Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. Many green building managers discover the challenges of helping plants grow and thrive.

If you are serious about managing an eco-friendly building, then you will want to avoid harmful chemicals. Instead, it is important to use natural, eco-friendly fertilizers.

Using the Right Plant Fertilizers for a Green Building

When it comes to caring for your plants, multiple factors have to work in tandem. If you are a new plant parent and dubious about how to fertilize your plant in the right way, then keep on reading.

Fertilizers are nutrient supplements that aid and ensure overall plant growth. House plants have different requirements when it comes to watering, fertilizing, and sunlight. These plants grow in pots and the soil in these pots may lack certain essential nutrients that are critical for plant health. Hence, it is of utmost importance to add fertilizers to such indoor plants.

This will make it a lot easier to create a successful garden for your eco-friendly building. It is very easy to take care of indoor plants if you know the right tricks.

Why Fertilize Indoor Plants

Indoor planters require special attention to keep them lush green and healthy. Adding an adequate amount of fertilizers can act as a catalyst to keep them healthy for a long time. Additionally, when you water these plants, essential minerals deplete over time. You need to add these macronutrient elements back into the soil to maintain optimum plant growth.

Fertilizers have the added advantage of protecting these plants from garden pests and eliminating chances of any plant disease. It is not a hidden fact that fertilizers improve the water retention capability of the soil and improve soil aeration. So, there are many benefits from one product, that’s why fertilizers are superfoods for plants.

When to Fertilize

Fertilizing indoor plants at the right time is important to allow plants to reach their maximum growth potential. The rule for fertilizing houseplants is to fertilize when they are growing. These help in maintaining the plant health and keep them lush for a long time. Fertilizing also depends on the indoor environment and the type of the plant. Some plants need more attention than others do.

Usually, it is good to fertilize in summer and spring and refrain from fertilizing in winters. During the winter season, most indoor plants have slow growth due to a lack of sunlight and cooler temperature. So, adding fertilizers during winters can do more harm than good.

How to Fertilize House Plants

You need to add a sufficient amount of fertilizers for indoor planters. It can be a stick, tablet, or liquid fertilizer. You can use commercial fertilizers for indoor plants as well.

Mostly, people use liquid fertilizer to spray directly on the plant leaves or add it to the soil. Liquid fertilizers are mixed with water in the right quantity to prepare a diluted liquid solution. These fertilizers are rich in NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium) that are the macronutrients, essential for plant growth. General-purpose commercial fertilizers are readily available and do the job well.

You can also experiment with organic fertilizers. They break down over time and improve soil structure. Such fertilizers are made from animal and plant wastes. Kelp-based fertilizer and cow manures are some of the best organic fertilizers out there. Plant food provides a steady amount of nutrients into the soil in a well-balanced manner. The nutrients are released at a slower pace than chemical fertilizers.

Some people also use homemade fertilizers in their indoor planters. Kitchen leftovers make great homemade fertilizers. You can use coffee powder, eggshells, and even Epsom salt for fertilizing your house plant. However, if you are new to plant care then it is advised to stick to chemical fertilizers as they have pre-measured nutrient content, and you don’t need to do the math before adding them to the plants.

Quick Tips for Applying Fertilizers

• Always dilute the fertilizer before using it on plants. Direct application can lead to the high potency of fertilizer in the soil. This is harmful to plants and increases the salt concentration in the soil.
• Flowering plants require more fertilizer than non-flowering plants. Do your research about the plant before adding fertilizers. It is important to restore the plant’s nutrients over time.
• Add some micronutrient fertilizers as they help in reducing the chances of plant disease. Though micronutrients are present in small amounts in the soil, they play a huge role in the photosynthesis process.
• You can choose any fertilizer, be it organic or chemical. The plant requires nutrients that are present in both of them. Chemical fertilizers have a balance of micro and macronutrient elements that saves a lot of time and effort for a house plant parent. On the other hand, organic fertilizers have soil-enriching properties that are good in the long run.
• It’s good to water your plants before you fertilize them. It avoids fertilizers from burning the roots and soil moisture allows fertilizer absorption much better.
• Add a little organic fertilizer when you re-pot a plant. It will enhance plant growth in the early stage.

Your plants will grow much more easily if you follow these tips.

Use the Right Fertilizers to Manage a Garden in an Eco-Friendly Building

There are a lot of things that you need to do when you want to manage an eco-friendly building. It will be easier when you use eco-friendly fertilizers to manage your garden properly.

The post Fertilizers Green Building Managers Need for Indoor Planters appeared first on Green Building Insider.

There are a lot of great ways to make your garden eco-friendlier. One of the most overlooked is to build an eco-friendly structure to support it.

How Do You Build an Eco-Friendly Structure for Your Garden?

Building an eco-friendly structure in your garden can be quite challenging. There are several things that you need to consider to ensure that you would indeed create a building that would be functional, earth-friendly and interesting, all at the same time. Planning and preparation are key elements to ensure that you’re successfully building such a structure.

As a homeowner, you must look into a few things before building your eco-friendly structure. Click here If you need guidance and assistance regarding products such as cladding, joists, reclaimed timber for flooring and other necessary materials. You can also find ideas on how to make your dream eco-structure a reality.

Here are some things you must look into if you want to build an eco-friendly building at a reasonable cost.

Choose ground screw systems for your foundation

Using a concrete base would require excavation and disposal, creating a lot of environmental disruption. You wouldn’t want that, so you should look into using a ground screw system to anchor your building. You don’t need to level the ground as screws get bored into it, levelled and brackets get attached to the screws to create the foundation—less environmental disruption, better for the environment.

Use recycled or reclaimed materials 

Use recycled or reclaimed materials to construct your eco-friendly structure. You can scour junk shops and reclamation yards to procure your materials. You can even ask for donations from your neighbours or through social media. You can save a few bucks and still positively impact the environment. You need to incorporate the reclaimed materials into your design so you would have an idea of what materials you might need.

Incorporate an eco-roof or a living wall

You might have to be creative with the struts and support beams but incorporating an eco-roof or a living wall would help regulate the temperature inside the shed. Putting these features into the structure would also help encourage wildlife into your property. Ensure that your building is structurally sound if you plan on adding these features.

Go solar

Another way to ensure your structure’s sustainability and eco-friendly nature is to incorporate solar panels to power the light fixtures. You can procure small solar panels, big enough to power light bulbs and a few sockets for your shed. As a result, you would save on electricity costs while retaining the structure’s functionality.

Install a rainwater collection system

Another way you can ensure the eco-friendly nature of your building is through the installation of a rainwater collection system. You can direct the rainwater from your roof to collection drums and use the water to irrigate the vegetation in your garden. You’ll save on water costs this way.

Use porous materials for paving your pathways

You must also create a pathway to your shed and around your garden. Instead of using concrete slabs, consider using gravel and slate chippings bordered with bricks to ensure water permeability.

Takeaways

Building an eco-friendly structure in your garden isn’t easy, but it is doable. However, you need to incorporate several things to ensure that you would create a functional, interesting and yet sustainable space.

The post How to Build an Eco-Friendly Structure in Your Garden appeared first on Green Building Insider.

There are a lot of things that you have to do when you are trying to manage an eco-friendly building. You probably already understand the need to use renewable energy and install insulation to improve the energy efficiency of your building.

However, there are other ways to promote sustainability that get less publicity. One of the ideas that green building managers can consider is starting their own garden.

Why is Starting a Garden a Good Idea for Sustainable Building Managers?

There are many reasons gardening is a popular pastime for many people. It can be a pleasant way to spend time and helps mitigate our dependence on the global food supply.

However, there are also reasons that gardening is good for sustainability as well. The number of people interested in eco-friendly gardening grew over 50% between 2017 and 2018 alone. Some of these benefits include:

• You can use plants that you grow in your garden in your building. This is an eco-friendly way to improve the air quality without having to invest in an air circulation system that requires a lot of energy to operate.
• You can add ambience to your building and bolster your brand as a sustainable business owner.
• You can use plants to feed the residents and workers, which is an eco-friendlier alternative to relying on the traditional food supply.

Creating a garden near your eco-friendly building is a great goal to have, but it’s not always easy if you weren’t born with a green thumb. It can take some time and practice to get it right, but as long as you’re patient and determined, you can have a garden you’re proud of. It’s important to understand it may not come naturally and you’ll have to do some research on your end to figure out the best methods to yield the results you’re looking for.

Understand the Sun Requirements of Each Plant

Plants can vary from one another and can require different amounts of sunlight. While some thrive in partial shade, some may require direct sunlight 6-8 hours a day to grow successfully. It’s a good idea to start germinating your seeds in some recycled paper towels to get them prepped and ready for planting. While they’re germinating, you can determine the best parts of your yard for planting them.

It’s important to keep in mind that full sun plants mean they need at least six hours of direct sunlight each day. Partial sun plants do well when they have at least three hours of sun. Shade or full-shade plants only require around three hours or less of sunlight. Dappled sun plants are another type, and they can handle sunlight that’s filtered through trees or fences.

Start With Easy Plants

Starting a vegetable garden is a great way to grow your food and become more self-sufficient, but you want to stick with the easy plants to start with. Some of the easiest vegetables to grow are:

• Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Summer squash
• Green beans
• Potatoes
• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Basil

If you plan on building an area for your garden, such as a raised garden bed, consider using recycled materials so you have a positive impact on the environment. You can start with creating a small garden plot until you get better at it.

Don’t Overplant

The key is to start small, so you don’t get overwhelmed. You also don’t want to overplant because you’ll end up with far more vegetables than you’ll need, and they’ll end up going to waste. There are many guides online that tell you how many plants you’ll need to plant to yield enough plants for one person. For example, you should plant approximately 1-2 zucchini plants per person and around 1-2 squash plants per person.

It’s easy to have the mindset of wanting to plant as many plants as possible, but you don’t want to overdo it. Remind yourself that you’re going to be the one that has to take care of these plants.

Know-How Much to Water

Plants need water to grow, but too much water and they’ll end up dying. You have to find the right amount to make sure they have enough but not too much. The general rule is that a vegetable garden needs approximately one inch of water in total. This includes what you water plus water it gets from rainfall. Some signs that’ll indicate your plants need more water are:

• Slow growth
• Wilting
• Dry soil
• Visible footprints when you step on the soil

Signs of overwatering include:

• The soil is always wet
• The leaves have brown spots
• Squishy and soft stems
• Yellowing leaves

To know how much each plant needs, it’s good to do some research so you water them the proper amount.

Use Eco-Friendly Gardening Practices

The entire point of having a garden is to supplement your eco-friendly building. It would be pointless to create a garden that uses practices that are harmful to the planet.

There are a lot of eco-friendly gardening practices that you can follow, such as using natural insecticides and fertilizers. You want to abide by them.

Take Care of Weeds and Pests

One of the easiest methods for combating weeds is to mulch. Mulch keeps the soil cool and it deprives weeds of sunlight. If you don’t mulch or you still have weeds creeping up, you want to keep them under control by keeping the areas weed-free as much as possible. If you can’t fully remove weeds, you can at least cut the heads off.

The pests you want to completely remove from your garden are:

• Whiteflies
• Spider mites
• Cabbage maggot
• Caterpillars
• Cutworms
• Colorado potato beetle
• Japanese beetles

You’ll want to use the most eco-friendly pest control methods for removing these pests and keeping them away.

The post Creating a Successful Garden for Your Eco-Friendly Building appeared first on Green Building Insider.

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.

The post 4 Easy Ways to Make Your Garden More Eco-Friendly appeared first on Green Building Insider.

One of the best ways to run a building more sustainably is by managing an eco-friendly garden. There are a lot of great tips that can help you lower your carbon footprint while taking care of your garden.

With a move towards sustainability, growing your own garden is one way many people are trying be more eco-friendly in their own homes. But many people also believe that you have to have a green thumb to have a garden.

The truth is: no one is born with a green thumb and anyone can learn how to take care of plants. Here are some garden maintenance tips that sustainable building managers can use to take care of their garden.

Watering is About Balance

Did you know that over-watering is the number one reason people kill their plants? Too much water will cause the plant’s roots to rot, while too little water makes them shrivel up.

Proper watering is all about balance. Some plants prefer moist soil and others like to dry out. Be sure to understand watering needs and group plants with similar needs together.

Typically, you’ll find that most plants will do well with weekly or bi-weekly watering. It’s best to check the moisture level before watering.

You should water your plants early in the morning or in the evening, and avoid watering the leaves.

Get the Right Tools

You may plant your garden by hand or use a mechanical planter for more efficiency. Whichever way you prefer, it’s important to have the right tools. Gardening by hand, you’ll need a trowel, hand rake, and a hoe.

You may also want to have a weed puller, a spade, and pruning shears. If you’re using a machine, be sure all the planter parts are in good shape before you begin planting seeds.

The right repertoire of tools makes basic garden maintenance easy for beginners.

Keep Weeds Away

Weeds are pesky plants that can take over your garden if you’re not careful. Keep weeds away preemptively by planting densely. This will minimize the space that weeds can grow.

You can also use a mulch to prevent the weeds from growing. If you do have weeds, be sure to remove them with the root. Leaving the root ensures that the weeds will come back.

Growing With Fertilizer

Whether you’re using plant seeds or mature plants to grow your plants and vegetable garden, you have to feed them before they can feed you. The best fertilizer is organic matter, which can come in liquid and solid forms. You want to know which fertilizers are eco-friendly as well.

It’s important to note that every plant has specific needs. So before you buy a fertilizer for all of your plants, take note of any fertilizing instructions that come with seedlings or on seed packets.

The right fertilizer will allow your garden to thrive, yielding more fruits and vegetables each year.

Beginner-Friendly Garden Maintenance Tips

If you weren’t born with a green thumb, you can still have a garden. Gardening is a skill acquired like any other and requires a lot of patience, practice, and learning.

Using these beginner-friendly garden maintenance tips can help you get the beautiful, delicious, and thriving garden you’ve always dreamed of. What are you going to grow next?

Inspired to cultivate your green thumb? Share this with a friend and check out more home and lifestyle content on the blog today.

The post Simple Garden Maintenance Hacks for Sustainable Building Managers appeared first on Green Building Insider.

In the landscaping industry, we’re seeing more and more clients who not only want a beautiful, well-manicured lawn, but are also concerned with the impact their choices could potentially have on the environment.

It’s no secret that some plants and techniques aren’t the most eco-friendly. As traditional, resource-heavy landscaping styles go out of fashion, new, environmentally-conscious trends are becoming more and more popular.

There are numerous trends in landscaping that can reduce the negative environmental impacts of your clients’ lawns. Exploring some of these techniques will make your clients happier and make their lawn greener in more ways than one.

Forgo Grass, Hello Rockscaping

It’s no secret that grass isn’t terribly efficient when it comes to popular lawn plants. What was once the King of the lawn is now often pushed to the side for new, trendy alternatives. And these trends benefit your family as well as your wallet!

The environmental impact of grass is certainly one reason why it’s fallen out of fashion in recent years. And it’s no coincidence that grass alternatives are more popular than ever, even in areas of the country where they’re not yet commonplace.

Some of the most popular grass alternatives you may be seeing are substances like mulch, rocks, or sand being used to fill lawns delicately and with less demanding maintenance. Some clients even request creativity in their use of rocks, with full-on rockscaping becoming a popular choice for those who write off grass for their lawns.

Forgoing grass not only impacts the landscaping industry, but clearly impacts the environment, as well. Exchanging a water-demanding plant like grass for a substance that requires no water, like rocks, is a brilliant way to help your clients be a little greener, even if their lawn isn’t.

Climate-Friendly Plants for Less Water Usage

Surely, exotic and hard-to-find plants from far away destinations have a ton of curbside appeal. However, more and more homeowners are moving away from these uncommon shrubberies to make way for plants that naturally thrive in their chosen environment.

What impact does this have on the landscaping industry? Well, it certainly makes sourcing plants for clients a little easier.

But it has an even bigger impact on the environment.

Climate-appropriate plants naturally demand fewer resources, as they’re already equipped to grow and thrive in the environment they’re planted in. This means less water usage, which can make a big difference particularly for your budget-conscious clients.

Homeowners everywhere are finding new appreciation for the ordinary, and saving money (and the environment!) along the way.

Go Green or Go Home

The world of landscaping is ever-evolving, which makes a landscaper’s job dynamic and interesting. More and more clients are becoming eco-conscious. By keeping ahead of the trends, you can be sure to stay up to date on the latest in eco-friendly landscaping.

For more ideas for helping your clients stay eco-friendly with their landscaping choices, check out these ideas and a ton more from Hippo.

The post Amazing Eco-Friendly Landscaping Tips Saving The Environment appeared first on Green Building Insider.

Unfortunately, creating an eco-friendly property is a lot of work. There are a lot of factors that you probably have overlooked, which includes the vegetation that you grow in the exterior parts of your property. You may want to know whether it is worth growing fruit trees to make your property more sustainable.

This could be a good idea for some companies that want to promote sustainability. However, you should understand the cost and effort involved first.

Is Growing Fruit Trees Ideal for Cultivating an Eco-friendly Property?

How many times have we heard the saying that we would do it, but just don’t have the available time for it. This couldn’t be more true when it comes to making your property more sustainable. Although many people claim that they want to live a greener lifestyle, they aren’t actually living up to this desire. In some ways, we are doing worse of a job. For example, the percentage of people that say they commute fell by half between 1980 and 2015.

The same goes when looking to buy fruit trees for that empty garden that just sits there, waiting for somebody to come and put it to good use. People say that they want to have garden to be more sustainable, but never make it a reality.

Part of this is due to their lack of motivation. The general belief is that a garden needs a lot of attention, care and work to make it work, and this is why many of those owning a garden don’t want to take it to the next level and buy and plant fruit trees in it to enjoy a delicious crop each year.

What needs to be clearly stated and promoted out there is that a dead garden is nothing more than an unused and often unwelcoming place, which not at all what a garden should be considered to be. So, what happens when you buy some fruit trees? What does it take to make that garden look alive? How much work and time do you really need to put in to have a beautiful looking, fresh fruits producing space?

The answer is that it does not require a lot at all. You may be surprised to find that you can create a great garden with less work than you expected.

Buying fruit trees online, saves a lot of time

What you need to be looking at is efficiency. You should be thinking about managing your time carefully and choosing the best options that will work for you. A great example would be that instead of paying a visit to one of the many British nurseries, you can simply buy the fruit trees that you want online, and finding all the details that you need for planting by calling the company supplying you with the trees stock.

Then, once the fruit trees order has arrived, all that you need to do is allocate some time to plant them, and once that is over there’s not much else to do! That’s the beauty with fruit trees, once you plant them you really don’t have to do anything, but make sure once a season that they don’t catch any diseases, which can be easily prevented with a sprayed solution.

Plant fruit trees enjoy the crop of your eco-friendly garden

Creating a garden with fruit trees can be a great way to make your area more eco-friendly. Your newly planted fruit trees should produce their first crop right from the next season, making it a very rewarding effort and experience. So, there you have it, loose that cemented thought that a garden has a lot of work to it, because if you’re choosing to buy fruit trees and plant those, it’s actually pretty straight forward.

The post Are Fruit Trees Worth the Hassle for Your Sustainable Property? appeared first on Green Building Insider.

There are 27 million gardeners in the UK. Gardeners in the UK tend to also be environmentalists, but don’t always know how to embrace sustainable growing practices. Fortunately, there are some important steps that they can take.

Make Your Garden Environmentally Friendly in a Few Simple Steps

If you’re the sort of person who enjoys caring for the plants in your garden, then chances are strong that you’re also the sort of person who appreciates the natural world, too. Fortunately, there are plenty of steps you can take to ensure that your gardening exploits don’t negatively impact the local environment. You might find that, once you’ve taken them, the entire endeavour becomes a great deal more rewarding.

Support Local Wildlife

When we think of uninvited animals in our garden, we tend to think of pests. Slugs that chew up the vegetable patch, aphids that blight our flowerbeds, moles that dig up the lawn. Being an environmentalist and gardener doesn’t mean simply putting up with these things. It just means that the ecosystem in your garden might need adjustment with the help of some top-level predators.

Insect-gobbling birds can be attracted to your garden, if you provide them with a suitable place to build a nest. Throw up a few bird-boxes and bird-baths and they’ll come from miles around. The same goes for flowering plants, which attract carnivorous insects. Slugs are eaten by birds, toads, and hedgehogs – so providing hedges for these creatures to shelter in will help to protect the rest of your plants.

Predators will save you the trouble of having to treat your garden with chemical pesticides, which in the long run will be better for both your garden and the natural world.

Used Raised Beds

Raised beds will save you the aggravation of bending down and provide extra space for helpful under-soil microbes and worms to flourish. Create them from thick strips of wood and fill them with compost. Putting together a raised bed is about the simplest woodworking job you can do. All that’s required is a drill and a few screws – or a hammer and some nails. Select a portable drill that can be used for DIY in your garden, and get to work!

Recycling waste

Manure-based fertilisers are often the go-to choice for gardeners looking to inject nutrients into the soil beneath them. But plant-based ones are assuredly better for the environment, as they don’t come from livestock. Even better, they’re free – whenever you pull up a deep-rooted weed and chuck it into the compost, you’re effectively transferring nutrients from deep in the earth to nearer the surface, where your plants can reach it.

Collect Water

Why draw water for your plants from the tap when it’s readily falling from the sky? Collect rainwater and divert it to those parts of the garden that really need it.

Grow your Own

Growing your own food is not only better for the environment, but for your wallet, too. Naturally, you’ll need to commit time and effort to achieving the right results – but in the end, those results will be more than worthwhile.

These Changes Can Go a Long Way

There are a lot of steps that you can take to be a more sustainable gardener. The steps listed above should be a great start!

The post Employing Simple Practices to Make your Garden Environmentally Friendly appeared first on Green Building Insider.

Unfortunately, many companies don’t know how to implement green construction practices. One of the most overlooked opportunities to “greenify” their properties is by using outdoor spaces in eco-friendlier ways.

Is your garden or outdoor space used as a place to store things that won’t fit in the house? If you have never been able to decide what to do for the best out the front or back, why not transform this space into somewhere that is environmentally friendly, which can ultimately contribute to the fight against climate change?

If you’re passionate about green living, there are so many things that you can be doing in order to live an eco-friendlier lifestyle. You can even use these practices to make commercial buildings eco-friendlier.

Create a suitable environment for wildlife to thrive

By planting native trees and shrubs, you will help to create habitats for wildlife. Rather than using lots of harsh chemicals to combat pests, you can instead employ natural methods: for slug control, invest in some copper slug rings, or for caterpillars, cover plants with garden fleece. There are a lot of eco-friendly gardening practices worth considering.

Make your own compost

Making homemade compost won’t cost you penny – in fact, it’ll save you money, as you won’t have to go out and buy bags of it from the garden center. Items that you can add to your compost include tea bags, leaves, lawn clippings, hedge trimmings, vegetable peelings and egg boxes.

Grow some of your own food to reduce your carbon footprint

Stocking up on organic produce every week can get very pricey, so why not consider growing your own food in your outdoor space? Companies such as Premier Polytunnels offer high quality polytunnels which are perfect for helping plants and crops to flourish – no matter what size space you have.

Recycle and reuse natural products

If you are looking to put down a patio, build a wall or create a path in your garden, you may be concerned about where the materials have come from. Instead of buying new items, a great way to go green is by picking up some recycled materials instead. Clay pipes, old scaffolding boards and buckets can all be found on the likes of eBay, and will all help to bring character and charm to your outdoor space.

Reduce your electricity use

The amount of electricity you use in your garden can often be quite shocking. If you have any lights or water features in your outdoor space, you can consider installing solar panels to power them, instead of using lots of energy through mains electricity. Another way to reduce electricity use in the garden is by investing in a modern lawnmower. While they are typically driven by electricity or petrol, newer models can be operated manually.

There are many ways to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. By turning your garden into a more eco-friendly space, you’ll no doubt achieve a great sense of satisfaction.

Your Outdoor Area Can Be Used to Help the Environment

There are a lot of steps that you can take to make your building more environmentally friendly. We usually focus on measures that can be taken within the confines of the building itself. However, it may be worth using your outdoor area to lower your carbon footprint as well.

The post Ingenious Outdoor Space Utilization Tips to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint appeared first on Green Building Insider.

Are you interested in leading a more sustainable lifestyle? There are a lot of ways to embrace a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. You may want to start by creating an eco-friendly garden around your home. Just remember that deer fences will protect the love and hard work you put in to your garden by safely keeping wildlife out. 

You may be surprised to know that 87% of people in the UK have a garden. Gardening can be a good way to reduce your carbon footprint. You can lower it even further if it is an eco-friendly garden.

Gardens across the UK make up a huge percentage of the space available to wildlife. If you want to help conserve our British species and create a greener country for future generations, then recommend giving some of our eco-friendly ideas a try.

How to Make an Eco-Friendly Garden?

What steps can you to take to create a more sustainable garden? Here is how to make your garden eco-friendly.

Get Some Eco-Friendly Garden materials

Creating an eco-friendly garden starts with the fundamental design of your outdoor space. If you choose materials for your garden that have a positive impact on the environment, then you’re already starting on the right foot! Whether you have a big or small garden, we recommend installing eco-friendly materials such as composite decking.

Composite decking is a great choice for greener garden’s because it’s often made of completely recycled materials. Unlike timber decking, which often requires trees to be cut down, composite decking can be manufactured using wood and plastic off-cuts that would have otherwise ended up in landfill. Choosing an eco-friendly, long-lasting material like this will really set the tone for your conscious gardening activities.

More plants and trees

A great way to promote an eco-friendly lifestyle in your garden is to add more plants and trees. This is one of the best things to do when you want to practice sustainable gardening.

Not only will you get enjoyment out of your natural looking space, but the local wildlife will thank you too! While it’s understandable that you might want to keep your garden neat and tidy, having a few unruly flowerbeds and shrubs can create areas for wildlife to thrive.

Making the most of your garden space to grow some food is also a great way to reduce your impact on the environment. With a bit of care and attention, you could grow lots of fruit and veg that you’d usually have to pop to the supermarket for. You’ll benefit from healthy, homegrown foods and a sense of achievement that you’ve provided for your family off your own land.

Compost bin

Here in the UK, we waste an average of 4.5m tonnes of food per year, and while that’s a whole lot of food that’s heading to landfill, there is a simple solution – compositing. Composting is critical for sustainable gardening.

Compost heaps are a great habitat for all kinds of wildlife and they’ll also provide a great source of nutrients for your plants and vegetables. Compositing leftover food is a great way to re-purpose your household waste in a way that will benefit you and the environment. 

Wildlife homes

To give wildlife an extra helping hand, you can add homes and habitats for them in your garden. There are lots of different wildlife homes you can choose from and you can even make your own. Why not consider adding bird or bat house, a nest for bees or a hedgehog home to give your local wildlife somewhere to live. This is particularly important during the autumn and winter months.

Make Your Eco-Friendly Garden a Reality

We hope you can implement some of the eco-friendly changes in your garden. If you do, be sure to keep your eye out for the new wildlife paying you a visit!

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