Environmentally Friendly Lawn and Garden Practices

Tip of the Week: Environmentally Friendly Lawn and Garden Practices

Some associate landscaping, and lawn and garden care maintenance with the use of harsh pesticides, fertilizers, and the clear cutting of natural habitats to make way for well-manicured lawns and overworked gardens. Actually, like most landscapers, I strive to create low maintenance and environmentally friendly landscapes that steer away from the overuse of harsh chemicals, re-use, create, or save habitats in my designs. Here some of my tips on how to incorporate environmental friendly lawn and garden practices into your landscape.  

Choose the Right Plantings. Perhaps the best way to create an environmentally
friendly landscape is to choose grass, trees, and plants that are either native to our area or adapt well with little or no prodding from fertilizers. This means choosing plants that not only correspond to the climate zone, which can be found on the tag placed on the plant, but also choosing the right plant for your soil. Do you have sand, clay, or loam or a combination of these soils? Do you have extremely wet soil, dry, or a combination of these soil? The point is, it’s important to select the right plant and tree varieties for your area, and it’s almost as important to take a good look at your soil.

Reduce the use Pesticides and Fertilizers. I’ve talked about this in my other
Patch posts; the best way to reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers is to first understand your soil. Get a soil test. Your soil can tell you a lot about what’s going on with your lawn and garden. A soil test will give you an NPK ratio and/or your soils PH, which will then allow you to buy the right fertilizer. You can also skip the fertilizers and pesticides all together and opt for more natural solutions by using organic material like peat moss, manure compost, and seaweed. But more than anything, no matter what method you use, it’s vitally important to follow directions, especially when spreading fertilizers and pesticides, and if you’re really unsure or need a little help– hire a professional.
    
Create a Mini Wildlife Habitat.  Did you know we’re facing a pollinator shortage – you know the bees, wildlife, and insects that pollenate and fertilize our plants
for flower and fruit reproduction? Because of urban sprawl, fewer and fewer habitats exist for friendly pollinators like bees, butterflies, ants, and hummingbirds. Creating a mini wildlife habitat is quite easy and can be achieved through planting flowering bushes or trees, small fruit trees, and flowers and bulbs that bloom throughout spring and summer.  It’s really quite easy, and your plants will pay you back by blooming and propagating. 

Reuse Waste!  If you’re like me and you buy fruit and vegetables each week and intend to eat them all and don’t, rather than trashing them, compost them. You can buy a composting bin, barrel, or use a plain old bucket or a space in your garden. An easy way to compost is to start with two parts brown matter (coffee grounds, soil, dry leafs or twigs) then layer one part green matter (kitchen vegetable scraps or yard clipping) add a bit of water - mix and cover (if in a bucket). Continue to add to your bucket and mix regularly. It takes about three months for your scraps to compost into soil.

I hope I’ve inspired you think about incorporating some environmentally gardening and landscaping practices into your lawn and garden care. Happy Earth Day… now go plant something! 

Got a landscaping question? Send it my way: PatchQuestions@GreenerSideLLC.com.

Aaron Gorski

Owner, The Greener Side Lawn & Landscaping LLC