Great gardens merge nature and human design seamlessly while providing us with space for exploration, relaxation, and rest. They also help us reflect our cultural values and personal desires, all while we make meaningful connections to the natural world.

In the past few years, we’ve become culturally aware of climate change and have begun to model our lifestyles around sustainability. The trend towards sustainability has also gained real traction in the gardening community — the RHS Chelsea Garden Flower Show even has an entire category dedicated to sustainability. 

But why should you invest in creating a sustainable, eco-friendly garden, and how can you create one successfully?

Creating a Sustainable Garden

Gardens provide us with a unique chance to do our bit. We can proactively source climate-conscious materials in our gardens and can intentionally invite some nature into our gardens by planting appropriate flowers, trees, and shrubs.

Structure

The basic blueprint you intend is the first, and most important, step in building a garden. Before you mulch, sow, water, or sheer, you must set down a clear structure that will define the wider vision of the garden. 

When looking to structure a sustainable garden, you want to make sure that you leave room for animals to explore and are choosing appropriate plants that will use less natural resources. To do this, you will need to plan the materials you intend to use ahead of time. 

The materials you use when gardening sustainably need to be sourced ethically and with the minimum usage of fossil fuels in their production. The simplest way to achieve this is to recycle as much as possible. You can reuse old plastic planters and broken materials like fence panels can easily be repurposed as planters or supporting beams. 

Earth and Sustainability

Your garden’s soil is the key to its health. Understanding the quality of your existing soil and planting to match it will save you time and money, and will reduce your overall usage of fossil fuels. 

You certainly need to avoid using peat. Peat is a finite natural resource that is found in bogs. Peat bogs are wetlands and are the largest terrestrial store of carbon on earth. Their value to the environment far outweighs their value in our potting soil.

Instead of peat, you can seek out peat-free soil blends and can compost your own garden waste. Compositing is ideal, as it helps you cut down on the waste your garden produces, gives you a nutrient-dense soil mix, and means you don’t need to buy bags of soil that may have travelled great distances just to end up back in the ground. 

If you’re looking to mulch or create compost from your soil, you need to be aware of vermiculite. Nowadays, vermiculite is safe and valuable for gardeners. However, older bags of vermiculite may contain asbestos — a harmful chemical that causes cancers. If you’re digging in the garden and find buried vermiculite, it’s probably worth playing it safe and throwing it out. 

Accessible Spaces

Our gardens should inspire people to care about the natural world. As such, ensuring you create accessible spaces is important. To create an accessible garden, you should consider raised beds and paths that allow wheelchair users to explore. This allows everyone to move safely around your garden and gives clear boundaries for wheelchair users and folks with sight impairments. 

Grow Your Own

Growing your own fruit and veg is a great way to cut down on carbon emissions. Studies show that the average meal travels thousands of miles to reach our plates and that large-scale food transport produces an average of 10kg of carbon per 1kg of food. By growing your own, you can reduce that distance, which will reduce carbon usage while allowing you to enjoy the satisfaction of eating your fruit and veg. 

You don’t need to become a green-fingered gardener overnight. Instead, just focus on easier vegetables like carrots, potatoes, or tomatoes. If you’re in doubt about which fruit and veg to plant currently, you can find plenty of guides online that will be relevant to your current location and season. 

Eco-Friendly Gardens

Our gardens are connected to the wider ecological systems that surround them. This means that wildlife doesn’t know it’s entered a garden and is unlikely to ignore your precious vegetable patch. You can’t expect to run out every time an animal has a sniff about, so you need to plan ahead to create an eco-friendly space. 

Mammals

Mammals present a real risk to your garden but are also a vital part of the ecosystem. This means you should encourage larger mammals to find safe refuge in your garden. The easiest way to do this is to decide where mammals shouldn’t roam and cover this area with fences or chicken wire. 

Yolanda van Rooyen has created a garden that actively invites larger animals into the space. Her grasses and groundcover provide food, and she suggests making use of hardy, native plants which will give the local animals the habitats they need. 

Birds 

Birds in the garden are a great source of joy. Hearing birdsong and watching birds clean themselves is so rewarding, and can deepen your ecological commitment to gardening. 

Dr. Daryl Jones is an urban ecologist and has some great suggestions for attracting birds to the garden. He suggests that you clean the feeders you use regularly to stop the spread of disease amongst birds and ensure that you put out a wide variety of bird seeds and fruits. You also don’t want to put out too much food — a cup’s worth is sufficient. 

Insects 

Your garden is an ecosystem, and all ecosystems rely upon insects. Insects attract larger animals into the garden and pollinate other flowers and plants — both in our gardens and beyond. There are many beneficial insects, and the best way to accommodate them is to create a diverse ecosystem of flowers, plants, and shrubs that reach their peaks at different times throughout the year.

Other Additions

In addition to choosing native plants, there are several other large additions you can incorporate into your eco-friendly garden to enhance sustainability. For instance, installing rainwater harvesting systems can help you collect and reuse water for irrigation, reducing your dependence on municipal water sources. Solar-powered lighting and water features are also excellent options for adding functionality to your garden while minimising energy consumption.

If you’re thinking about adding more relaxing features, a hot tub is a great option, but it’s essential to choose one that aligns with your eco-friendly goals. For example, saltwater hot tubs are a more sustainable alternative to traditional chlorine systems. Not only do they reduce the need for harsh chemicals, but they also require less maintenance and provide a more gentle soaking experience. 

While these larger additions can transform your backyard into an eco-friendly oasis, they can come with upfront costs. To make these investments more manageable, consider exploring personal loans as a way to finance your eco-friendly upgrades. A personal loan can help cover the cost of features like rainwater systems or a saltwater hot tub, allowing you to create the sustainable garden and backyard space you’ve always wanted without stretching your budget.

Creating a sustainable, eco-friendly backyard is easier than you might expect. By planning your garden’s structure and accommodating animals, you can reduce your carbon footprint and create space that both you and the local wildlife can enjoy.