An easy and sustainable backyard garden is much needed in an era when the use of chemicals and fertilizers has increased to have a better farm yield, but let’s not forget that chemicals are injurious to everybody’s health and bad for the environment too. The sustainable backyard garden is a great initiative on a small scale to contribute to a healthier and happier planet. It will also protect the environment and make your yard welcoming and beautiful. To learn more about the sustainable garden, read the article.
Use Organic Mulch
Mulch’s main purpose is to protect your plants from cold temperatures and invasive weeds by trapping heat and moisture in the soil. Prepare organic mulch using shredded bark, pine needles, grass clippings, and leaves, which will prevent weeds, hold moisture in the soil, and maintain soil temperature, helping plants to remain healthy. You can also prepare homemade mulch glue to hold the mulch and prevent it from blowing away during strong winds.
Opt for Organic Gardening
Organic gardening is a vital part of sustainable gardening that is both environment-friendly and wallet-friendly. Your family can consume the products of organic gardens without fear of chemicals or pesticides. Boost the nutrient content of soil by adding natural compost and deal with pests and any plant diseases with organically prepared solutions.
Native Plants
Grow native plants and trees because they are low-maintenance, provide shelter to birds and butterflies, adjust to the local rainfall due to their indigenous character, and are environmentally conducive because they are resistant to pests and diseases naturally, so you don’t have to use fertilizers and pesticides. Native plants know how to thrive in their local climate.
Sustainable Landscaping
Replace the area planted in the grass with perennial ornamental grass or ground covers because these ornamental grass don’t require maintenance, don’t need watering, pesticides, or herbicides. Grass remains lush green even in extremely high temperatures and gives a wonderful feeling under bare feet. The best ground cover is clover, which gives a cushiony feeling and has a sweet smell.
Use Minimum Water
Look out for ways to use bare minimum water, especially in the areas with water scarcity. There are many smart ways such as the use of Xeriscaping that reduces the water requirement, planting drought tolerant shrubs and perennials and installing rain barrels to collect rain water to use on the plants.
Practice No-Till Gardening
No-till cultivation is a great technique for developing a sustainable garden. Instead of churning the ground with tools, you deposit your plant seedlings into small holes. This adjustment can significantly decrease your garden’s carbon emissions.
Using a garden design tool like Hortisketch garden planner can simplify the planning of your sustainable garden. With its user-friendly interface, you can easily visualize your garden layout, ensuring efficient use of space and resources. It also reduces physical labor, making your job easier. The no-till approach is a win-win situation for everyone.
Collect Seeds
At the end of the season, when annual flowers go to seed, save those seeds until the next spring season. Sow these stored seeds on the onset of spring without bearing any additional cost on seeds. You can try saving seeds of marigold, sunflower, and morning glory.
Compost Your Green Waste
One of the sustainable backyard garden ideas is to make your own compost using grass clippings, deadheaded flowers, egg shells, fruit and vegetable scrap, newspapers, wood shavings, weeds, cardboard, and dried leaves. These natural ingredients can turn into an organic fertilizer within a couple of months to help you in organic gardening. To keep compost out of sight, get a compost bin and store all materials.
Use Manual Mower
Use a manual mower for sustainable and easy gardening that will reduce the carbon footprint and air pollution.
Rainwater Harvesting
Another smart way to save water and maintain sustainable backyard farming is to harvest rainwater using rain barrels, rain chains, or cisterns that collect rainwater and water from roofs. Use this water to water plants, flowers, and vegetable gardens, reducing the water usage in the outdoor areas.
Choose Perennials
Perennials are an excellent way to boost sustainable gardens. Buy pocket-friendly small perennials because they will anyway get bigger every year, so why waste money on buying bigger versions? The best thing is that you will get more plants every couple of years as these perennials divide. Please check for the plant zone mentioned on the plant tag before buying.
Crop Rotation
Crop rotation means planting a particular vegetable or plant once every three years to ensure the soil nutrient content is not depleted, because growing the same plant and vegetable affects the nutrient content. It also helps control insects, pests, and disease pathogens hidden in the soil. But make sure to note the location of the crop so that after three years, you know exactly where to grow it.
Use Natural Pest Control Methods
Try using natural ways to control pests, such as hand removal of weeds, attracting insects that can be beneficial, sowing native plants resistant to pests and insects, and using natural insecticides such as oil sprays.
