The garden is one of the most important parts of your home as it’s where you get to enjoy the outdoors, connect with nature without being too far from home, and even bond with friends and family. If you’re looking for ways to update your backyard garden so that it complements the environment while being aesthetically pleasing, you’ve come to the right place. Here are 5 ways to make your garden more eco-friendly and trendy.
1. Introduce Native Fauna
The plants that are endemic to your area are tougher because they’ve evolved to survive the unique challenges of that specific location. They’re more resistant to disease, pests, and whatever environmental challenges the area presents. Native plants help support a healthy environment, providing nectar to pollinators, shelter, and food for wildlife. If you want your home to blend in with the local natural landscape, planting native plants is the way to go.
You need to be systematic about how you go about planting native plants, though, especially if you want to make the most of them. You must first determine which plants are native to your region and then pick the spots and prepare the soil. From there, just make sure your selection of plants is diverse enough. After all, you want some to bloom in the summer, and some during the winter as well. Lastly, make sure your native plants are close enough to each other to crowd out weeds.
2. Grow What You Can Eat
Having flowers, grasses, and other types of plants in your garden is great. Growing your own plants and veggies, however; is just brilliant. Gardening for food is making a huge comeback, especially as the fascination of ‘going off the grid’ gains in popularity. Not only will you get to save on your grocery costs, but you’ll also be eating healthily. Everybody knows store-bought produce is laced with chemicals. When you’re growing your own fruits and vegetables, at least you know what it takes to grow them.
A really interesting way to grow fruits and vegetables right now is the hydroponic way. People are starting to prefer growing their fruits and vegetables in water, without soil. There are several benefits to this method. You maximize space and conserve water, getting a higher yield at a faster growth rate. You can find many hydroponic home kits on the market right now, and DIY set-ups are trending too.
3. Use Sustainable Materials
You need to keep in mind what the objects in your garden are made of. You want to steer clear of materials that cannot decay or be broken down by living organisms. If you like your furniture environmentally friendly, wood is the way, to go. Even if you use recycled materials, at least you’re cutting down on waste.
Compost, for instance, can be made in the comfort of your own home. You’ll be saving costs by not buying any and bringing yourself closer to zero waste by recycling food waste. What’s more, your homemade compost is better than chemical fertilizer. It doesn’t cause pollution and it doesn’t pose a threat to wildlife. Take those leaves that keep falling. Instead of getting rid of them, you can keep them, let them decompose, and use them as compost.
4. Be Water Conscious
If there’s one thing that keeps gardens going, it’s water. How you source your water and what you use it for is therefore important. Consider coming up with a rainwater harvesting system and using that water for your plants. You already use tap water for your household needs, so why not take advantage of a free resource falling from the sky? Even your plants will appreciate a more nutrient-packed form of water. Take it one step further and have a water container from which animals can drink.
5. Go Easy on Energy
It may not seem like a lot of power is going to your garden, but don’t be fooled. All that fuel you use on chainsaws and lawnmowers counts. All that electricity that goes towards lighting and water features adds up on your energy bill. The key is to either power everything with solar panels or do things manually. Your garden is the greenest space in your home, so the less energy you expend on it, the better.
Plant some good, old, trees in strategic areas around your house, and you won’t have to use the air conditioning so much. For those with automatic drip irrigation systems, timers are going to be your friends. This will help you avoid overwatering, which leads to unnecessary loss of water and energy.
Make it Happen
Now that’s how you go about creating the ultimate green sanctuary. Following the tips above will give you the perfect balance of environmental responsibility and relevance. As you go about implementing these ideas, you may come up with new ones. Whether you choose to take it one step at a time, or go all in, make sure to have fun while you’re at it.