What we do in the garden has many impacts on our natural environment. In thinking about design it is important to consider if it fosters biodiversity, if maintaining it will use more water than our rather arid continent can support, if it avoids contributing to the spread of invasive plants, if it will need pesticides or herbicides which will enter stormwater and pollute waterways. Here are some tips to get your garden on the sustainability track right from the beginning.
When establishing or renewing gardens, the first thing to do is to develop a concept of the layout and what you want from the garden. Do you really want or need an expanse of lawn with beds for shrubs just around the edges? What are the features of gardens that contribute to sustainability? There’s lots to consider – low environmental impact materials, water conservation, provision of habitat for wildlife, energy efficiency to name just a few.
Green Manure
If you have a bit of space in your garden, growing green manures or cover crops is a great way to improve soil fertility and add organic matter to…
The Time is Now for Street Gardening
As our cities are densified, street gardening on nature strips and verges can make important contributions to biodiversity, beauty, increasing carbon…
Heritage Veggies
What are heirloom and heritage plants? Alright, I’ll admit it, I’m a bit of a history ignoramus (my pub trivia team will testify to that). In fact,…
Catching and Storing Water with Contour Banks
Catching and storing water with contour banks is an important aspect of creating a garden which contributes to a sustainable planet. Author Jane…
Garden Trends in 2021
Garden trends in 2021 are rather different from in 2020 since, although growing food is still prominent, there is an increased focus on raised garden…
Is Coir Soil?
Use of coir for gardening has become more popular. It is used in a variety of ways, but from the labels on some coir products it looks like they can…
Insect Hotels
Supporting Biodiversity? or just Garden Art? Ever wondered where all those bugs go in the winter or when it rains? They don’t pack their bags and…
The behind-the-scenes…
Celebrate World Bee Day 2021
20th May is World Bee Day. How will you be celebrating these really significant insects? The main purpose of World Bee Day is to spread awareness of…
Plastic in the Garden
How do we reduce use of plastic in the garden even though it is so useful? Unfortunately, it is polluting and causes much environmental damage.…
Using Phosphorus Sustainably in Gardens
It is widely known that root vegetables need phosphorus to grow well, but is it so widely known that phosphorus supplies may be dwindling and that…
What Gardeners Can Do About Climate Change
Are you wondering what gardeners can do about climate change? Gardening and agriculture produce several greenhouse gasses apart from carbon dioxide –…