Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
You don’t have to be an eco-warrior to start gardening more sustainably. A lot sustainable gardening The practices simply make sense, being better for your plants as well as the wider environment. It is also unlikely for you, because over time they will save time and money.
So don’t scroll. These four swaps are the swaps that give your garden the most benefits and are the simplest in place. So it doesn’t matter if your motives are altruistic or completely selfish – just do it!
Happier plants, heavier pockets and a clearer conscience? Yes please!
The article continues below
#1 Switch store-bought compost to homemade
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Once you start making compost yourself, you’ll realize how crazy it is to throw away all your garden’s nutrient waste and then buy back someone else’s well-rotted rubbish. Composting doesn’t have to be a long or messy process. A rotating bin will produce the products in just six weeks and if you choose one or two sections like this Outsunny Tumbling Bin from Targetyou can add scraps to one side while collecting garden-ready compost on the other for a continuous supply.
Worried it might be a little boring? Only people who don’t know how to compost have smelly bins. The trick is to balance wet plant matter and food scraps with dry brown materials such as shredded paper, cardboard, dry leaves and sawdust. Turning the compost as it decomposes will also add oxygen to the mix and prevent anaerobic conditions that can lead to unpleasant aromas. While you have to do this with a garden fork in a standard compost pile, a rotating suction bucket makes a slight turn.
How much capacity do you need?
This double chamber polypropylene drum on a metal base promises to produce compost in 4-6 weeks.
A gear system makes rotation easy, and eight adjustable vents control moisture to keep odors at bay.
Lifetime Dual Bin Composter
Double-wall panels lock in heat, while the inner bar allows airflow in this bin of well-balanced glasses.
Switch #2 Lubrication to Redness
(Image: Future)
There are many fertilizer products on the market that promise longer blooms and better vegetables. Which is great – but there is a balance to be struck. If you overfeed a plant to artificially stimulate its growth too much, you create top growth that can’t be supported by its root system, which means you end up having to water it a lot more.
Fertilizers do an extremely useful job of providing a highly concentrated dose of nutrients when plants need them most. But use them without supporting long-term soil fertility and structure and good root growth with mulch? This is incredibly wasteful, both of natural resources and your time.
Apply a 2-3 inch layer of any organic matter on top of the soil as a mulch in early spring or late fall, and the nutrients will slowly seep into the soil to support your plants long term. Then use fertilizer as an extra boost, just when needed. Mulch regularly and you’ll reduce the need for synthetic fertilizer by about 30%. If you make your own compost to use as mulch, this is a huge cost saver.
The same goes for potted plants. Simply refresh the top 2-4 inches of soil each year to provide long-term nutrients, rather than relying solely on plant foods.
Water mains switch #3 to rainwater
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Using rainwater instead of mains water will not only save you money on your utility bills, it is much better for your plants as it is free of chlorine, fluoride and salts that can inhibit plant growth. Instead, rainwater has nitrates, an easily absorbed source of nitrogen that feeds healthy stems and foliage. It’s also the perfect pH for plants, as it’s slightly acidic – and municipal water is usually treated to make it slightly alkaline to prevent pipes from corroding. So not only are you feeding your plants as you water them, but you’re not changing your soil’s natural pH levels.
Does it sound too good to be true? Try a little experiment for a few weeks, leaving a bucket outside to collect rainwater and using the contents to water your houseplants. You will be surprised how rich and healthy they become in a short time.
Watering your garden with collected rainwater takes no more than turning on an outdoor faucet. Upload yours rain barrel in a booth like this recycled design from Amazon and you can put your watering can under the tap. If your rain barrel has a removable lid, and most do, then you can submerge a cheap one water pump like this one from Amazon into it and attach a hose.
Beautiful rain barrels with plants
Good Ideas 50 Gallon Rain Saver
With a textured exterior design inspired by tree bark, this rain barrel is topped with a small planter.
65 gallon rain barrel with planter cover
With a brass pin, this stylish 47″ tall rain barrel is made of durable molded plastic.
Emsco 50 Gallon Whiskey Rain Barrel
Mimicking a wooden whiskey barrel, this polyethylene raincoat has a flat back for an even fit.
Change #4 Chemical Pest Control to Natural Predators
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Use of chemicals pesticides he doesn’t just get rid of the bad guys, he kills the good guys too. So once you start relying on pesticides to control pests in your garden, you’ll also eliminate their natural predators, so you’ll end up applying more and more chemicals, which just makes you more and more dependent on them.
Getting out of this vicious cycle is simple, although it won’t happen overnight. Stop using chemical pesticides and the number of pests you see in your garden will increase temporarily. But hold your nerve and, within days, their natural predators will arrive to feast on the abundance of food.
You can attract many beneficial predators to your yard by planting nectar-rich flowers. Just one ladybug can eat around 50 aphids a day, and their larvae have even bigger appetites – in their lifetime, a ladybug will consume around 5,000 aphids. They snack on mealybugs and scale insects as well. And all you need to do to bring them into your garden is to plant some of their favorite plants such as marigolds, marigolds, dill and fennel.
Lacewings love all these plants, too, and their larvae eat a wide range of insect pests.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) is the prettiest of plants and is so easy to grow, you can plant seeds now. All available from Eden Brothers, “Apricot Lemonade” has summer tones as its name suggests, ‘Cupcake White’ has clouds of crumpled blossoms that look exactly like cupcake cases, while “Pastel Mix” it will soften any planting scheme with muted hues.
To stimulate natural pest controlyou can also buy live ladybugs and lace eggs from Natures Good Guys to help build a population in your backyard.
Offering habitat will keep these beneficial insects in your yard and encourage them to complete their life cycle to produce more pest-eating helpers. Draining your borders, letting a strip of lawn grow and leaving some seeds as winter structure will provide them with the shelter they need.
If you are plagued by slugs then the best way to control them is to add a pond in your garden. Even a small water source will attract not only frogs, toads and newts, but also thrushes and blackbirds, which will happily deal with the slug problem. Frogs, toads and newts will also swallow snails whole, shell and all!
