{"id":2940,"date":"2019-12-30T05:40:37","date_gmt":"2019-12-30T13:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=2940"},"modified":"2019-12-30T05:40:37","modified_gmt":"2019-12-30T13:40:37","slug":"sustainable-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/sustainable-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainable New Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Winterberry<\/a>
Winterberry holly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The problem with New Year\u2019s resolutions is that they are usually too big to be manageable for more than a few weeks.\u00a0 Change\u2014whether it is weight loss, curbing bad habits or de-cluttering your home environment\u2014is best done in easily attainable increments that take human nature and time constraints into account.<\/p>\n

I like to think about those increments as the plant catalogs roll in after the holidays and my thoughts turn to the upcoming gardening season.\u00a0 We gardeners already encourage cleaner air by planting living specimens that simultaneously fuel their own growth and release oxygen through the process of photosynthesis.<\/p>\n

There are lots of other small, planet-saving acts that we can do while we fill up our souls with the energy that we get from gardening.\u00a0 Most of them are not particularly onerous or time consuming, and choosing the ones that suit each of us best can add up to big differences.<\/p>\n

Tackling the plastics issue is important.\u00a0 We are over-reliant on plastic pots, which have the benefit of being cheap, lightweight and moisture retentive.\u00a0 The flip side of those benefits is that plastics live forever in the environment.\u00a0 Start fighting the plastics battle by looking at your own supplies of plastic nursery pots and containers and reusing them until they fall apart.\u00a0 If you have more plastic pots than you can possibly use, check with local botanical institutions and garden centers.\u00a0 Sometimes they will take clean, used pots for seedlings, sale specimens or transplants.\u00a0 You can also offer up your unwanted plastic pots on community websites.\u00a0 Either way, you save someone from buying new plastic pots and you reduce your supplies.<\/p>\n

When you buy new plant containers, choose terra cotta, ceramic, wood or metal.\u00a0 Some garden centers also offer brightly colored, eco-friendly houseplant containers made from bamboo.<\/p>\n

These days many plant vendors, especially mail order\/online nurseries are switching to coir containers for shipping.\u00a0 Sometimes these same vendors cushion shipments with shredded cardboard or newsprint.\u00a0 If your favored vendors don\u2019t do this yet, send an email suggesting it.\u00a0 You might be surprised at the response.<\/p>\n

Save money and increase sustainability by dividing your existing perennials.\u00a0 This increases the health of many established varieties that become less vigorous if they are not divided periodically.\u00a0 If you plant the divisions elsewhere in your landscape, you will create repetition, a desirable design element.\u00a0 If you give the divisions to friends, you will most likely cultivate good will.\u00a0 Dividing most perennials is relatively easy\u2014just dig up the entire plant and slice the root ball into segments.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be squeamish; the procedure is unlikely to kill an established plant.<\/p>\n

Growing plants from seed is another good way to increase your supplies and save money in the process.\u00a0 Easy to grow annuals, like cosmos, zinnias, sunflowers and marigolds can get you started on the grow-your-own process and the selection is often better than what you will find among the garden center flats once spring rolls around.\u00a0 Most can be sown directly in the garden, following package directions.\u00a0 If you are ambitious and have sunny space indoors, you can also start seedlings in coir or newspaper pots and transplant them after all danger of frost is past.<\/p>\n

If you can possible accommodate a composter or compost pile, make your own soil enhancer from household and yard waste.\u00a0 If you are like me and live surrounded by big, deciduous trees, invest in a leaf shredder, which can turn an enormous leaf pile into a tidy mound of shredded mulch in minutes.\u00a0 That mulch can go directly onto your garden beds.<\/p>\n

Some people are lucky enough to have lawn services to tend to lawns, leaves and shrubbery.\u00a0 The rest of us mow, rake or blow our leaves and trim our hedges.\u00a0 If you are in that category, consider investing in electric appliances the next time you need a lawnmower, string trimmer or hedge clippers.\u00a0 New battery-powered models run longer between charges.\u00a0 Corded models are relatively cheap and only require a long, heavy-duty outdoor extension cord.\u00a0 Some people find these onerous, but like anything else, you get used to it.<\/p>\n

Clean and sharpen hand tools to lengthen their useful lives.\u00a0 Good tools treated properly should last a long time.<\/p>\n

And finally, do your bit for wildlife by planting at least one tree or shrub that produces berries or fruits for the birds and small animals.\u00a0 Berries, whether they are dangle from species rose bushes, cluster on holly branches or cling to viburnums, add seasonal interest in fall and winter while enhancing habitats.\u00a0 If we help wildlife, we are doing ourselves a favor.<\/p>\n

Taking small steps towards better environmental practices is not a political act, but a practical one.\u00a0 These practices are conservative in the classic sense of that word, because they conserve available resources for future use.\u00a0 They are also liberal in the classic sense, because they contribute generously to the common good.\u00a0\u00a0 Our grandparents and forbearers most often practiced garden thrift for economic reasons.\u00a0 If we emulate them with a few modern twists, we can save money and increase sustainability.\u00a0 With those goals in mind, no act is too small.\"Tradescantia-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The problem with New Year\u2019s resolutions is that they are usually too big to be manageable for more than a few weeks.\u00a0 Change\u2014whether it is weight loss, curbing bad habits or de-cluttering your home environment\u2014is best done in easily attainable increments that take human nature and time constraints into account. I like to think about … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3,5],"tags":[2231,894,2228,2230,2227,2229,980,30],"class_list":["post-2940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","category-winter","tag-composting","tag-dividing-plants","tag-earth-friendly-practicies","tag-electric-garden-tools","tag-garden-sustainability","tag-growing-from-seed","tag-habitat-gardening","tag-thrifty-gardening"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2940"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2941,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2940\/revisions\/2941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}