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Gardening
12 ways to Green Your Gardening
Gardening is a great way to get some exercise and connect with nature. Whether growing healthy food, cultivating beautiful flowers, tending tasty herbs, or creating an inviting landscape, here are some ways to practice environmentally friendly gardening:
Grow your own organic vegetables
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Well-traveled supermarket vegetables can’t compete with fresh-picked tomatoes or corn on the cob raised in your backyard—either in taste or environmental impact.
Use organic soil amendments
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Test your soil. If needed, add organic soil amendments or fertilizer.
Make your own compost
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Compost made from kitchen scraps and yard waste creates free "black gold" for garden plants.
Use natural pest control
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Choose natural remedies and organic treatments for insect pests.
Use natural disease control
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Choose natural remedies and organic treatments for plant diseases.
Choose the correct watering system
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An effective watering system can save water, time, and money.
Apply mulches
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Mulches prevent weeds and conserve water.
Use recycled materials in the garden
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Many natural or recycled items can be useful or decorative in the garden.
Grow seeds and plants suitable for your climate
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Choose plants and seeds appropriate for your climate: they'll grow better and require less water and fertilizer.
Practice crop rotation
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Using crop rotation in the vegetable garden enriches the soil and cuts down on diseases and pests.
Introduce beneficial predators to keep pests away
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Beneficial predators keep insects away from your home, garden, yard, or farm, thus eliminating the need for toxic pesticides that can harm people, pets, and the environment.
Use natural weed control
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Prevention is the best medicine when it comes to weed control. Get a head start on eliminating weeds, and use natural remedies for weeds that have taken hold.
Comments
10:39am
Hi
Would you like to know more about composting, you can download a quick guide and presentation on my web site.
www.organik.nb.ca (under links)
Marc Landry - Organik Touch
1:23pm
thanks organik
im riting a report and that really saved me
ur link is very helpful
10:06am
Back to Natives Restoration, a green non profit 501(c)3, designs native landscapes for homeowners and businesses http://btnportfolio.blogspot.com/
Some funding for our educational programs is acquired by designing locally native landscape plans for homeowners and businesses. Locally native plants are beautiful and attract butterflies and birds to your garden. We sell native plants and hold workshops to help you install your garden. We also consult with landscape architect design firms to develop locally native plant palettes for large scale projects.
We encourage and use only California Native plant species, using species as locally native as possible. We do not advocate or use hybrid stock or 'California Friendly" species as all non-native species have the possibility of becoming invasive under the correct circumstances. More on this here: Why non-natives are BAD!
Why hybrids are bad:
"Hybridization is a major cause of extinction worldwide because of translocations of organisms and habitat modifications by humans. Understanding the processes of hybridization and the different types of hybrids that are produced is important for developing effective conservation policies to deal with hybridization."
The problems with hybrids: setting conservation guidelines
pp. 613-622(10) Trends in Ecology and Evolution
Authors: Allendorf F.W.; Leary R.F.; Spruell P.; Wenburg J.K.
'Xero-Scaping' or xeriscaping is not just cactus and sand. If you live in the desert then maybe a good portion of your landscape should include the locally native cacti. However a commitment to xeriscaping is more than that, it is the reduction of water use and loss along with reduction of chemical fertilizer and herbicide uses. With over 1200 species and counting of native plant species in Orange County and over 5000 in California, choices are almost endless for that 'specific look' you are in search of! .