Creating a beautiful garden in your front or backyard is even more rewarding when you know you’re practicing sustainable gardening design and techniques. Not only can you have the best-looking landscaping in the neighborhood, but you can give back to nature and ensure you’re not harming the environment.

What is sustainable gardening? In this guide, we’re answering that question as well as taking a look into different ways to practice eco gardening. Let’s explore how to create an incredible garden without harming the natural ecosystem!

What Is Sustainable Gardening?

First of all, what is sustainable gardening? While there’s no textbook definition for the term, sustainable gardening (sometimes referred to as sustainable landscaping) is the act of using gardening practices that do not harm the earth, but rather protect it and even enhance it. 

Sustainable garden design elements focus on natural methods for growing plants and creating beautiful landscaping while avoiding things like chemical pesticides, erosion, or excessive water usage. It is part of every element of your garden and landscaping, giving homeowners ample opportunities to integrate eco gardening methods without requiring a lot of extra work. In fact, sustainable gardening techniques may reduce the necessary upkeep, making them perfect low-maintenance lawn ideas.

Sustainable Gardening Practices vs Traditional Gardening

Sustainable gardening practices are all about preserving nature, nurturing it, and taking actions to help your landscaping grow its best without intervention. It doesn’t mean you’re going to let your landscaping become overgrown! It simply means making conscious choices to utilize more sustainable methods as you plant and maintain your garden. Some of the most obvious differences between sustainable gardening vs traditional gardening are as follows:

1. Using Natural Pest Repellents vs Chemical Pesticides

Chemical pesticides may rid your garden of pests, but could also kill small animals or poison the surrounding ecosystem. These chemicals can move their way up the natural food chain, causing harm to plants and animals en masse. Natural pest repellents like essential oil mixtures can repel unwanted pests like aphids without harming other plants or animals in the process.

2. Companion Planting

Planting flowers in pairs that will help one another grow without the need for additional fertilizers or inorganic supplements. This can help save materials and waste. Another benefit of companion planting is being able to combine the benefits of individual plants. For example, pairing plants that are known to repel insects can reduce the need for chemical pesticides.

3. Using Native Plants

Native plants promote sustainable garden design because they may thrive in your region without the need for additional fertilizers or chemical assistance to grow.

4. Composting & Using Upcycled Materials

 Composting means using items from your yard and home to make your own compost instead of buying it. This cuts down on waste as well as incorporates upcycled materials for your garden.

5. Building in Biodiversity into Your Garden

Pollinator gardens or other wildlife-friendly sustainable garden designs boost biodiversity in your yard. This can help enhance the plants and animals in your area and is a hallmark of sustainable gardening practices vs traditional methods of warding off wildlife with chemicals or pesticides.

Sustainable Garden Design Ideas

Coming up with sustainable garden ideas doesn’t have to be a challenge. In fact, a lot of backyard flower garden ideas are easily made eco-friendly as you begin to think more mindfully about how your landscaping will affect the surrounding environment. If you find you’re still struggling to determine the best sustainable garden design practices for your area, talking to landscaping professionals like the NVS Landscapes team is the way to go. Our experts will help guide your choices for sustainable gardening to create landscaping that thrives in the Upstate NY area.

To help you get started with your sustainable garden design, consider these ideas:

• Creating permeable surfaces reducing water runoff: Adding natural materials like rocks to your landscaping.
• Mulching your landscaping to reduce water usage: Mulching your landscaping gives homeowners opportunities to compost natural yard debris like leaves and reduce waste. 
• Planting flowers to bloom at different times: Successional blooms will keep your garden colorful all year long without the need to rotate plants and create waste.

One of the first places to start when considering sustainable gardening design is testing the soil. This will give you the information needed to select plants that can thrive in your landscaping without the need for additional fertilizers that could harm the environment.

Resources and Tools for Sustainable Gardening

Homeowners looking to start sustainable gardening practices will benefit from learning about different resources and tools to help them along the way. To get started, some of the basic eco gardening tools you may want to consider using include:

• Natural, biodegradable seed trays and pots
• Reusable plant marker tags
• Organic seeds, if you’re growing your plants versus buying them
• Pruning shears with replaceable parts
• Natural wood or bamboo stakes for plant support as needed
• Essential oils like peppermint, rosemary, and citrus for pest repellent mixtures

While this list is not exhaustive, it gives you a great starting point to begin sustainable gardening practices this year. 

Additionally, the American Horticultural Society is an invaluable resource for sustainable gardening with tools and materials lists such as sustainable hardscaping guides and soil health information.

Sustainable Gardening Checklist

To help you start eco gardening practices in your landscaping this year, we’ve put together a quick checklist for you to follow. Refer to it and use it as a jumping off point for your sustainable gardening and start making a positive impact on the environment while still keeping beautiful landscaping for your home:

• Get eco-friendly sustainable gardening tools
• Create your own compost for mulching
• Find ways to use less water with permeable surfaces and natural materials
• Use natural pest repellent mixtures vs chemical pesticides
• Test the soil to choose plants that will thrive without added fertilizers
• Get an electric mower to cut down on energy and natural resource usage for lawn care
• Save seeds for future use
• Plant flowers to promote biodiversity and enhance local wildlife

Each of the tasks on this sustainable gardening checklist is easy to do and won’t add a lot of maintenance to your landscaping. Practicing eco gardening techniques is an easy way to protect the environment without sacrificing beautiful outdoor areas.

Are you ready to start sustainable gardening practices? Use this guide or consult the best landscape professionals in the Capital Region to create the environmentally-friendly landscaping of your dreams! 

Do your part for the earth while still having the best looking home in the neighborhood this year.