A Few Tips on Sustainable Gardening:

If you love to be in your garden, then Earth Day has a special meaning for you.  Kneeling as you work in the soil, with grass and flowers at eye-level, smelling that clean-dirt smell, you are actively participating in a relationship to our planet.  You are always conscious of nature’s miraculous potential—sometimes coaxing plants with water and nutrients, sometimes waiting patiently for the seed to grow.

A garden is a tiny piece of our planet, but an important one. That is one reason we make Frame It All products with eco-friendly materials, continually working to develop products that conserve our natural resources.  You’ve probably heard the term “sustainable gardening” bandied about lately. What it means, at its heart, is that we work with our ecosystem, not against it, creating ways to produce what we need by ourselves and replenish the resources we’ve been taking for years.

This Earth Day, we’d like to share some tips for sustainable gardening in our own backyard.

1)      Use native, local plants and flowers in your garden. While we love the look of exotic species, a sustainable garden focuses on local plants.  Native plants often require less care (read: water) and they will attract local birds and bugs, allowing your garden to become its own ecosystem supporting life. In turn, local animals are well suited to benefiting your garden—bees help pollinate your garden, and birds eat pests before they have a chance to attack your plants, which brings us to another tip for sustainable gardening.

2) Avoid using toxic chemicals. You know how chemicals used to have a skull and crossbones on their labels? Well, this is because they kill everything! In addition to those pesky bugs and weeds, they often kill beneficial animals, insects, and plant life. So look for alternative ways to discourage pests, like planting sage (or other plants which repel rabbits) or mint (which repels mice and some insects).  You can even deter that scourge of gardens, the slug, with natural methods.  Frame It All’s easy-to-install Animal Barrier also provides durable yet humane protection against rodents, so your plants stay safe without toxic chemicals wreaking havoc in the soil and groundwater.

3)      Use water wisely. Plants need watering, of course, but there are many ways you can reduce your water use in a garden. A rain barrel can collect rain for garden watering. Frame It All also makes irrigation systems that conserve this resource, while ensuring that your garden gets what it needs to thrive.

4)      Compost. Composting is the original recycling, designed and perfected by Mother Nature herself. Composting not only reduces waste, it creates the nutrient-rich stuff your garden craves. Frame it All products can be used to build a compost pile, too! Stay tuned for more info in upcoming articles to get you started with composting!

5)      Whenever possible utilize recycled materials for garden aids. Pieces of old window blinds can be used for plant labels, washed, and used again next season. Frame It All’s timbers are made from non-toxic recycled plastic and our packaging is also made from recycled material. We’re working to reduce our environmental impact, and helping gardeners to do the same.

These are just a few ideas, we’d love to hear from readers and Frame It All customers who have more! Tell us how you’re using sustainable practices in your little piece of the ecosystem.