5 ways to make your garden more sustainable

Amelia Owens – goat wrangler

The call for climate-friendly gardens

Amid the ongoing and increasingly pressing climate crisis, we can all do our part by making sure that as we care for our lawns and gardens, we’re showing the same care for our beautiful planet. In addition to our gardening goats’ reduction of harmful pesticides and pollution from gas-powered lawn mowers, here are some other tips to curb greenhouse gas emissions right from your home.

PHOTO BY: Karolina Grabowska

1. Design your garden dutifully

One of the first steps to make your outdoor space climate-friendly is planning your garden. There are many ways to creatively design a garden that is both pleasing to the eye and sustainable. Before you dive into the hard planting work, consider the garden characteristics that have shown to preserve natural resources like soil.

2. Save your seeds

Some of the beautiful plants, flowers and vegetables in your garden will grow seeds once they have matured. Instead of letting these seeds go to waste, collect them and store them in a cool, dry place. If you’re not sure where to start, check out the number of creative ways to save seeds for inspiration.

PHOTO BY: Anna Shvets

3. Plant your own trees

Planting your own trees is another amazing way to support Goat Gardeners’ goal of creating more sustainable gardens. Trees help store the atmosphere’s carbon into soil, preserving this resource in a way that also gives you a beautiful, leafy addition to your backyard.

PHOTO BY: Scott Webb

4. Honour native plants

Another easy and fun way to make your garden more sustainable is to celebrate the plants that are native to your region! Native plants are easier to sustain because they are naturally suited to the temperature, soil conditions and air quality of your geographical area. These plants also serve as food and shelter resources for local birds and insects, further contributing to the eco-friendly quality of your garden. For our clients at Goat Gardeners, here is a list of plants that are native to Toronto.

5. Conserve water

Finally, making your garden water-wise is a great supportive action to the incredible work our gardening goats do to make your backyard climate-friendly. Water-saving gardening can involve adding compost and mulch to your soil, getting rid of water-wasting sprinklers and using watering cans mindfully.

We’re all in this together

At Goat Gardeners, we are proud of the amazing impact our grass-eating goats have on the planet but our efforts alone aren’t enough. Challenge yourself to follow at least one of these climate-friendly gardening tips – the planet, and your beautiful plants, will thank you for it.

Contact us for more information on how Goat Gardeners can get you started on your eco-gardening journey.

PHOTO BY: Amelia Owens / Furkan Demir / Rachel Claire