Words by Abi Scaife
National Gardening Week has rolled around once more, and here at Smiley News we are ready to pull on our gloves and get busy!
In an effort to do our part for the environment, as well as our own gardens, here are four of our favourite tips to help your garden, and our planet, thrive.
Food waste is a great way to improve your garden, while benefitting the planet - and it has so many uses. Whether you’re composting your food waste to create a vitamin-rich base for your plants, using banana skins to help with potassium levels, or using crushed egg shells to prevent pests - the sky is the limit!
If you’re utilising your food waste this one shouldn’t be a problem - but avoiding chemicals as much as possible is key to helping our planet, and its inhabitants, thrive. Chemicals can be an easy shortcut to a thriving garden, but all those chemicals can not only harm pets and other wildlife, they can do long-term damage to the environment. If you really want to give your plants a leg up, do some research on how best to use your food waste as natural fertilisers, or seek more eco-friendly alternatives at your local garden centre.
This might be difficult if you’re short on space, but it often helps to leave a small ‘wild area’ in your garden to help wildlife and native plants. It can be tempting to invest in an organised, manicured garden, but even just a small patch of wildness can do wonders. As an added bonus, you can add a few bug hotels, or just some nice logs for them to shack up in, a hedgehog shelter and more!
Pollinators like bees are so important to our planet and ecosystem, and the way we can support them is through growing lots of wonderful plants for them to live off! It’s best to choose plants that are native to Britain or the surrounding area and northern hemisphere, as we know these have a positive effect on our pollinators. Some examples include English bluebells, lavender and heather!
What are your favourite eco-friendly gardening tips?
At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.
Trees For Cities. They are working to plant more trees within large metropolitan areas, for the betterment of people and planet. Support them here.
The Woodland Trust. This is the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity, concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. Support them here.
Rewilding Britain. They aim to tackle the climate emergency and extinction crisis, reconnect people with the natural world and help communities thrive. Find out more here.
This article aligns with the UN SDG Life on Land, Climate Action.
