In these more recent times, the idea of having your own sustainable garden is seemingly more and more appealing every day. For some, this can seem like such a daunting task.
Many of my friends are really starting to ask me often, “How to make a sustainable garden.”
Honestly, there are many easy and free ways to make a garden.
What is a sustainable garden?
Well, this question is sort of loaded depending on who you ask. By definition alone, a sustainable garden. . . well sustains itself. This means, if you did not touch it, it could in theory thrive.
Personally, I view sustainability as a way of living and therefore, a sustainable garden does not interfere with the nature around it. I try to work with everything into my garden in a way that is a sort of permaculture.
What does a sustainable garden look like?
There are a few features that almost every garden can have to make it far more sustainable than what we view in our everyday lives.
- Biodiversity
- No chemical pesticides or herbicides
We here love a biodiverse garden where we use companion planting as a means to prevent pests in our plants. Some of these plants are marigold and dill. A lush and diverse garden to me has always been appealing.
Not using chemicals has become my latest wish since having kids. Watching my children put everything into their mouths really concerned me since we used a lot of chemical disinfectants. So naturally, I do not use any of these in our garden.
I also compost and try to use reclaimed materials as much as possible. This helps us not only save money but reduce our waste in the long run.
This method also helps us reduce the amount of waste going into landfills!
Why is a sustainable garden important?
A sustainable garden is important because it focuses on not making a negative impact on our planet. Instead of working against the earth, you are working in sync with it in a way that makes a positive impact.
The produce from your garden can also taste better, be free of pesticides which in turn benefit you. Pesticides and herbicides run into our water supplies and cause major problems in the local environment.
Some pesticides even harm bees. Bees are important for gardeners as they help pollinate our fruits.
What are the benefits of a sustainable garden?
The benefits of sustainable gardening outweigh any of the disadvantages many can think of.
- Saving money
- Building a better ecosystem in your soil
- Healthier and fresher foods
- Biodiversity
These in turn help grow you and your family into more rounded people. Your children can learn from the environment around them and gardening is shown to be a fantastic stress relief.
Methods of sustainable gardening
There are many different teachings to choose from when picking what is right for you and your land. Here are just a few:
- No-till
- Permaculture
- Hugelkulture
These are all three fantastic methods but each has its own traits.
No-till
Also known as ‘lasagna gardening’ this method involves not tilling the earth or disturbing the ground too much. You continue to layer organic matter and let things decay. This can be a wonderful method for the busiest of people.
However, it comes with its own issues such as the soil needing to be amended more. This though can also be a good thing. Every year your soil will only get better the more you plant!
Permaculture
This is often paired with farm animals so it can be more difficult to do if you do not have any. However, if you are able to have livestock this method is amazing as everything lives in a sort of symbiotic relationship.
Everything you grow benefits from one another and in turn helps reduce your waste tremendously and thus, is far more sustainable!
Hugelkulture
This method is very interesting and cost-effective. It works well if you have really poor soil that you just do not feel comfortable using no-till.
This method involves building raised beds and then filling the majority of them up with sticks and logs and then topping them with soil. This overtime will break down and feed your garden.
This helps save money because you won’t have to fill the entire bed with soil and won’t need to purchase most soil amendments once the sticks begin breaking down. It is also a very sustainable method since you are using items most people commonly discard.
Conclusion
Overall, many people do not think about the waste their garden may produce when they choose to do so. Developing a biodiverse and sustainable garden is important to the overall health of your plants.
This can be mutually beneficial to both you and the environment around you. Sustainability does not have to be expensive either.
Happy planting!
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