Growing plants and maintaining a garden are “green” activities! ‘Sustainable’ gardening means more than growing plants, but growing a greener future! It combines organic gardening with resource conservation. It is a more forward-thinking approach to value ecosystem support over aesthetics, minimize impact on the environment, and work with nature not against it. Gardening is all about finding the right balance of sunlight, fertile soil, and water. 

How-To:

Starting a garden can be intimidating! There is a lot involved to start a garden and care for it successfully, however it is not as hard as it seems. The first step to gardening is the soil. You should know your soil type to better understand which plants and practices work best in your conditions. Check out the overview from Garden Design on the 4 main soil types: 

• Clay soils have tiny, dense particles that hold large reserves of moisture and nutrients. However, clay soil also drains slowly and can become hard and compacted when dry.
• Sandy soils are just the opposite, with large particles that water moves through easily- align with important nutrients.
• Silts have fine particle sizes that pack together tightly, inhibiting drainage and air circulation.
• Loam is the ideal soil for most plants; it contains a balance of all three mineral particles and is rich in humus (what’s left after organic matter decomposes). 

Any soil type can be improved with adding organic matter through composts, leaves, and/or manure. Next, either purchase the plants in flower, or start them yourself from seed. Buying starter plants may be easier and give you instant gratification, however seeds can be cheaper. 

If you want to use annual flowers, which grow and die in one growing season, choose a big enough space so they can reach their full size, put them in a spot that gives them the right amount of light, and water them. If you want to use perennial plants, those that come back year after year, gently loosen the roots, plant them at the same depth as they were in their container, and water immediately after planting. If you want to start a vegetable garden, first do some research on the basics: most vegetables need at least 6 hours of full sun a day, adequate soil is one of the most important elements to growing vegetables, consistent watering is key, all plants need nutrients to grow, a plants ability to absorb nutrients depends on the soil pH, and avoid using chemical fertilizers, pest, or disease controls, so the food is not contaminated. Learn more on growing healthy vegetables!

Some general rules of thumb for any type of gardening: Pick an area that will receive the right amount of sunlight for the chosen plants’ needs, give your plants space to grow, give them plenty of nutrients and water to be healthy, grow what you like, and care for your plants by weeding, and harvesting vegetables when ready! 

How To Garden more Sustainably:

Conserve water and control water runoff. Water plants only when needed, using drip irrigation, or soaker hoses. Lawns only need about an inch of rain/water a week! Using soaker hoses on gardens instead of oscillating sprinklers helps reduce water loss from evaporation. You can use mulch to retain soil moisture, and/or use a rain barrel to collect rainwater for watering your plants. Have as little hard, impervious surfaces (sidewalks, driveways, roads, etc.) as possible to allow water to soak into the soil and not run off into storm drains. Impervious surfaces are areas that prohibit water from soaking into underlying ground layers, stopping rain, snow and water from infiltrating into the ground. Also, positioning watering devices correctly and away from storm drains, walkways, or streets, can prevent water loss and runoff. 

Reduce fossil-fuel energy use. Reduce the size of your lawn to reduce the need from lawn mowers and other lawn care equipment. Replace some of your lawn with shrubs or perennials. Use your hands to do hand weeding and digging! Weeding by hands is more effective and less damaging than chemical sprays. Consider replacing your gasoline-powered lawn mower with an electric one, or have your lawn mower serviced regularly so it runs efficiently and pollutes less. Keep the mower blade sharp for efficiency. 

Deal with yard and garden waste correctly. Lawn clippings do not NEED to be collected after mowing, leave them on the ground. Grass clippings help add nutrients and organic matter to the soil. If you do collect your lawn clippings, add them to a compost. Do not send leaves, grass clipping, or other plant-based garden waste to a landfill, instead compost them. Try to reuse or recycle pots in your garden instead of sending them to a landfill. 

Select hardy, drought and/or heat tolerant plants that require less resources. Use drought tolerant grasses that don't need as much mowing or water. Use native plants that are more drought tolerant and better for your area. Promote diversity in your garden by planting a variety of plants. Using a variety of plants provides habitat for beneficial insects and can reduce damage from diseases, all the while preserving diversity. Avoid planting invasive species! 

Conduct proper plant maintenance. Do a soil test before adding fertilizer to your garden or lawn. Over-fertilizing can lead to excess plant growth, making them more susceptible to diseases. Fertilizer runoff can also pollute streams and groundwater, so apply sparingly and correctly according to the label. Learn to tolerate minor insect damage as spraying pesticide adds harmful chemicals to the environment, may kill beneficial insects, and/or damage nearby plants. Learn to tolerate low levels of weeds. Learn more on how to prevent pests in your yard and garden. 

Community Gardening 

Community gardening are shared gardens with community members. Gardeners work collectively to manage the garden for shared benefit. They can range from multiple individual plots to collective cultivation at a common place. Community gardening is a form of connection to natural environmentals and other community members. Community gardening has direct and indirect benefits on mental health, community bonding, and building a sense of community. 

Composting

Composting is a “controlled aerobic process that converts organic materials into nutrient-rich soil amendment or mulch through natural decomposition” EPA. You can, and should, compost at home using leaves, grass clippings, food scraps, and woody material from your yard. Composting is nature's way of recycling plant material and its nutrients, and feeding the soil for new life. By turning food scraps and other plant-based materials into compost we can change our waste stream into a beneficial soil to protect the environment and enhance resilience. 

You can do backyard composting with a pile or a bin!

Benefits 

Gardening helps enhance soil health and fertility! Healthy soils produce healthy plants and are full of organisms that turn organic matter and minerals into plant nutrients. Using sustainable practices can be a part of the solution to climate change! Sustainable gardening can slow future global warming by reducing carbon emissions and increasing carbon storage in soils and plants. Adapt your gardens and greenspaces to make them more resilient to climate change by using native plants, adding plant diversity, improving soil health, growing drought or heat tolerant vegetable plants, and using water management practices! Growing some of your own food can reduce emissions associated with transportation and storage of commercial food. Additionally, reducing the use of gasoline-powered lawn care equipment cuts down on gas emissions. 

Along with these environmental benefits of gardening and incorporating sustainable practices, are health benefits! Gardening, along with community gardening, can contribute to decreased stress levels, community bonding, and a positive mental health. Humans depend on nature physically and emotionally. Spending time in nature, and connecting to nature, can offer many health benefits, including stress reduction, mental fatigue restoration, and a reduction in depressive and anxiety symptoms. Gardening can evoke feelings of pleasure, calmess, and stress relief. Overall, gardening combines physical activity with social interaction and exposure to nature and sunlight that can lower blood pressure, increase vitamin D levels, and have a positive impact on health and well-being. 

Gardening also helps achieve household food security! Home gardens have been documented as a critical supplemental source to reach food and nutritional security. Home gardens have always been an important part of family farming and local food systems. They contribute directly to the availability, accessibility, and utilization of food products, because your household is growing food to be directly consumed. Growing food in home or community gardens provides people with more access to fresh vegetables and a healthier food supply. Additionally, by growing some of your own food, households save money. On average, home gardeners save $92/month and community gardeners save $84/month! Overall, gardens not only enhance food security, but also improve family health, promote social justice and equity, empower women, and preserve Indigenous culture (BioMedCentral). 

Sources:

UMN Extension 

Missouri Botanical Garden.org 

EPA 

PubMed Central 

University of California 

Home gardens: a promising approach to enhance household food security and wellbeing