I was strolling through my garden today taking pictures and I thought, why don’t I combine my favorite two solo activities (writing and gardening) and answer some of the questions my friends have been asking me lately? So when the heat of the noon sun drove me inside, that is exactly what I did!

I have to be honest, none of these ideas are things I came up with on my own. They are simply my favorite strategies that I have gleaned from a variety of classes, articles and in-person tips from fellow plantheads. Some of them are mainstream ideas, others not so much. My own yard has gone from a traditional suburban lawn and shrub garden (with some herbs thrown in) to a Certified Wildlife Habitat with an official (and some unofficial) Rain Gardens thrown in.

As much as possible, I try to be cognizant of the ways that my yardwork impacts native species around us and to use my yard to heal our earth. If my garden is blooming, buzzing with insect life, and filled with birds and other wildlife, then I consider myself to be successful. So in some ways, I am a green gardener. I use organic, plant based lawn care products (though my husband doesn’t always follow my lead), and we avoid invasive plants or plant them in places we know they cannot spread. However, I will say I am not hardcore enough to rip out (or refuse to buy) some beloved non-native plants as long as they don’t hurt our local ecosystem.

Also, in the garden, I believe less is more because less money and less labor means more time and resources to enjoy it! So if there are environmentally sound ways to reduce my costs and efforts, I am all for it.

Now that you know my overarching gardening philosophy, here is my first tip:

1. Green Mulching
When we first moved into our home, I spent days weeding each part of our garden. By the time I finished our yard, it was time to start weeding the first patch again. As I was breaking my back (literally) doing this, I also made the mistake of pulling out a lot of volunteer plants that I could have kept if I hadn’t been so narrow in my plant selection. As a result of my over-zealous weeding, we ended up with some major foundation water issues – all because I removed some plants during hours of laborious weeding!

Needless to say, the garden that I loved was quickly becoming my dreaded enemy and I couldn’t help feeling betrayed by the innocent looking rhododendrons staring at me through my front windows.

Then I discovered Green Mulching and, at the risk of sounding like a salesperson, it has been the best time saver/garden improvement I have found. The idea behind green mulching is to plant so many plants, so close together that there is no room left in your garden for the weeds to grow. This may sound chaotic but done properly, you can use layering (see a later tip) and ground cover plants to save literally days of your life (and years off of your back)! As an added bonus, telling people you are green mulching gives you an excuse to keep adding to your growing garden diversity and who among us does not need a reason to steer their car into the garden center parking lot?

As if those are not reasons enough to consider this method, Green Mulching is also more eco-friendly than more traditional mulching methods. Here’s why:

1. Traditional Wood Mulches were originally not a terrible idea from an environmental standpoint. People have been mulching gardens for a long time using biodegradable materials like leaf matter and straw. In the last century, paper factories and other industries that utilized wood would sell off their wood waste to be used in garden beds. It eventually broke down and returned necessary nutrients to the garden soils that had been depleted by plant growth. In this setting, as long as no harmful chemicals were used to treat the wood, it was a great idea. However, once everyone started using mulch, the demand exceeded factory waste and wood mulch became an industry of its own. As a result, the mulch we buy at the store comes with real environmental (and financial) costs.
2. Stone and Rubber Mulches, while longer lasting alternatives than wood mulch, have their own potential drawbacks. Most importantly, unlike wood and other types of biodegradable mulches, they don’t break down over time. As a result, the plant bed soil is depleted of nutrients overtime and these nutrients are not returned to it through the natural decomposition of dead plant matter. As a result, beds that use non-decaying mulches eventually lose some of their fertility and may require additional fertilizers and compost.

Green Mulching, on the other hand, allows gardeners to work with natural plant cycles while growing plants that benefit the environment. Following the natural pattern eliminates the unnecessary work that goes along with fighting nature. This is particularly true for planters who choose to leave plant matter standing over winter, compost dead plants, and mulch with leaves in the fall. Green Mulched beds are continuously refreshed with nutrients from previous plants. In addition, the dense leaf cover provides shade and holds moisture in the soil, limiting the amount of watering required, and the roots of plants help keep soil from eroding or compacting. And, of course, you save time by crowding out the weeds!