How To Grow An Authentic Green Garden

Truth be told, many green thumbs would get a ‘thumbs down’ from Mother Earth.

That is because many who enjoy yard plotting as a hobby do not realize that certain traditional home gardening practices can actually be detrimental to the earth. Harmful pesticides and wasting garden water are just a couple of ways that your garden may actually be harming, not helping, the environment.

But don't get blue. There are a number of ways gardeners can help keep their gardens environmentally sound. ‘It is important to remember that our actions not only affect us, but the animals that live in our gardens and around our homes,’ says John Javna, the founder of EarthWorks Press and the author of the best-selling 50 Simple Things You Can Do To Save The Earth.

A good way to learn about eco-friendly gardening is to follow the four ‘R’s of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Reduce, recycle, reuse and rebuy. Here, Javna gives MainStreet some ideas for how to put the EPA's plan into practice.

REDUCE

‘Cut back on as much lawn as possible, 32% of the water used by Americans goes to their lawns,’ says Javna. Cutting back on lawns and planting native plants makes a huge difference in the amount of water that must be used to maintain gardens. Instead, use stones and rocks to add visual interest to a landscape. Javna also suggests growing native plants that are more likely to sustain any climate changes and use to the earth’s local resources more effectively than transplants.