut fiber. And don’t worry – it needs to be shipped across the planet, but the transportation method used does not leave a high carbon footprint. Moreover, you will be reducing your carbon footprint by switching from peat-based compost to this specific type.
6. Planting trees smartly
You can additionally reduce your carbon footprint if you select very specific trees to plant in your yard. Trees like oak, pine, silver maple, red mulberry, and dogwood are among the types that absorb and store carbon highly efficiently.
In general, it’s always better to plant a tree that has wide crowns and large leaves. Another option is to select a fast-growing tree that will start storing carbon very soon. Also, choose a tree that can last for a long time – it will store carbon inside its trunk for many years to come without releasing it during the decomposition process.
A smart choice is to go for tree types that are native to your region because they are best accustomed to the climate and the chances of them lasting long are high. These types of trees will also attract local wildlife, which is great for the microclimate.
Go for trees that need low maintenance and are resistant to diseases – they will have a higher chance of not succumbing to the negative effects of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. In short – pick a tree that you know can last for decades.
Final words
An eco-friendly garden is the garden of the future. No reason why you shouldn’t start using environmentally-friendly techniques in your own garden right now – it can only lead to a healthier garden that helps you reduce your carbon footprint and save you money.
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A really helpful post. My gardening skills are terrible but having moved into a new house where the garden needed a lot of work, to put it lightly, I’m trying to learn fast!
I’ve only just managed to get a full garden of grass but working on a flowerbed now, one step at a time.
Can you also tell what kind of plants should we grow in our gardens? Becuase I am about to make a garden at my home. It would be a great help.
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hi,
this article is very useful for me, and I can use this tips in my garden.
amazing tips for health thanks for sharing covid situation ,please use mask and maintain the distance ,happy life 🙂
Hi,
Lots of great tips for health and eco-friendly garden maintenance. Thanks for sharing.
We did a garden this year and it was only a little successful. I will try some of these tips for next year.
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Hi,
Thank you, Praveen I love gardening your post is very nice, keep it up such kind of work is the need of the world nobody thinks about the environment around us but some people again thanks for this.
Thank you for this great post on gardening in an eco-friendly way! Since this pandemic I have started taking a bit interest in gardening, it is my lockdown hobby and I focus on growing our own food which is lots of fun, saves us money and keeps me busy.
I make my garden in pots since we have a rented home and while we have a garden the owners are very finicky about it and the soil is not great. I’ve learned so much about companion planting which has been super helpful and it’s almost like a puzzle trying to figure out which plants to put together in the pots!
I’m very interested in your section about compost – I am really keen to start making my own compost which will mean our household sends out less waste. I really had no idea about non-peat based compost and coir. When I go to the nursery I just ask for compost and take the bag! That is going to be very helpful until I can get my own compost going! Thank you.
Yes, Planting a tree having wide crowns and large leaves is better. If you plant some bushy flowering plants surrounding the large tree or planting similar trees in a circular way(as you have a large garden) with the bushy colorful plants at the middle also looks good. But pruning such large trees are quite difficult.
My wife and I just moved into our 4-bedroom home 3 weeks ago and are hoping to grow a vegetable garden in the spring since we have a large backyard. Thanks for pointing out that having mulch can help reduce weeds, prevent diseases, and can help keep a consistent temperature and moisture level in the dirt. After reading this, I’ll want to find a reputable place to get good quality mulch to use if we do end up growing a garden.
I love gardening and I have just read your article and found it very helpful for us. I would like to take some more other tips in upcoming blogs. A few days ago I was looking to buy plants for my garden. Suddenly I found an amazing store, i.e., The Jungle Collective! I was really happy to buy plants from this store. They have the best unique indoor plants, plant pots, flowers, and rare plant events, etc. I am pleased to see the huge collection of this store. Highly preferable.
I love that you mentioned how having a wonderful and thriving garden can bring joy to my life. All my kids have moved out and I have decided to focus my time and attention on gardening. Once I’ve decided what kind of plants I’ll look after, I’ll hire experts in custom landscape design and we’ll work together to beautify my front yard.
Firstly thank you so much for this great post on gardening. Since the pandemic, I have started gardening in my house by myself. I was in dilemma about how to maintain the garden and how to create eco-friendly gardening. From this post, I have learned many things about the plant and soil also. I got to know more about the fertilizers and compost which can be made at home also. From now I will also make compost of household waste in the ground which is most beneficial for planting the flowers and growing vegetables in the garden. I got to know more about gardening and the most eco-friendly gardening from your post. This post is so useful for me.
Thanks for sharing this beautiful idea.
It really helped when you said that we should ensure correct spacing for our plants so they can get proper air circulation. My husband wants to improve the appearance of our garden in July by planting 10 more trees. I’ll make sure that he will have enough space for each of them to ensure proper air circulation. I guess we should also look for decorative garden birdhouses on Friday that are of high quality for a more appealing garden.
You have written beautifully about eco-friendly gardens. And six things are very important. You have written beautifully about mulch. I use mulch in my garden.
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