Natural and Sustainable

There are many sustainable ideas and practical ideas at that, you can use in your own garden right now. Even thought the growing season is just about over, you can still hang onto these ideas for next year’s growing season as well. Here are 5 ways to help you be a better gardener for the earth and yourself.

1. Conserve the water: If you seek out plants that don’t require watering everyday you can help cut back on water waste in a drastic way. If you do choose plants that require watering everyday consider putting in a rain water irrigation system or a rain garden. Which catches the rain and the plants water themselves.

2. Don’t go overboard: Don’t put in exotic plants that require a lot of maintenance and a lot of water and your time. You want to enjoy your garden by looking onto what you have created not, regret putting them in in the first place.

3. Lay off the sprays: Never you commercial pesticides in your garden, no matter what. A lot of the pesticides leach into our foods and plants such as herbs that we eventually carry into our house and we can end up ingesting that in the long run. Instead use a mixture of olive oil and neem oils. You can even find organic neem oil at many garden suppliers or online. It can help control mealy bugs, aphids and other plant harming insects.

4. Go Native: If you pick out native plants for your specific area you will have little effort to keep them growing and making your garden look wonderful. Ask your smaller local nurseries which have a better selection and a better knowledge of what native plants grow where for your particular area than a large retailer would have or be knowledgeable about.

5. Be plant happy: Try adding recycled pots with organic matter with a smaller plant rather than adding a lot of smaller plants to one pot. Your plants will be a lot happier in a lot of soil than being crowding in all that soil and not a lot of growing room. Keep things small on top and large on the bottom. Once the plant is established, you will see it take off and the pot and the plant with both compliment each other over all.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: There is plenty of gardening information on the 451 Press gardening site called Earthly Garden. Once you are done gathering information here at Natural and Sustainable, head over the Earthly Garden and learn about some great garden advice, tips and knowledge.