Gardening is a peaceful hobby that can bring color to your yard and joy to your life. As you cultivate a garden, however, you want to avoid harming the planet with pollution from fertilizers or pesticides.
Ideally, your garden will positively contribute to the health of planet Earth. To keep gardening sustainable, we’ve outlined our favorite eco-friendly gardening tips below.
1. Use Natural Weed Killers
Pesticides can cause harm to your health and the environment. Exposure to pesticides that contain glyphosate can even lead to the development of cancer.
Glyphosate has the added impact of harming the microbiomes needed for the well-being of organisms in our environment. This is why it’s important to utilize natural pesticide alternatives.
Common ways to kill weeds naturally include: pulling weeds by hand, using mulch to suffocate the weeds, or using boiling water to kill them. The most reliable way to control weeds is to rip them out by their roots to ensure they don’t grow back.
2. Keep Your Seeds
Collect your seeds from your garden and reuse them the following year. You can do this with fruits, vegetables, and flowers. This will save you money on purchasing the same seeds each year.
3. Conserve Water
Try not to overdo it when it comes to watering your garden. Water your plants only when they need it and make sure your watering devices are positioned so no water is wasted on the concrete or falling into storm gutters.
If it rains a lot in your area, it’s a good idea to collect the rainwater. Use barrels to collect the rain and reuse that water for your plants. You may also want to remove hard surfaces from your backyard to facilitate more water being used in the soil and less water being wasted on concrete.
It’s also a good idea to keep water conservation in mind when doing maintenance on your pool.
4. Compost
Collect grass clippings, fruit scraps, and more, adding them to a compost pile. This can be used to fertilize your soil and help it retain moisture. This has the added bonus of conserving water.
5. Choose the Right Plants
Oftentimes, there will be one pesky type of plant or weed that keeps popping up in your garden. That can be a sign of an invasive species. Try to rid your garden of them and make sure to prioritize growing native plants instead.
Final Takeaways
It’s important to prioritize sustainability while gardening and in all areas of your life. Doing so brings us one step closer to an eco-friendly future with a healthy planet. For more gardening tips and Roundup alternatives, check out the infographic below.
