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Category: Lawn & Garden
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Eco-Friendly Gardening
Native Plants
“Plant native” is an oft-repeated phrase in the world of ecologically friendly gardening, but not without reason. Greenhouses, catalogs, and the internet give gardeners the ability to find plants from all over the world to put in their landscape, provided they can survive the climate. There are hybrid and hardy varieties of warmer weather plants that are able to withstand the cooler temperatures of ecosystem in which you take part. Many beneficial insects and animals are facing health problems and habitat loss, and providing food, water, and shelter for them will help to improve their populations.
Design the plants featured in your landscape around attracting, feeding, and the reproduction of local wildlife. Begin with protecting old trees and vegetation that you might have noticed attracts high traffic already. When it comes to new plantings, research the native species to your area and include a wide variety in your landscape—these plants will thrive, and local wildlife is already accustomed to them. Try to avoid using chemical fertilizers and pesticides that might make the animals sick. Provide plants that will specifically target the needs of native animals, like local butterflies, which can be very fussy about what they will eat and where they will lay their eggs. Lastly, arrange your plantings in such a way as to encourage wildlife to make a home—different types of birds like to perch or nest at different heights, and combinations of turf areas and bushy grass and flower areas will give different animals places to hide and make safe homes. With planting, the key is definitely diversity.
Including some way for wildlife to access water, especially if you don’t have natural water around you, is very important if you’d like permanent and healthy residents. This can involve putting out one or more small dishes or birdbaths or installing a water feature like a fountain or pond. Animals and even insects will happily dive down for a drink from a garden pond. For some residents, you may want to put out some snacks. Consider adding hummingbird, butterfly, bird, or squirrel feeders strategically throughout your landscape (especially squirrel feeders—they are always good for a laugh).
While your plants will provide shelter for most of your wildlife, you can also put up bird and insect houses to protect them from harsh weather, predators, and provide a place for them to breed. There are many different styles of bee, butterfly, lacewing, bat, and ladybug houses, and you can mount them near the plants that they like so they won’t have to travel far.
Pervious Paving Surfaces
Another method of dealing with storm water runoff is installing pervious or water permeable pavements and pavers. You can distinguish pervious paving material from impervious material by looking at the texture; pervious pavements are typically coarse and rocky or allow for gaps of rocky aggregate material or places where water can drain into the soil. This coarse material is very porous and full of voids where water can escape, putting the water into the soil where it can drain properly and replenish groundwater. Paths, driveways, and patios can all be made permeable to make sure that your lawn and garden aren’t missing out on rainwater, and that runoff isn’t making it to the local stream or pond.
Xeriscaping
Xeriscaping is a landscaping technique that strives to create a beautiful garden while using the least amount of water possible. Everything, including the grouping of plants, the location of beds, method of irrigation, and the limiting of open lawn space, is taken into account, and every aspect of a garden is designed to conserve water. Where the land may slope or curve naturally, a rain garden could be added to collect runoff to keep the ground moist. Beds might be stacked or terraced to direct water to different plants. Soil could be amended with compost to improve water retention, while still allowing water to drain. Areas with exposed soil can be mulched to retain water, and turf areas can be kept at a minimal (or replaced entirely) since they can require so much water to keep thriving.
Xeriscaping may take quite a bit of thought and just as much work to install, but the benefits of saving so much water will be apparent. Once established, a xeriscape won’t require very much maintenance. The garden will get most of what it needs from the sky, and will be well fed in a soil amended with compost. Water consumption during the growing season and warmer months can be reduced by as much as 50-75%.
Water Gardening
So, you have filled all of your flowerbeds, pruned and manicured your trees and shrubs beautifully, and have more beans and corn and tomatoes and berries than you can give away. What’s next? If you are itching for a new and rewarding gardening project, you should get out your shovel and try your hand at water gardening.
Submerged plants prefer to grow completely underwater, and will keep all of their foliage beneath the surface of your pond. While you might not be able to see them so well, adding submerged plants to your water garden could help keep your pond healthy. Submerged plants are excellent oxygen producers, and will help you control nutrients in the water that might encourage algae growth. This is particularly important should you have fish in the garden. These plants may need to be rooted in soil, a mixture of soil and gravel, or just gravel—the important part of this material is that it provides an anchor for the plant. It may be possible for you to put a weight on the plant. You can purchase anchors for submerged plants, or fashion anchors of your own, and twist them around the plant stems to keep them underwater.
Just as you would with your garden plants, you will need to maintain your aquatic plants with trimming and fertilizer. Remove dead growth and repot or trim your plants as necessary to keep them healthy and under control. Fertilizing your water garden is absolutely essential for your container plants. You should use a fertilizer that is slow-released and specifically addresses the needs of water plants. Fertilize them through the spring and summer months, and stop feeding them when they begin to die back in the fall.
Overwintering
Overwintering water plants can get a little complicated. Some plants will be perfectly fine when left outside for the winter, and others should be taken inside if you want to keep them for the following year. If you don’t have the space to overwinter plants indoors, you should plant hardy water plants in your pond. Hardy plants will only need to be trimmed back to just above the soil and placed at the deepest point in your pond to help protect them when the weather gets harsh. Submerged plants, already being at the bottom of your pond, can be left to overwinter, also. When it comes to tropical or non-hardy water plants, you will need to bring them inside in an area where they can get light. Bog and marginal plants can be placed in a bucket or pot with water, and don’t necessarily need to be soaked with water so long as the soil is kept very moist. Tropical lilies don’t need to be completely submerged as they were in the pond, but the soil has to be underwater. Place the plant in a very large container or aquarium filled with enough water that the soil is covered. Allow tropical lilies to go dormant in a cool area in the house. Floating plants are best thrown out and replaced in the spring.
At MasterGardening.com, we offer a variety of tools for you to take care of your new water garden. We invite you to take a look at our collection of water lilies, pond liners, pond pumps, water treatments, and filters to help you get started.