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| Photo Credit: James H. Schutte |
| Baby blue eyes does best with watering that tapers off through the season, from a good soaking twice a week in the beginning to almost none during flowering peak. |
If you go strictly by the calendar, Earth Day only comes once a year. But given our growing concern for our environment, including the importance of reusing, recycling and “going green,” shouldn’t every day be “Earth Day?” Thanks to gardening and the joys of outdoor living, it can be – right in our own back yards.
Adding plants to your own piece of the earth is definitely a great start, but there are lots of things you can do this season to take your garden to the next level and make it truly helpful to our planet. Here are a few ideas from Greg Raymond, owner of EcoGardens LLC, a landscape company dedicated to producing and maintaining Earth-friendly gardens in Chicago. Whether you’ve got a few colorful containers on your patio or acres of turf and in-ground plantings, the first and best thing any gardener can do is go organic, Greg says, noting a real benefit in gardening in harmony with Mother Nature “Synthetic fertilizers and herbicides and other pesticides – not only do they kill the bad things or living organisms, they also kill good things … throwing things out of whack,” he explains. “Going organic is going to get things in balance.” Think you have to “go granola” to find organic stuff? Not true! “There are absolutely plenty of organic fertilizers – even name brands,” Greg adds. (And you can find these organic composts, fertilizers and other products at just about any garden center.) | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: Mark A. Miller | | Lindheimer’s beeblossom is a long-lived, hardy perennial native to Texas and Louisiana. (It’s a bee and butterfly magnet.) |
Another step in the go-green direction is to get your soil tested. “Take at least two or three random samples,” Greg recommends. “Without good soil, nothing will survive. It’s the architecture of landscaping.” You can send your samples off to a lab yourself or bring them to your local Cooperative Extension. Either way, you’ll get a good analysis of the key micro- and macronutrients missing in your soil, so you’ll know how to build it up correctly in order to have a healthy, beautiful and environmentally friendly garden.
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| Warnings |
- Organic, all-natural fertilizers are generally harmless to children and pets – but that doesn’t mean you should skip reading all information on the label. Always examine the label closely and carefully follow all directions to the letter!
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| Tips |
- Adding organic compost to your soil is a great idea, but Greg recommends avoiding mushroom compost. He’s found it can lead to salt build up in the soil. Starting your own compost pile is an inexpensive way of introducing nutrient-rich soil into your garden, too!
- While it would be a wonderful world if everyone could go all-out organic with their entire yard, it can be a costly endeavor. If your pocketbook mandates, take it one step at a time (and start with the soil), picking one corner of your yard to work on first. Making the right choices now will pay off in spades…and beauty!
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| Facts |
- Mulching plants is a great way to be more water wise! Mulch not only helps reduce the need to water frequently, it retains moisture, which keeps plants from drying out quickly. (Mulch also suppresses weed growth by inhibiting weed seed germination.)
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| Resources |
- EcoGardens is dedicated to creating beautiful, environmentally friendly outdoor living spaces that are healthy for the soil and all who visit.
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