Let’s Join Together and Heal the Planet

Practice Sustainable Landscaping

Earth Day helps remind us that we need to stay in that green state of mind, and each year on April 22nd 180 countries around the world celebrate this anniversary. While we celebrate these principles worldwide on this day, during the weeks thereafter those very principles and tenets all to often to be forgotten again until next year.  Celebrate Earth Day not only April 22nd, but every day of the year. There are a multitude of ways to do so around the home that make a difference year round. Here’s half a dozen good ones to help you get started.

1 | Start a compost pile – Composting takes your kitchen scraps and converts them to nutrient-rich food for your soil. You’ll add less trash to the landfill and make your plants happy.
2 | Use Native Plants – Pollination is vital to the health of the world food supply – estimates show that at least 75% of the food crops in the world require pollination. As we have seen issues with honeybees in recent years, it is as important as ever to make sure that we have a healthy population of native pollinators (plus we can also help feed honeybees). Pollinators such as native bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds and even bats can benefit from a good food source and other needs.
3 | Use a rain barrel – Conserving rainwater is a great way to make less impact on the earth while growing a greener garden and also lower your water bill.
4 | Cut down on chemicals – Use one fewer chemical-based product. If you’re used to using chemical-based fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides, challenge yourself to replace one of those methods with a more natural strategy. Check out this article on natural alternatives to chemicals in the garden, or this one on using natural weed killers.Recognize beneficial insects and take care of them
5 | Know your insects – Not all insects are pests. In fact, many are beneficial to the garden as well as the entire ecosystem so care should be taken to encourage and even lure them. Some are natural predators that keep harmful insects in check, like ladybugs, which prey on aphids, white flies and potato beetles. Others are pollinators, upon which we rely for survival. Without bees, butterflies and other pollinators, our grain, fruit and vegetable crops would dwindle, as would the livestock population that depends on them.

To attract them to your garden, select plants of varied shapes, sizes and colors with different bloom times, and avoid or limit the use of pesticides. Consider clover, sunflowers, mint, coneflowers, asters, hellebores, dahlias, tomatoes, sweet alyssum, catmint, yarrow, buckwheat, cilantro, dill, parsley and milkweed.
6 | Love your soil – Great gardeners know that you start with the soil – it is one of the most important things in your garden. The first step is testing your soil, but it doesn’t stop there. Adding organic matter to improve structure and rotating crops with different root depths and shapes can be great ways to affect the soil.