Studies have shown that gardening is known to have significant mental health benefits, but let’s face it, it can feel like a bit of a chore at times. It can also be harmful to the environment in some ways if you don’t follow sustainable gardening methods.

It’s easy to extend your eco-friendly practices to your gardening habits without much effort, so we have rounded up some of our favourite eco-friendly gardening tips. Not only are they easy to implement, but they’re as good for the rest of our planet as they are for your garden! It’s a win-win.

 

1. Plant your own produce

Ever eaten anything that you grew yourself? Trust us, you’ll get a kick out of it. Our number one eco-friendly gardening tip is to grow your own vegetable patch and herb garden. On top of the feel-good factor of watching your plants grow, you’ll be reducing your carbon footprint by not buying fresh supermarket produce, which often takes a lot more energy to produce than you may think!

The good news? You don’t need vast amounts of land to grow your own veg. You can even start with an easy-to-care-for little veg patch on a small balcony if that’s all the space you have. We’d recommend kicking things off with a low maintenance herb garden before moving on to vegetables. Or, just dive straight in and start planting courgettes! 

 

2. Make your own compost

Hear us out before you write this one off for being too complicated.

Setting up your own compost is a lot simpler than it sounds. It’s an excellent sustainable gardening practice too, as it means you can get rid of waste without adding to landfill. Bonus: your compost will also produce lots of nutrient-rich soil for your plants.

So, how do you make your own compost? First, find a sunny corner in your garden, grab a garden fork, a mix of nitrogen and carbon-rich waste and a compost bin. Then follow the steps below:

 

Set your compost bin up directly on the soil

Add in an equal mix of green and brown materials to be composted

Mix around with a garden fork to aerate it

Cover your compost bin to keep any rain out

As soon as the mixture turns crumbly and brown, the composting process is complete!

 

3. Keep water usage to a minimum

Want to know the easiest way to make your gardening practices more eco-friendly?

Limit your water usage.

Here’s how:

Feed your plants with rainwater by installing a rain barrel or a water butt. We have enough rain to go around in the UK, so why not put it to good use?

Water your plants and soil directly with a hose instead of getting a sprinkler. Admittedly, sprinklers are more fun and effortless. But they do end up wasting quite a lot of water unless they’re on a timer.

Choose plants that don’t require frequent watering. Popular options include poppies, lavender and verbena.

Start the mulching process by covering soil with a porous material. Not only will this produce more moisture for soil, but it also provides nutrients and stops weeds.

 

4. Plant native plants and trees

Want a garden that’s truly low maintenance?

Opt for plants and trees that are native to your region. It’ll be a lot easier to maintain them as they’re designed to thrive naturally in their local habitat and climate. Which also makes tending to them more eco-friendly, as they’re suited to their environment.

A quick Google search will give you some ideas as to which plants native to your country you should choose.

 

5. Use natural alternatives to pesticides

Help the environment by never using chemical-laden pesticides to maintain your garden. Unfortunately though, that rules out most of the popular pesticide products on the market!

Luckily, many natural alternatives work just as well at preventing pests. Unexpected solutions include a mixture of garlic and chilli or a splash of beer with salt. Yes, you read that right. You can spray a mix of flat beer and salt to keep pests away from your garden.

Another pesticide hack is applying petroleum jelly around your plant pots. It makes it difficult for pests to climb up inside them, keeping your precious plants well protected.

Now is the ideal time to transform your garden while remaining eco-friendly and you’ll add extra appeal to your property at the same time!

 

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