Gardens have long been considered a vital part of Calgary homes. Whether you have a small front lawn or a large space in the backyard, having a garden there can uplift the exterior of the home and give it a homey feel. Now, if the garden is well-maintained and has colourful blooms on show then it can even add to the value of the home too. Eco friendly gardening and landscaping in Calgary starts with landscape design. Designing for moisture control, shade and long winters are important aspects of ecofriendly landscape design. It requires a lot of effort to maintain a garden, though. You have to keep the grass well-cut and perform a lot of manicuring. Even with all the effort you put in, the results are not long-lasting. The minute your level of care drops, the garden will turn to ruin. So, how should you tend to your garden so that it becomes self-sustaining? The short answer is to make the garden eco-friendly.
Aren’t Gardens Inherently Eco-Friendly?
It is a legitimate question to ask. Gardens have plants and flowers and are home to a diverse range of bees and critters. Isn’t that what being eco-friendly is? How can a garden not be friendly to the environment? Our knowledge of what’s best for our environment and what’s not has increased a lot over the years. We have learnt, through experience, that a lot of our conventional gardening practices don’t benefit our environment. From the use of artificial fertilizers to pesticides and our inefficient usage of water, we are doing a lot bad than good for the welfare of our ecosystem. So, it is important that you take a step back and see how you can improve the eco-friendliness of your garden. You will find that many gardening practices should be avoided to make your garden actually friendly to the environment.
Be Prepared to Make Changes to Your Garden Care Habits
The first thing you need to understand about eco-friendliness is that it requires you to let go of some of the beliefs you have had for a long time. For instance, the use of pesticides is something that has been ingrained in all of us. We think that it is essential for keeping our flowers and plants healthy. However, it is not. In fact, the pesticides have harmful chemicals in them that do not only hurt the pests but also the critters and bees that you want to have in your garden. These chemicals also find their way into your diets and stomachs when you eat the fruits and vegetables from your garden. So, when attempting to make your garden eco-friendly, be prepared to make changes to your garden care.
Mow Your Garden but with Sharper Blades
Mowing the lawn is a traditional gardening practice and there is no need for you to stop doing that. However, it is best that you do sharpen the blades of the lawn mower before doing any kind of manicuring. Green Calgary states that sharper blades can lead to a greener and healthier lawn. When mowing the lawn, it is also a good idea to not mow down the grass too short. This can help preserve the soil from being overexposed to the sun. You don’t want the overexposure of the sun to dry out the soil as it would mean having to use more water later on to keep the grass fresh.
Aeration is of Key Importance
Just like us human beings, the garden needs to breathe too. This is where aeration comes into the picture. Over time, the soil of a lawn or a garden compacts. It creates soil plugs that deprive the grass roots from getting the water, nutrients, and oxygen they need to grow. You need to remove these soil plugs if you want to extend the life of your garden and aeration is the way to do just that. It involves using an aerator to punch some holes into the lawn. According to the City of Calgary, the best time to aerate the soil if you live in Calgary is during the spring or the fall.
Water Only in the Mornings
The efficient use of water is of critical importance for creating an eco-friendly garden. You don’t have to water the plants of your garden or the lawn all day. In fact, just an inch of water every week is more than enough for your lawn. You will see deeper and more resilient roots growing with just this amount of water. Another tip regarding efficient use of water in your garden is to avoid watering the plants during the daytime. Much of this water gets evaporated and can’t even be used properly by the plants. So, it is better that you water the lawn and the plants only in the mornings.
Invite the Bees to Your Garden
Modern gardening and even conventional gardening methods don’t give much importance to bees. There are no steps taken to encourage the bees to come to the garden. The fact is that without bees, the garden will lose its beauty and life. It is the reason why modern gardens aren’t self-sustaining. You need to invite bees to your garden and make them stay if you want to create an eco-friendly garden. This involves planting flowers that attract the bees. The Alberta Native Bee Council notes that wildflowers like blanket flower, goldenrods, meadow blazingstar, purple prairie clover, penstemons, and others are valuable for native bees. You can make the bees stay in your garden by giving them a home. This can be done by letting the grass grow and easing up on manicuring the lawn. Don’t forget to checkout our post on bee friendly landscaping!
Feed Your Soil Naturally
Fertilizers have been used traditionally for feeding the soil of the gardens. We know how unfriendly that is to the environment. So, it is high time that you start feeding your soil naturally if you want your garden to become eco-friendly. CBC News shares that the soil structure in Calgary is heavily clay-based and it requires a lot of organic material to make it soft, light, and easily plantable. You can use compost and manure in place of the chemical fertilizers to enrich your garden’s soil. There are various gardening centers in Calgary that provide compost and manure to you.
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