Ecological Gardening

Ecological gardening, like sustainable living, is about seeing ourselves, our homes and our gardens as important parts of local and global ecosystems. It’s about exploring the stories behind what comes into our gardens, and what goes out, and how we can make small positive changes, which have rippling effects far beyond our back fence.

Ecological%20Gardening.JPGHere’s some of the ways we are/plan to garden ecologically:

  • Growing lots of our own food organically, to bring food closer to our hearts and plates. See the Future of Food for more info
  • Creating a food forest, which is not only the most efficient way of growing, but creates valuable habitat for wildlife
  • Planting lots of locally native species
  • Not planting species that are likely to become local weeds such as strawberry guava, peaches, nectarines, or grafted passionfruits
  • Creating habitat for wildlife through having layers of vegetation, lots of mulch, hidey holes such as in old pipes and rocks, frog ponds, etc
  • Planting species that are suited to our climate and locality, and strategically placing them in optimal positions, to minimise the need for high inputs of water etc
  • Questioning where things coming into the garden are from, such as rocks, mulch and plants, and trying to source things that are locally, sustainably and ethically produced/harvested. We plan to grow most of our own mulch, saving mulch being produced and brought to us from elsewhere. Sourcing mulch in the form of grass clippings, and rocks and soil left over from local front yard renovations has been great!
  • Irrigating effectively and minimising the need to water by planting at times when rainfall is predicted, and temperatures are cool. We made sure to get our soil improving crops in just before a few days rain was forecast, and are saving planting a lot of our fruit trees until autumn, when it is cooler
  • Focusing on building the health of the soil, and not simply applying fertilisers, to ensure that nutrients are not leeched from our property and contributing to excess nutrient problems in our local creeks and elsewhere
  • Ecological gardening and sustainable living is a constant learning adventure, so please share with us your thoughts and stories with us as we do with you.

For more info on ecological gardening, check out: