Green Living in the Garden

Wonderful suggestion, Brie. BTW: I love your articles on site, your writing "voice" reminds me of my daughter. But anyways, yes indeed, over pesticiding has been plaguing America since the early 80s. It makes me sick (literally, I break out into hives). Go the natural route, if you know what's best for you and the earth. The real problem is we don't know the extent of damage these pesticides dish out. They have chemicals that haven't been fully tested or if they have, harmful properties in said chemicals haven't been found to negatively affect humans yet. But, I know they will. These diseases that keep popping up aren't all naturally occurring ailments. They're from the chemicals that bombard us everyday. Not just the pesticides, mind you. Pollution, acne treatments, Windex, preservatives...the list goes on and on and on and on and on....we honestly don't know the full extent of the strong synthetic materials in all these products. But, we're impatient and must have the benefits they give forth, right? Yet, gardening is no time for impatience. Look, I admit this all sounds slightly harebrained, but when in doubt, just follow your nose, honey. Carbon footprints aside, do you want that synthetic smell in your garden or the smell of nature?

Watering in the evening and when there is less wind helps reduce the amount of liquid that is lost to evaporation. I can't stand it when I see people or businesses watering their lawns at high noon-it's such a waste. Also, more water in the soil means the plants roots will grow deeper and be better adapters during the summer months.

Finding out what garden zone you live in can be a good guide to selecting the right kinds of plants for your area, and can help you determine when and where in a garden to plant them. By sticking with plants that are well-suited for a particular region you will be able to use less water and pesticides and attract more of the "good" bugs (like ladybugs) that help keep your garden healthy.

Whenever you choose a garden over a lawn, you're reducing air pollution for one thing b/c lawn mowers aren't necessary. Natural landscapes work best. Native plants tend to attract a greater variety of birds, insects, and butterflies; native plants don't need fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides--and very little water!--once established. Native plants always benefit the environment. That's my two cents!

Gray water use. Having just been to a talk about water and how we are overusing the resource, the best thing you can do is use the water from your sink, shower, tub, dishwasher, and clothes washer with some minor filtering. Food waste, soap residue and dead skin are actually great nutrients for plants, especially if filtered through mulch, but you will need to filter or eliminate the bad soap and detergent ingredients.

To reduce your carbon footprint you should use natural pesticides instead of chemical. There are many natural pesticides that you can purchase at local home and garden stores. There is also a plethora of natural ingredients that you can use as natural pesticides to spray on your plants including: neem oil; a product of the neem tree which is used as an insecticide. Also, a mixture of cottonseed or soybean oil with liquid soap will create a less toxic horticultural oil to protect plants from insects. A water wand is a cheap and effective way to mist away mites and other pesky insects from plants. Garlic and hot pepper sprays are also an effective alternative to chemical pesticides.

There are a ton of ways to reduce your carbon footprint when gardening. One thing you could do is start a compost bin using organic waste. Compost is a great way to fertilize your garden without using chemical enriched fertilizers, as it is an excellent way to reduce and recycle household waste. Almost any organic waste such as fruit and vegetable matter, grass clippings, and leaves work in compost. You can buy compost bins at any home and garden store.