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Health & Fitness

Garden News–A More Natural Garden

Here's a post on natural gardening methods, money saving tips and great informational resource links. Also, a sustainable vegetable gardening class in Campbell !

In this post, I thought I’d share some of the more natural methods I use in my garden. Hopefully, you will see how easy they are to do and you will be encouraged to try a method or two in your own yards. Perhaps we can begin to create a more natural environment in our neighborhoods, which can benefit us in many ways.

It always amazes me to discover how much time, effort and money people put into their yards when it is not truly needed or necessary. They are, ultimately, fighting a losing battle in my opinion. Often, our yards and gardens already provide much of what is needed to create a more natural and healthy environment. We just have to learn to recognize and take advantage of their natural processes.

I strive to create a more natural space in my garden and yard. I hesitate to call it organic because, on rare occasions, I do need to use a product that is not truly organic and I have a hard time believing that we can have truly organic yards when our neighbors use pesticides right next door and the county insists on spraying the neighborhoods with pesticides almost every year, despite many people's objections.

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One thing that I do is use as much of the natural materials my yard provides as possible. I kept the straightest, fattest and tallest branches from the trees I pruned last week. They will make for good plant poles and trellises later this year. I also let the fallen leaves stay where they are below my trees and use what I do sweep and rake up as mulch elsewhere in the garden.

A good mulch can help our gardens in many ways. It helps to retain water in the soil, provides compost for the soil as it breaks down and provides shelter and homes for many beneficial insects. Mulch can really be any fine, natural material, but I find that leaves seem to work best as they break down quickly. Small wood chips, twigs, a little bit of grass clippings and even pulled weeds will also work well.  Avoid using any weeds that have flowered or gone to seed. They could spread weeds seeds elsewhere in the garden.

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I don’t use any gas powered garden equipment. I use a push mower, rakes, brooms and dustpans. I use hand pruners and clippers for any yard maintenance and a regular shovel for any digging or tilling that is required. I do have a battery powered weed whacker that I use for edging and general ground trimming. I feel that this provides me with good exercise and goes a long way to eliminate the noise and smelly fumes generated by power garden equipment.

I also have a small-scale compost system. I keep a small strainer near our kitchen sink and collect the fruit and vegetable peelings, coffee grounds and eggshells that we generate and then take them out to an area in the corner of our yard. (Again, avoid anything with seeds unless you want a crop of tomatoes in your compost area!) I chop them up a bit with a shovel and add a thin layer of soil over the top. I have three holes dug next to each other for this purpose. One for adding the fresh material, one that is full and currently composting and one that I pull compost out of to use in the garden. This method is called cold composting and does take a little longer to breakdown that other methods, but it is just as effective and a little easier for me to do.

Another very important aspect of any garden is the encouragement of natural controls. Namely “good bugs”.  If we give them a safe place to rest and raise a family, access to moisture and a yard free of poisons, ( Yes, when people spray for the “bad bugs”, they are getting the “good bugs” as well), they will happily stay in our yards and do a very good job keeping the plant munching bugs at bay.

One way I try to do this in my yard are by providing wild areas, no matter how small, as habitat. Basically, a wild area is an area that we just leave alone to develop on its own. It may be an area under a hedge, a log left as a decoration or border, a small rock pile and yes, there will probably be weeds or grasses there as well.

I’ve included two pictures in this post of aphid eating bugs common to our area. If you see these in your garden this Spring, don’t destroy them! Let them be and watch what happens. The natural process works just fine on its own without our “help!” The first picture is of a lady bug larvae. We all know the pretty lady bug and their taste for aphids, but the larvae, as they are babies, will eat many times more aphids than the adults. The other picture is of a soldier beetle. These little guys consume quite a few aphids as well. While they may not be the prettiest creatures,( although I think the beetle is pretty cute), they do great work and are quite valuable to have around. Be careful, though. Just because they are “good bugs” doesn’t mean that they won’t bite to defend themselves.

One more way to encourage the good bugs is to avoid a monoculture in your yard. A monoculture is a large planting of just one type of plant. The lawn is a great example. Nature will forever be trying to get other plants started in your lawn. You can “weed and feed” all you like, but the process is eternal. In a natural garden, diversity is really the goal. Although I have a small lawn, I have reduced it by about 20 percent by building raised beds and yes, there is more than one type of grass in it and more than a few weeds as well. I pull them out when I don’t want them. I have no need for weed and feed, I just bend over and pull them out!

So, to conclude, these natural methods help us to have a healthier yard, healthier food, if your grow some, and a more natural environment around our homes. Perhaps the most appealing result of all of this is that you can save a considerable amount of money by doing it. By employing some of the ideas I’ve written about today you can save money on or don’t have to purchase very much or any of the following:

  • mulch material in bags,
  • plant stakes and poles,
  • soil in bags,
  • pesticides,
  • most fertilizers,
  • and oil and gas for the garden equipment.

You’ll need to use much less water if you mulch your plants and you’ll end up with a more productive and healthier garden, which helps us all--human, bird, animal and insect.

And lastly, here are a couple of great resources if you would like to read further:

The Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County is a great resource for plant tips, advice and natural controls for your yard and much more. The offer classes on sustainable vegetable gardening each year around the Bay Area. I attended their class a couple of years ago and found it very enlightening, even though I’ve been gardening for many years.

They currently have several openings for a class at the beginning on Jan. 24. Check it out if you can! 

A great book that I’ve read on the concept of Permaculture. I’ve found this to be very eye-opening and I’ve been able to incorporate some of the concepts and ideas in my own garden.

Well, that’s all for this time. I hope I’ve been able to show that having a more natural garden is not only possible, but easier and less expensive also.

Until next time – Steve A.

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