Greening Your Garden

Spring is upon us which means the fun of planning for our gardens is here at last! Some of us struggled through a long hard winter, which results in even more motivation for a successful garden. Gardening used to be as straightforward as digging, planting and watering. Now, it seems a tad more complex as words such as organic, sustainable and permaculture swirl through our local nurseries. In the end, it is not at all complicated once you boil it down to the basics.

Let's start a the roots, the beginning of this journey to modern day "green" gardening. Sadly, pesticides have been used for too long in combating those little critters that get into and enjoy the fruits of our labor before we do. Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring in 1962 warning people of the dangers of these chemicals. Shortly thereafter Bill Mollison, an ecologist in Australia, coined the term, "permaculture." And, the birth of a new era of gardening and farming began.

First, people who do not want to use chemicals in their gardens practice what is called organic gardening. This means that pests are kept at bay in natural ways. Some of these ways include introducing helpful predatory bugs into your garden. These helpful insects will eat those nasty bugs. For example, if you are having trouble with mealybugs or aphids in your garden, you are in luck because ladybugs will clear those harmful bugs right out and look pretty doing so. Another way to practice organic gardening is to ensure your soil and plants are as healthy as possible to be resistant to disease. Healthier plants and soil are less likely to attract those bad bugs. Organic gardening is just one type of practice in sustainable gardening.

Second, sustainable gardening is simply using the principle of "waste not, want not." This form of gardening takes a further step out to look at using only what is needed for healthy plants. For example, growing native plants will require less watering and will result in greater success for those plants. Another way to practice sustainable gardening is by using compost as mulch so you are simply returning scraps of other produce and such back to the soil to create more produce. There is a circular path of recycling and reusing in sustainable gardening. The more you create this mindset, the more likely you are to create balance instead of overuse in your gardening practices.

Third, permaculture is looking even more at the whole garden in connection with the entire ecosystem. Ethics are at the core of permaculture, with careful attention to care for the Earth and people at the same time. Examples of practicing permaculture include catching rainwater, having your own chickens for eggs, composting and other ways to create an integrated permanent mutually beneficial system between Earth and people.

Whether you go organic, sustainable, or launch into creating a permaculture system in your own backyard and home, you are helping the earth in significant ways. There is no need to subscribe to just one of these practices. You can look at using ideas from all three and even implementing just one idea is helpful. So whether you decide to get ladybugs instead of using pesticides or plant onions around your plants to keep away the gophers instead of trapping those furry critters or catch rainwater to use in watering your plants you are treating the Earth with greater respect. Mutual respect always results in a more beautiful natural living.

These three topics are simplified here to begin your education in natural gardening practices, but there is more to learn. I highly recommend the following books on these three topics to further expand and implement your knowledge in gardening this summer and throughout the years.