Image by Jeremy Levine Design used under Creative
commons License.
A sustainable garden will not just save money and help to reduce the impact
on the environment, it can also look great too. Here are some tips on how to
redesign your garden to be more sustainable.
Use long lasting equipment
Take your shed, for example. Buying a metal shed will give you many more
years of use than if a wooden one that is more likely to need regular
maintenance. You can pick up long lasting metal sheds from supermarkets like Tesco. Even better,
build your own shed from scrap metal to further increase sustainability. The
same principle applies to your garden furniture. Choose long lasting materials
or get someone else’s cast offs and do them up yourself.
Reduce your lawn size
In a sustainable garden it is best to have a small lawn due to the amount of
water and fertilizer that a large lawn requires to keep it
healthy. Reducing the size of the lawn and replacing it with low growing
shrubs or groundcovers will keep maintenance to a minimum. If you are happy to
do it, getting rid of your lawn altogether would maximise the sustainability of
your garden.
Grow your own food
Growing your own food not only makes your garden more sustainable, but also
contributes to making your lifestyle more sustainable as well. By growing your
own fruit, vegetables and herbs you know exactly what you are eating. There are
crops that can be grown all year round so your growing beds will be in constant
use. Just make sure you learn what to plant where and which crops you should
rotate each year.
Composting is a must
Composting your cut grass, dried leaves, vegetable peelings etc. will mean
that you can grow your own food in nutrient rich soil that hasn’t cost you a
dime. Compost gives your plants and crops the best chance of growing healthily
and reduces the amount of waste that is thrown away.
Don’t water your garden from the tap
Having garden that doesn’t require watering is obviously the best way to
reduce your water usage but a garden with no plants will look a bit bare.
But instead of turning on the hose, get yourself a rain barrel that will collect
rainfall for you to use. Alternatively, you can use the water from where you
have washed up your dishes (just make sure you use a washing soap that is
biodegradable and suitable to put on your garden).
Reuse and recycle
Anything that you have in your garden that isn’t ready for the scrap heap can
be put to use. When designing your new sustainable garden, think outside the
box. For example, instead of buying a rain barrel you could use adapt anything
you have lying around that could catch rainwater.
A sustainable garden will be exciting to design and put into practice, and
the best of it is that you can design just how much input it needs from you. Go
green today and share this piece with your friends on social media!
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