10 Green Gardening Tips

Green gardening isn’t about getting your garden as green as possible! Rather, green gardening is about applying green, or environmentally conscious gardening techniques. Green gardening is the way of the future and hopefully more and more gardeners and homeowners will join in to help prevent our environment from further damage. There are simple gardening habits that you can apply to help prevent damage to our environment and to help water conservation efforts.

Tip 1: Water Efficiently
Sounds pretty straightforward but there are some ways you can enhance your water conserving efforts when it comes to gardening such as seriously cutting back on watering times, only watering at strategic times of day (such as in the evening).

Tip 2: Install an Irrigation System
Consider the installation of a sprinkler or irrigation system for your lawn. Irrigation systems work great at targeting the specific areas of your lawn that need to be watered thus cutting back on unnecessary watering of unneeded areas. Plus, irrigation systems often come with a timer option which would further help cut back on over watering, all too often we set the sprinkler out in the lawn and forget to move it or turn it of. A timer is a great way to prevent this.

Tip 3: Go Organic
Say goodbye to chemical fertilizers and pesticides. They are not a helping the environment and in some cases could get into the water. There are many wonderful organic or natural weed killers and organic compost that will help your lawn look great. Compost is really a great fertilizer.

Tip 4: Make Your Own Compost
Making your own compost is a simple task that is not only good for your lawn but also helps cut down on waste. You can make your own compost by taking vegetable or fruit scraps, such as the peeled skin from a carrot, potato, apple, etc. These work well and also give your lawn great nutrients that they wouldn’t get elsewhere

Tip 5: Mulch
Using mulch throughout your garden is not only a beautiful way to enhance the look of your garden but it also provides a natural way to save water by less need to water and protects plants as well.

Tip 6: Plant Drought Tolerant Plants
This technique, known as Xeriscaping will significantly help reduce water usage in your garden.

Tip 7: Use Plants Native to Your Area
Planting native plants will cut down on the need for water and fertilizer. For example, if you live in Michigan, do not plant a cactus in your garden!

Tip 8: Make your own Planters
Making your own garden planters is a great way to recycle empty containers. You can rinse out cottage cheese containers, fill them with dirt, add your plant and you have a great new planter- for free! And in these challenging economic times, who isn’t looking to save some money!

Tip 9: Collect Rainwater
Collecting rainwater is a simple way to re-use rainwater for your gardening needs. Using a rain barrel is an easy and cost effective way to collect mineral and chlorine free water which you can then use for watering lawns, yards, and gardens and more.

Tip 10: Hang Bird Feeders or Nesting Boxes
Hanging bird feeders and besting boxes will allow for birds to nest in your garden which will only enhance your garden naturally even more. This is due to the fact that birds eat pests that you don’t want in you garden such as sails and slugs. So instead of fertilizing against these little bugs, simply invite the birds in to do it for you naturally!

Find a professional, local landscaper at Landscaping Networx to help you with your gardening needs.