7 Steps to Being More Ecological in the Garden

you know as gardeners and Weekend Warriors I think it's more important than ever that we all start thinking more ecologically as we go about our daily practices in and around the garden to be better environmental stewards so in this video I'm going to share with you seven simple steps that you can take to be a more ecological Gardener no matter where you live so step number one to ecological Garden is to focus on building your soil Health through consistent applications of organic materials such as lotch of compost like this right here I make in my compost bins but let me show you what it does to the soil this creates the ultimate growing environment and here's the cool thing the healthier the soil the more resilient your plants are the less attractive they are to Pest and the more resilient they are to taking on diseases which means no need to have all those harsh chemicals in use and you're also saving on water and other precious resources so definitely focus on building the soil Health step number two is to use a generous layer of mulch over all exposed soil surfaces now you have a lot of options for that this happens to be arborous wood chips this is a free option which makes it extra special and this was from a tree Tak down in my neighborhood but it's a great way to get a lot of mulch that you can have access to quickly but you could use straw you could use grass clippings you could use compost or shredded leaves Sky's a limit there suffice it to say that a generous layer of mulch above the soil surface is just as important as focusing on soil Health below the surface now from an ecological gardening standpoint mulch does several things very well first of all it retains a lot of moisture secondly it blocks the opportunity for weed seeds to germinate because it prevents the sunlight from getting to them so they don't Sprout and number three there are diseases that live in the soil that would potentially Splash back up onto the foliage but because a generous layer of mulch is on top that can't happen and then fourth as this mulch is breaking down it's helping to improve the soil right back to number one so you get two for one when you're using mulch on top and focusing on your soil Health too step number three is to add more native plants now this is one I am sure that you've been hearing a lot about lately and for good reason considering deforestation and urban sprawl and habitat loss and of course climate change we are losing our native plants at an unsustainable rate and it's up to us gardeners and weaken Warriors to do something about that so if we could Target maybe a goal of 70% native plants in our Landscapes we would be making a huge difference and that's what I'm doing here including in my vegetable garden with a blackeyed Susans and the asers and the cone flowers in fact we leave these up all through the fall and winter as a source of seed for the birds and Hollow stems for solitary bees and that is so important but if you can focus on adding more natives you will not only have a beautiful and bountiful Garden for yourself but you'll create a beautiful place to attract and protect a lot of that wildli that you want too step number four get rid of those invasives now we already talked about the importance of the natives and why we need to have them but equally important probably more so is to get rid of the invasives and here's an example of that on my property I'm walking it and I'm looking and I see some very aggressive Vines girdling some trees and I don't want that of course and then I have some big leaf Magnolias right here in front which are very precious to me as a native plant so I want to eliminate the risk but when you have those invasive they're so aggressive they're going to deny the opportunity of the natives to not only establish but to thrive by denying them the light and the air and the water and the nutrients that they're going to need to really take off so step number one is to walk your property periodically and not only identify the natives that you have on your site but also the invasives and when you find them you need to get them out of there if you want to have a chance for those natives to really take off step number five is to add more diversity to your landscape and garden now if you want to make a big impact on how it looks while at the same time attracting the beneficial insects and Wildlife that we want you need to have diversity there for example some Wildlife especially the insects have special mouth parts that allows them to access the nectar only based on the type of flower that is suitable for that mouth part hence the reason for diversity there another example some insects are host specific to the types of plants that they need for their food source a good example of that are monarch butterflies with their caterpillars in the direct relationship to milked it's their exclusive food source so in the spirit of ecological gardening a biodiverse habitat is very important and the side benefit is it's a lot more pretty too number six make the switch to rechargeable equipment to maintain your landscape so let's address the elephant in the room that gas powerered equipment it is putting out a lot of air pollution and noise pollution so if you're still using those to cut your grass or whack your weeds or Edge the driveway or blow the leaves I urge you to consider going to rechargeable and these days there is equipment for anything that you're already using that's gas related and a lot of other options too now I made the switch a few years back and there is no going back and I love the option that I have with interchanging the battery from one piece of equipment to the next I can change out the Parts Plus I don't have to go to the gas station every couple of weeks to refill the can or take it in for a tuneup once a year because the equipment doesn't start and if you're wondering about the power of the rechargeables versus the gas options don't give it another thought these days these rechargeable units go head-to-head with the gasoline options number seven and this is a big one eliminate the use of synthetic chemicals and opt for natural solutions when the need arises if you were serious about becoming an ecological Gardener or improving your skills you need to break your dependence if you have one on using har synthetic pesticides now no doubt those products work and they work very well but it's the unintended consequences and the ripple effect that we don't often give consideration to and sometimes those are the most important things but take it for me if you follow what we've talked about in this video so far then you can eliminate that need to even use those chemicals and for example if you want to add nutrients to your soil there are nice alternatives for that such as organically derived sources of nitrogen such if you're trying to add that to your lawn or your landscape Morganite is a great source or for smaller applications you could use cotton seed meal or poultry manure or compost and those are just a few of the options but I hope in what we covered today in these seven steps you're inspired to become or improve your skills as an ecological gardener