Carbon Gardening

 

Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint While Gardening

What is carbon gardening? Carbon gardening helps gardeners reduce the amount of carbon we release back into the atmosphere through our gardening practices. Carbon gardening starts with improving soil health and structure, garden design and incorporating the aspects of carbon gardening into the design. The design will include 80 percent natives to your region. Native plants to your region will form communities of connected and beneficial organisms.

What’s so new about carbon gardening? It focuses on how we can reduce carbon emissions through our gardening practices. Some of the techniques we have already been doing, now there is more emphasis on how to reduce carbon emissions while gardening.

There are several ways to carbon garden, growing your own food, don’t till the soil before you plant, using native plants in your region, buy locally sourced plants, mulch, and start using battery/cordless gardening equipment.

By growing as many fruits and vegetables that you can reduces carbon emissions and reduces the carbon footprint. The machinery used to grow the fruits and vegetables, the transportation to get fruits and vegetables to retail stores, and the packaging involved to get the fruits and vegetables to stores. The entire process releases carbon back into our atmosphere. There are several organic soils and fertilizers you can use for your fruits and vegetables and by purchasing organic products also helps in the reduction of carbon emissions. The organic soil should be peat free because peat comes from peat bogs which absorb carbon from the air and store it in the soil. When peat is harvested the carbon that is stored in the soil is released back into atmosphere. There are peatmoss alternatives such as coconut coir, coco peat, and coir peat you may want to try. Here are the names of peat-free soils you may want to try for your potted plants and vegetable garden, “Back to the Roots” an all-purpose potting mix, and “Pittmoss” Plentiful Organic Potting Mix. The fruits and vegetables can be grown in containers, raised beds, or in the ground. When growing in the ground don’t till the area before you plant, just dig the hole and plant. The action of tilling the soil releases the carbon that is in the soil to be released and this is why we suggest not to practice the method of tilling the soil.

When designing a new garden or rejuvenating your existing garden use native plants and trees in your region and group plants together in the design by the plant’s cultural needs such as full sun, shade, water requirements, etc. Trees are excellent for removing carbon from the air. By doing so, the plants begin to form plant communities in your garden and begin to attract other wildlife into the community. Your Cooperative Extension Service, Agriculture Extension Service, and Native Plant Nurseries in your region should be able to recommend plants for your area and project.

By purchasing locally grown native plants and trees reduces the carbon footprint. The process of plants grown locally and shipped locally reduces the carbon footprint verses plants that are shipped and grown abroad.

After planting or rejuvenating your garden, we need to mention about organic mulches and their benefits. Some organic mulches are better to use on your vegetable garden beds, while others are used for landscape beds and trees. Whichever the choice all organic mulches do the job of suppressing weeds, moisture retention, regulate soil temperatures, and soil erosion.

A mulch is considered organic because it decomposes over time. As the mulch decomposes nutrients are added to the soil, and the soil structure slowly improves.

When applied after planting mulch suppress weeds. For established beds pull the weeds before applying the mulch. By physically pulling the weeds you are reducing future weed seeds from developing and also reduces using a chemical weed killer. Mulch should be applied yearly.

By switching over to cordless/battery operated lawn equipment you are helping in reducing your carbon gardening footprint. Small gas-powered engines are the worst in air pollution. These are the engines that run all your gas-powered gardening equipment. The engines that run the garden equipment is very fuel inefficient and pollute the air more than today’s cars. By switching over to battery/cordless gardening equipment helps reduce your gardening footprint. There are several different companies making battery/cordless mowers, hedge trimmers, and leaf blowers to name a few. Nearly all companies design the equipment with interchangeable batteries whereas you can use the same battery for all your other gardening equipment.

These are just some of the ways you can help in reducing your garden carbon footprint. Your help as a gardener is needed to help reduce carbon emissions and become a climate activist starting with your own yard. You don’t have to redesign your entire garden. Start small by starting a small vegetable garden, purchase a tree or native plant locally, start mulching garden beds and trees, make a purchase for battery operated garden equipment. If each gardener around the world practices just one gardening technique it will help.

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