Save Our Planet, Start In Your Own Garden!

Unless you've been hiding in some deep dark hole for the last few years, you have heard of Global Warming and what it is doing to our beloved planet. Perhaps you've even seen the movie An Inconvenient Truth. It is shocking what will happen to mother Earth if we do nothing. Many people want to do something to save our planet and the good news is that you can. Very easily in fact. Today I blog about what we gardeners can do to help save our planet. It's very simple, anyone can do it and not only do you reduce your carbon footprint by living in a more earth friendly way, you are also reducing the amount of money you fork out every month.

But enough with the pep talk, let's get cracking!

Reducing the amount of drinking water you use in the garden by
1) buying and installing a few water barrels to catch the rain.
2) watering your plants with rain water in a watering can instead of with a garden hose.
3) if you want to use the hose, use it only once a week and water for a long time instead of many times a week for only a short time.
4) water the plants after the sun has gone down
5) mulching after the earth is watered in well, saves water too (less evaporation).
By using as much rain water as you possibly can, you're reducing your water bill too, always a plus.

I make my own mulch with this nifty thingy here; the shredder!
This is where you stick in the branches and leaves that need to be shredded
and this is where everything comes out all nice and shredded to bits.
Be more eco friendly and garden in harmony with nature by

1) attracting wildlife such as
frogs, toads, newts, hedgehogs, ladybirds, bees,
butterflies and
birds; by planting trees and shrubs in your garden, especially those that produce berries the birds can eat,
plants that attract butterflies and bees, making a pond, putting out bird feeders and a birdbath.
Creating a corner in your garden where you let nettles grow (the butterflies will thank you for it) and where you make a big heap of branches and leaves where the hedgehogs, toads and several kinds of insects can overwinter safely, all snug as the proverbial bug. And whatever you do, don't start winter cleaning your garden in Autumn, let things be, so birds can still find food there and insects shelter. It will look much prettier too! See?
2) reducing the amount of toxins you use by not panicking and reaching for your pesticide sprayer when something like this happens.
Just relax, take a chill pill and let these little garden helpers take care of this problem for you.
And if they won't, some kind birdie or two will do it, so don't worry. Worst case scenario? You'll have to do it yourself by rubbing the aphids away with your thumb and forefinger.
This is how my roses look and I do not use any spray at all, nothing, nada, zilch. I just prune them twice a year and give them a good organic feed twice a year too. That's all.

3) reducing the amount of garden waste by
making your own compost. I have two compost bins, designed by the late, great Geoff Hamilton.
They're not only used for making compost as is demonstrated here. Making your own compost saves money, otherwise you'd have to buy the stuff in vast quantities and for huge sums of money. Forking in loads of compost makes heavy clay much easier to work with, not only for the gardener but for these chaps too.
You can also make beautiful leaf mold by stuffing plastic bags full of leaves, adding a bit of water and giving it a good shake once or twice a month. After about 6 months you're left with glorious black gold for the garden. The bags you used can be re-used again next Autumn.
4) use organic fertilizer only. I use dried cow dung pellets and they work a treat.
5) recycle stuff, it's amazing what you can find if you put your mind to it. I've used many secondhand materials in my garden and used products made from hard wood (will serve you practically a lifetime) from sustainable forests.
Before, a extremely heavy and user unfriendly wheel barrow.
After, a gorgeous planter!

6) planting an oxygen machine, or better still, planting loads of them.
7) changing your outlook on things. Accept the little daisies in your lawn as a welcome addition instead of looking upon them as a weed that needs to be killed. Personally I love the little daisies in my lawn and the whopping great big one on it.
Dolly Daisy enjoying life in harmony with nature

These are just some of the things you can do to help keep our planet healthy and ourselves with it. There is more you can do but I'll post about that another time.
copyright 2008 Y.E.W. Heuzen

This post was written in respons to Ewa's post We Are Drowning - Gardener's Unite!

On a more personal note: the bypass operation was a success and my mother is recovering well. This afternoon she will be moved from the ICU to the Medium Care Unit. Her body is getting stronger but her mind is still a bit confused as she has trouble remembering the name of things. Hopefully that problem will be sorted too.

A warm thank you for all the kind words, thoughts, prayers and best wishes so many of you expressed in your comments concerning my mother's health. It's heart warming and very much appreciated. Thank you all!!!