Green Your Garden: Making Your Backyard A More Eco-Friendly Place
Just because your garden is full of plants does not mean that its eco-friendly. Here’s how to create a garden space that lives in harmony with the greater ecosystem around it:
No more toxic chemicals.
Sadly, many gardeners rely on toxic chemicals, and these can cause problems not only for you and your family. Chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides permeate the ground and then run off into the water supply when it rains – this can affect the ecosystem further afield – not just your garden. Chemicals such as glyphosate found in herbicides can end up having a devastating effect on the local fish population is rivers and streams.
Using more natural ways to manage weeds and prevent pests is one of the most effective ways you can green your garden. One way to tackle weeds is to use a barrier such as mulch or gravel on top of the soil. Something that makes it harder for weeds to grow through.
Of course, when it comes to getting rid of unwanted bugs, things can become a little more tricky. Especially if you are looking to defend crops that you and your family want to eat. However, there are some more natural ways of fighting off slugs, snails, and caterpillars, which you can find out more about in the video below.
Save the trees.
The next thing you can do to make your garden a more environmentally friendly is to save as many trees as you can. After all, they suck up CO2 and create oxygen, and so are vital to the planet. Not to mention that they are fabulous ecosystems within themselves that support all sorts of birds, insects, and small mammal life.
Unfortunately, trees are something that many gardeners find difficult because large ones can become problematic. Both by creating too much shade for plants to grow and being responsible for subsidence in buildings.
With that in mind, it is wise to stay on top of the growth of your trees. Both above and below ground. Happily, this is a task that you can get a professional arborist to help you with. Something that means you can keep any trees under control and so preserve them in your garden space.
Be mindful of materials and resources.
Finally, if you want your garden to be a genuinely eco-friendly place, then you need to become more mindful of the materials you use. What this is means that water preservation needs to be a top priority, something that using greywater in the garden can help with.
Additionally, be careful of using too many plastics in garden equipment, as these can leech out into the soil and cause further contamination of the surrounding ecosystem.