Sustainable gardening is becoming increasingly achievable, as more eco-friendly tips and tools are made available every day. But getting started in designing your own eco-friendly can sometimes be a tough challenge unless you’re properly armed with the right information and tools.
In this piece, we shall go through 5 design tips that can guide you in creating the dreamiest of lush gardens on your property…Keep reading to find out how!
1. Use Tracking Software to Store Your Garden Information for Easy Reference
When looking to design a productive and aesthetically captivating green oasis, selecting useful tracking software for gardeners should be a top priority. Some of these tools include features that allow you to generate detailed diagrams and even videos of the design process, so you can have a sneak peek of what your garden will look like once complete.
The invaluable tool can help you store all of the information related to your garden in one place besides planning your design, from past soil readings to growth rates, yields from previous harvests, and more. They can even intelligently predict when it’s time for upkeep activities like weeding or pruning!
If you ever decide to practice crop rotation or change things up a bit, the tool might even have features that make suggestions for you, so you don’t have to search through piles of notes or photographs.
2. Utilize Compost and Cover Crops in Your Garden Layout
Composting is an incredibly important part of growing a sustainable garden. It allows you to add fertility to the soil and help your plants retain moisture better, albeit without the use of harsh, inorganic chemicals.
The best part – you can easily make your own compost pile at home with kitchen-waste materials such as vegetable peels or fruit cores, which also helps reduce (and reuse) household waste!
And especially for small gardens, incorporating cover crops like legumes (e.g., peanuts) and clovers in your design can be a huge plus. When planted around more traditional gardening beds, these plants can help improve nitrogen fixing and healthy microorganisms in the soil from the extra organic material.
3. Incorporate Greywater Recycling Systems into Your Design
If we consider larger-scale gardens, incorporating greywater recycling systems can make an enormous difference in how much water you’re using on a day-to-day basis! This easily installed system collects your kitchen, laundry, and bath wastewater, which would otherwise have been directed to the sewer lines.
It allows you to reuse such water for non-potable purposes like gardening or toilet flushing. Besides helping to reduce water wastage, it’s a chance to reduce household expenses without threatening public health regulations.
4. Plant Heirloom Vegetables to Help Increase Biodiversity
When selecting the plants and vegetables you want to grow in your garden, opting for heirloom varieties is an effective way of encouraging biodiversity and increasing the inherent hardiness that a range of species can bring to your area.
These kinds of crops have been passed down over time through the generations – often sourced from traditional cultures the world over. They contain highly specific genetic traits adapted for different climates, pests, and diseases; which gives them incredible immunity boosts!
This kind of selection can help make sure your garden remains diverse and healthy year after year.
5. Choose Biodegradable Gardening Supplies for Sustainable Practices
Lastly, it’s important to remember to select biodegradable gardening tools and supplies like organic weed killers or natural soil conditioners. The last thing you want is to use chemical alternatives that could be harming the environment and compromising your garden’s sustainability overall!
When picking these materials, it’s a plus to research their impacts on local wildlife, alongside any other potential risks associated with their use.
Not only will this help you steer clear of any unwanted dangers to both people and animals, but it can help drastically reduce long-term costs and maintenance levels associated with large gardens as well.
Hopefully, the above five tips will help you design (and maintain) an awesome, sustainable garden! All the best as you plan to get started in what your future self will thank you for!
