6 minute read
In the Garden
5 Steps to an Easier
(and more sustainable!) Landscape Next Year
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Winter is approaching. By now, you’ve mowed the lawn for the last time, picked vegetables and herbs, and cut flowers to bring inside (or not!). With the onset of winter (and gardening downtime), now is a great time to think about what went well in your landscape and/ or garden this past season. What did you enjoy? And what did you not enjoy these past months? Here is a list of five suggestions and actions you can take to have a more enjoyable landscape next year. 1. Set the Stage Are you providing for the activities you want in your landscape? Grilling? Relaxing? Play? Now is a great time to re-evaluate the physical aspects that provide for how you use your landscape. Start with one activity that would you bring more enjoyment to your space. Don’t ignore the fact that a particular area is too wet or too dry during part of the season. Make sure to locate the new aspect with convenience in mind. 2. How much time do you have to care for your garden?
Not much? That’s OK! Here’s how you can reduce your gardening time:
• Plant more native shrub areas on the outside of your yard
in “ribbons” or groupings. Well-spaced shrubs “read” like an organized, tended landscape over time. They also take up space and reduce the amount of grass. Many native shrubs also feed fruit and seeds to birds, providing exciting leaf textures and fall colors. If you choose native shrubs, they won’t need to be watered after becoming established. They survive our weather, not needing to be replaced. • Mow Less! Overseed your grass with a Bee-Lawn seed mix. Mowing every two to three weeks at a 3-inch height, even on a regular lawn, increases the number of tiny, low flowers, which offer habitat and nutrition for an increased number of pollinators!
• Choose landscape and/or garden changes in locations you often
see, particularly from windows inside your home. Sure we have areas we think we’re supposed to spend money on but using this strategy reaps a double benefit. Planting a “pollinator patch” that you can see from where you drink your earliest cup of coffee can bring more daily joy. 4. Stop fighting for your lawn.
You’ve seen the vast expanses of burnt grass in your neighborhood. Lawns are an expensive, destructive, time-consuming obsession that came to us from 1700s Europe. Lawns are not American landscapes. Forests, prairies, wetlands, mountains and meadows are American landscapes. Lawns are not even healthy. A “Tufts six-year study found that the use of lawn pesticides was associated with a greater risk of canine (aka, man’s best friend) malignant lymphoma (CML).” Shifting gears to plant native plants can add your landscape to the new “Homegrown National Park” map, or creating your own designated Wildlife Habitat with the National Wildlife Federation can be a much healthier and more rewarding way to find delight and join others.
5. Embrace the ‘Less is More’ Philosophy in your Garden
• Less weeding. Plant “green mulch,” i.e., native ground cover plants that block sunlight from reaching weed seeds. >
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• Less cost. The Farmer’s Almanac estimates, “The leaves of one large tree can be worth as much as $50 worth of plant food and humus. Pound for pound, leaves contain twice the mineral content of manure.” Your fall leaves are free!
• Less watering. Lay down a 3-inch “blanket” of this year’s fall leaves, shredded by mowing, at the base of all of your plantings to conserve moisture and reduces evaporation and the need for watering.
• Less stress. Seeing a pretty anything ... flower, bird, or leaf in my yard helps me breathe more deeply. You too? It would be hard to overestimate the value of time spent outdoors. Sunshine boosts vitamin D production, which allows our bodies function more efficiently. At the same time, the simple act of being out in the natural world increases serotonin levels, promoting calm and reducing stress.
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Thinking through and acting on any of these five steps can be an effective way for next year’s landscape/garden to bring you more enjoyment and even more peace of mind. You can choose actions that will mean less mowing, watering and weeding. Choosing other steps will result in more pollinators in your yard and more seasonal changes, color and textures. Planning this winter can mean more play in your yard and/or feeding the songbirds you love from native shrubs instead of bags of seeds that endanger bears. Your efforts can create more joy next season because your yard will have more of what makes you happy.
Michele Chalice is the owner of Healthy Home Habitats.
De lig htful, Environmentally-Friendly Landscape Desi gns
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Let’s do both at your home! Now is a great time to plan for changes to your landscape for next year. 603-313-9153 healthyhomehabitats.com
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