What could be more “green” than gardening?  Contrary to common belief, not all gardening is good for the environment.  In fact, while nearly everyone who gardens has not only good intentions, but an appreciation for the earth, very few people take the necessary steps in order to prevent their gardening habits from harming the environment.

Luckily, all it takes is a little education on the subject and a few simple tasks and you’re on your way to organic gardening.  If you’re thinking “but what if I’m not educated on the subject?!” you’ve come to the right place!  TexaScapes’ own Green Gardener, Richard Fadal, has a few tips on how you can best serve your plants, people around you and the environment by choosing to take part in organic gardening.  Just follow these steps and you’ll be on your way.

1. Use organic and natural fertilizers to build soil nutrition.
2. Cultivate compost into bedding soils and use it as a top dressing mixed with top soil for your turf grass areas.
3. Keep all bare soil areas mulched one to two inches deep.
4. Select the right plant for the right place, from native and adaptive species.
5. Monitor your soil moisture. It’s always better to water thoroughly and deeply and before the soil dries out.
6. Control weeds by crowding them out with healthy plantings, mulch, and thick turfgrass. Pull weeds when they are small and before they establish.
7. Multi-species lawns are a great way to eliminate poisonous herbicides from your lawn areas. Several varieties of improved and native grasses along with forbs, clover, and wildflowers are OK and a great green approach.

Also, keep in mind that many creatures, including birds, ladybugs, earthworms, lizards and praying mantis are actually good for your garden, so avoid taking measures to get rid of them (that’s one less thing you have to worry about!).

If this seems overwhelming, incorporate just a couple steps per month into your normal gardening routine.  Once they become second-nature, it will be easy to add a couple more, and before you know it, you’ll have a good looking garden with great effects on the environment.

Check out the Green Gardener’s organic gardening segment on KEYE TV’s WeAreAustin.com to see these tips in action!

Already jumped on the green gardening train?  Have any extra tips or product suggestions for us?  Leave your comments below, we always love to hear from you!

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 1:30 PM and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.