Greening Up Your Garden
With all the talk of going green, ask yourself how green your garden really is. If you grow some of your own fruits and vegetables, then you are already on your way. But could you do more to be environmentally conscious? Are you doing enough? Read on for some ways to become the greenest gardener you can be!
A green garden is a natural garden in every way. That includes not just what you plant but what you spray the plants with. Every gardener wants a healthy and thriving garden that is free of pests, but things such as weed killers, fertilizers and chemical pesticides are not the answer. They are all poisons that can harm your plants, your kids, and your pets. Instead use compost to fertilize your garden and make it healthy. Your homemade compost can be composed of fruit and vegetable scraps, leaves, coffee grounds and tea bags.
Water is necessary for every garden to grow. Place a rain barrel in your garden to catch rainfall. This will provide you with fresh water that is free of chlorine and also free of minerals. You can use the barrel to catch the runoff water when there is a storm. This will help to perform two important functions- it will prevent flooding from occurring and it will reduce the likelihood of erosion. Make sure you place a screen over the top of the barrel to keep it clear and free of debris and insects. In order to make sure the water remains as fresh as possible and does not become stale, use it frequently to water your plants.
Both compost and mulch are good for many reasons, and here is yet another one. If you add both to your soil, it will help to keep water in the ground and therefore will reduce the rate at which it evaporates. For areas prone to drought and/or very dry conditions this is a good thing.
The more bees and butterflies that come into your garden the better. This is because they are pollinators and help your garden to grow. In fact 35 percent of the successful crop production throughout the globe can be attributed to bees and butterflies. To encourage both to visit your garden, plant a selection of native flowers. In particular this will attract bees to your plants. Watch your plants grow now!
