Sustainability is on everyone’s lips – and rightly so, it will continue to play an important role in the future. We too can live sustainably with small and large decisions. And which area of life is better than our favorite place: the garden. It is a living space, a feast for the eyes, and a place of relaxation at the same time and can be made more sustainable with a little change. 10 suggestions for you.
Sustainable garden – 10 tips for gardening
How does a sustainable garden succeed? We have a few ideas with which you can specifically implement sustainability in your private piece of nature!
1. Consciously use water
Turning the tap on or letting a sprinkler do the work, that’s certainly practical and time-saving in many ways – but unfortunately not very sustainable. Because the water from the tap was processed in a complex process, a sensible alternative for the garden is a rain barrel (or if you are not afraid of the costs, you can create a cistern). The rainwater can be used to irrigate beds and gardens at very sunny and dry times.
2. Peat-free potting soil
Hobby gardeners often cannot avoid getting potting soil. But this is often enriched with peat, which is extracted from raised bogs – and unfortunately, that is not at all good for our environment. This disrupts the ecosystem and releases large amounts of CO2.So: if potting soil, then preferably peat-free!
3. Native plants
Cultivated flowers often enchant us with their beautiful sight. Often, however, such beauties require a lot of care and are prone to illnesses. Those who do not want to do without the beautiful flowers, for example a rose, can choose from a small but fine selection of local game species, such as B. the beagle rose. The native wild roses are more robust in drought and less susceptible to disease than their bred counterparts.
Native trees are z. B .:
- Common yew
- woodapple
- Hornbeam
Native shrubs:
- hazelnut
- Cornelian cherry
- Red currant
- Common juniper
Native perennials / annuals:
- Sedum plant
- Red thimble
- Corn poppy
The native plants have another effect … for more on this see point 7.
4. Sustainable purchase of plants
The plants themselves are just as important as the right potting soil. Raised quickly in the greenhouse and with chemical protective agents, they are usually anything but sustainable. The best way to avoid this is to rely on organically grown plants.
5. Put on mixed culture
Anyone who creates a vegetable garden should take the principle of mixed culture to heart. What’s behind it? There are varieties that complement each other perfectly and every hobby gardener should use that for himself. Some plants help each other, for example by keeping pests or diseases away from their neighbors or by encouraging their growth.
6. Note crop rotation
In addition to the mixed culture, crop rotation is essential for a sustainable garden, because the soil is used in the best possible way. Monocultures, i.e. the same plant varieties over and over again, promote disease and lead to decreasing fertility. It makes more sense to plant plants one after the other according to their nutritional needs. One speaks of strong, medium, and weak consumers. The crop rotation begins with high eaters, as they need the most nutrients, followed by medium and finally low eaters.
7. Attract animals
Biodiversity in the garden does not only apply to the flora. Wherever pests appear, beneficial insects also belong to the green cosmos … These include, for example, wild bees, bumblebees, birds, and earthworms. With a wildflower meadow, other bee-friendly plants, or nesting boxes, you bring the natural pest killers into your garden.
8. Use natural fertilizer
Fertilizer improves the nutrient content of the soil, which in turn benefits the plants. Chemical fertilizers are not very sustainable, so ideally you should use a natural variant for your garden: compost.
With it, you supply the soil and get rid of annoying kitchen and garden waste!
9. Domestic woods
Nowadays a lot is made of plastic: it is cheap, durable and with such properties has long since achieved its triumph in our everyday lives. What at first seems to have many advantages is ultimately a major disadvantage for the environment. A significant part of our rubbish ends up in the sea, where a shopping bag takes about ten to 20 years, a plastic bottle about 450 years to be broken down – not a nice thought.
Friends of the outdoor room with furniture made of wood are better advised: In the garden, wooden furniture or a wooden terrace not only look better, but they also fit in with a sustainable lifestyle. It makes sense to do without tropical woods with long transport routes and instead to use durable local woods, e.g. B. oak.
Also, a raised bed ideally made of wood rather than plastic. Here we show you how you can fill a raised bed.
10. Upcycling
Some things we bought a long time ago, maybe they were used a few times – and now they’re lying around unused and may end up in the trash at some point. Too bad that valuable resources have already been used up and things are now being carelessly thrown in the garbage can. Fortunately, there is a plan B for that! With upcycling you give sorted objects a second life: an old wooden box becomes a flower pot, an old teapot becomes a watering can, etc.
