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Creating an eco-friendly garden is an important step towards tackling climate change individually and collectively.
Positive action starts at home and it’s quite remarkable how seemingly small steps add up to larger, cumulative changes!
How to Make Your Garden Eco-Friendly
Whilst our homes account for a large percentage of our individual and collective emissions, gardens can provide a valuable opportunity for us to reduce our impact on the environment.
Here are a few ways to help you do just that:
1. Peat Free Compost
According to National Trust, “Peatlands are vital in the fight against both the causes and effects of climate change. Peatlands hold twice as much carbon as the world’s forests while offering precious habitats for vital wildlife and plant species. They also preserve high-quality archaeological sites.
But extraction, draining damage and other activities means that carbon stored by peatlands is being released. This equates to more than 5 per cent of all global human carbon emissions.”
By buying peat-free compost for use in your garden or allotment, you help increase the demand and faze out the sale of peat products.
Consequently, you encourage retailers to stock peat-free compost.
The government has pledged to ban the sale of peat products to gardeners by 2024 so there is no better time to make the switch!
2. Garden for Bees
Bee numbers are declining sharply worldwide and if we’re not careful, these enormously important insects could face near-extinction in the coming decades.
Fill your garden with flowering plants including foxgloves, honeysuckles, clematis, bluebells and crocuses to help support bees in your garden all year long.
3. Switch your Garden Machinery
From electric mowers to chainsaws and everything in between, switching to electric garden appliances can decrease your carbon footprint and emissions.
Electric appliances are cheaper to run and more flexible in the long term.
Even better, switching to a hand push mower is truly the most environmentally friendly option as there is no motor power to charge.
4. Grow Food
Growing food goes hand in hand with reducing household food wastage.
It’s remarkable what you can do with just a small patch of land or no land at all.
If you don’t have outdoor space then you can still grow some varieties of salad and even potatoes inside.
If you only have a patio space then you can use containers to grow food.
With outdoor space, you can grow a diverse array of vegetables and even fruit if you can plant apple or cherry trees, which are hardy and require little looking after.
5. Build Habitats
Build habits for insects and other wildlife in your garden. Bird boxes are an excellent addition to any garden.
Bug hotels, hedgehog houses and any other shelter you can provide make a positive difference to your garden’s environmental credibility.
Access is important too. Allow space in your fences for animals to get through and access food and shelter in your garden.
If you have a pond or other water feature then ensure that any wildlife that enters can also safely exit.
6. Start a Compost Heap
Start a compost heap from garden waste and leftover food and then regularly use this to pot flowers and plants in your garden.
If you can use compost to grow your own fruit and veg then that’s ideal. Live in an apartment? You can still compost! Here’s our guide.
Compost doesn’t only reduce food waste, but it also supplies the earth with a diverse selection of microorganisms that are more beneficial than chemical fertilisers.
Apart from enjoying a range of wildlife in your garden, these tips can increase biodiversity and ultimately help combat climate change by creating an environmentally friendly urban space.
Article created in collaboration with Charlotte Murphy.
Photos: ED
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