Sustainable Gardening

I've been thinking quite a bit about 'sustainable gardening' lately.  I promote (what I consider) are sustainable gardening practices in the classes I teach -- minimal inputs of water, fuel, pesticides, herbicides, and inorganic fertilizers, don't let leaves leave your property, don't kill things, promote diversity, plant mostly natives, think naturalistic planting design, minimize areas devoted to lawn, etc. 

We've been happy with our 'natural garden' created with this approach in our own home landscape in the Piedmont of South Carolina.  And we're continuing this in our second home in the mountains (where we'll probably 'retire'), where we're populating the slope around our small mountain house with native understory shrubs along with native trees.

Vegetable gardening is a bit more problematic;  vegetables, by their domesticated nature, are nutrient and water hogs, so the gardener is ALWAYS grubbing around for more sources of organic matter and nutrients. 

Homemade compost is excellent, but it's hard to produce enough that's high nitrogen, unless you have chickens, rabbits, cows, or horses.  Chickens and rabbits are feasible in an urban environment if you're at home most all of the time, but not so practical if you're away for weekends or holidays.

But what exactly is sustainable gardening? 

I'll assert that it is creating an ecologically-balanced landscape on the property that you inhabit, and that restores most of the ecology that once was on that site, along with making sure that no extra inputs of fertilizer or pesticides get washed into the stormwater drains. 

That's what we've tried to do, in our attempt to create natural woodland and forest habitat and meadow on what once was almost 2 acres of lawn in the Piedmont, and incorporated organic vegetable gardens into the mix as well.

In the mountains, trying to restore an invasive-rich ravine into a rich cove forest of native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers is an amazing effort;  my gardening companion has made remarkable progress already. 

And converting part of the driveway and bare area below the house to vegetable garden beds is productive, too.

So, my first 'take-home' message, is let's get planting natives instead of 'ornamentals' in our gardens and landscapes.

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Gardening for nature

I gave a talk this evening for a group of Master Gardeners about 'Gardening in Tune with Nature.'

It's my stump speech, for sure, changed and honed over the last 15 years. I updated it again this morning. It's about gardening to support wildlife, restoring the ecology of your (back and front) yard, and attempts to inspire folks to think about planting more native plants as well as pollinator-friendly and wildlife-friendly non-natives.

I make the point that increased biodiversity in planting results in more wildlife diversity. But I'm beginning to think I also need to talk about what makes natural plant communities function well, too.

Hmm. I provide lists of great plants to add to gardens in our region, and hopefully was persuasive. What's good for restoring the ecology of your backyard (Noah's Garden) is not normally what horticulture marketing wants you to buy.

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Out in the woods

It was a lovely and mild fall day (exceptionally mild, to be sure, for the end of October). My morning 'work' involved taking new SC Master Naturalists around the Garden for a couple of hours. Woo-hoo! I wasn't behind my computer in the office (darn), and I was delighted with the opportunity to share the Garden with these folks.

Gardens are wonderful places for people to connect with nature in a friendly place (ours is almost 300 acres and includes not only managed gardens, but also woods, streams and ponds, meadows, and an arboretum). And gardening is more often than not a portal into an expanding interest in nature and wildlife. Birds, butterflies, bees, toads, garter snakes, woodchucks (hmm), rabbits, beneficial insects, other insects, etc., etc. visit a wildlife-friendly garden.

Natural habitats have become more and more fragmented and disturbed, so our wildlife-oriented gardens, especially those that are full of native plants, become important connections between patches of natural diversity here and there.

We're stewards of an old house, but I'm so pleased that we've been able to restore the landscape to something that's hospitable to wildlife. That's what's important.

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Restoring nature

Restoring nature isn't easy, nor is it always possible. It's what we need to do, in our communities, gardens, and home landscapes, however.

So, I was glad to read a story in the NY Times today about a significant restoration project in Manhattan.

Nature is resilient, but today, needs help to restore a semblance of what's 'natural.'

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