4 Easy Ways to Make Your Garden More Eco-Friendly

You might think that gardening is ‘green’ by default, but there are many things that we do while gardening that isn’t eco-friendly. Luckily, we can improve and change certain habits tomake our planting and landscaping more environmentally friendly. To make green gardening a bit easier for you, we’ve created a list of easy things that you do in your garden such as increasing the biodiversity in your outdoor area to using safe materials that don’t harm the environment, so keep reading!

1. Recycle and Reuse

We should try recycling and reusing materials in all aspects of our lives, and gardening makes no exception. The main concern here is paying attention to the origin, manufacturing process, and installation of materials in garden structures such as sheds, paths, walls, and patios. Using recycled materials should always be a priority but with a little bit of creativity, this process can become quite fun.

Don’t shy away from exploring second-hand stores, yard sales, junk shops, and websites that sell used materials. You’ll be surprised by the variety of things that you will find from clay pipes to scaffolding boards. Recycled materials aren’t just more eco-friendly, but they’ll also allow you to use your creativity and show your kids that there are many different options out there.

Container houses are a great example of repurposing and reusing. These structures are made from recycled shipping containers and make perfect garden houses. Whether you’re looking for a hobby room, a summerhouse, or a garden office, an eco-friendly container house is a great solution.

2. Choose Eco-friendly Materials

Reduce your carbon footprint and become more environmentally friendly in your garden by using green materials. These materials should come from your local community instead of different countries, or even worse, different continents. When buying materials for your garden it is best to avoid buying something that comes from a different continent. Ideally, we should always try to buy things that haven’t travelled very long distances. A few examples of eco-friendly materials that are usually locally sourced are reclaimed wood, cork, cob, recycled steel, recycled plastic, straw bales, bamboo, wool, hempcrete, ashcrete, mycelium, clay bricks, recycled rubber, etc.

If you don’t have access to these materials, you can choose wood as this material might be the most environmentally-friendly one when it comes to building things. Wood is a naturally renewable resource and in the United States, more wood is grown than harvested. When trees are used to create wood products, there is no waste, as the bark, sawdust, and trims are all used to make different products. Wood is a durable material that is easy to recycle and that contributes to fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

If you were planning on installing a garden house in your backyard, you can rest assured that wood is a great material. High-quality garden houses that are made of slow-grown Nordic spruce harvested from sustainable forests are eco-friendly, durable, and versatile.

You can use eco-friendly materials for your plants as well. Instead of growing your plants in plastic containers, opt for biodegradable containers such as egg cartons, coconut husk, or containers made of materials that can be recycled easily such as metal ones. It is also recommended to water your plants with rainwater. In fact, plants don’t tolerate tap water very well because it contains chlorine. So, harvesting rainwater will actually be better for your plants and it will also save you some money.

3. Create a Wildlife-friendly Environment

Attracting wildlife to your garden is a great way to become more eco-friendly and have a balanced ecosystem. Many insects are beneficial for your plants and should be protected and cared for such as ladybirds, butterflies, moths, native bees, ground beetles, and hoverflies. These beneficial insects will help with pollination, but they will also protect your garden from harmful insects. Soldier beetles for example feed on greenflies, ladybugs feed on aphids, and ground beetles prey on snails and slugs. So, by attracting ‘good insects’ you can prevent infestations. Attracting beneficial insects is pretty easy; all you have to do is to fill your garden with wildlife-friendly plants such as butterfly bush, borage, daisies, dandelions, goldenrods, coneflowers, and any other type of native flowering plants.

4. Prolong the Life of Gardening Tools and Equipment

Having to buy new tools and gardening equipment each season is not ideal. With proper maintenance, you can extend the lifespan of your tools, save money, and help the environment. A great way to ensure that your power tools, garden furniture, and other useful things don’t get damaged due to bad weather is by investing in a tool shed. A high-quality wooden garden storage shed is a great investment. It is easy to install, and durable and it will make gardening a more enjoyable and less expensive activity.A garden shed is an ideal storage solution that will help you avoid clutter, provide you with safe storage space, and increase the value of your property.