Eco Friendly House And Garden

Your garden might be green – but is your gardening schedule so eco friendly?

Your garden my well be edging on the eco-friendly side with careful planting, reduced disease and greater wildlife balance – so now look at some of the little things that could reduce it’s environmental impact that you might not have thought of.

By understanding how your plants work; you can reduce water use further, create a greener lawn and reduce pollution.  And by learning about garden processes; you can preserve natural landscapes, improve society and improve your health!

Below are some great garden facts for your plants and garden:

Control Your Water:
Many plants actually grow just as well with reduced watering.  They hold more in their leaves and flowers ‘waiting’ for the next watering.  And too much water can lead to rotting anyway.  Try to halve your watering and see the improvements.

Also, by only watering the actual plants rather than all the mud around them – they will make better use of ground nutrients and grow a better root network. 

If you just empty the entire contents of your watering can over the whole plot then not only are you wasting a lot of that water to evaporation – but the plants roots don’t need to spread far to get that water (and seeds could rot where they sit!). 

And if roots don’t spread far enough to take advantage of available ground nutrients this will result in weaker plants or increased feeding requirements.  So try putting small markers in the ground to mark the exact location of seeds and only water the ground right around your plants for best results.

Also, slightly longer grass will allow it to survive longer in dryer weather and the blades can hold more water.  Really short grass will be the first to die in dry sunny weather – and the dry mud left behind won’t absorb water as well – and will only cause localised flooding when the rains do come!

Mulching Makes A Difference To:
Just as the nutrients in the soil are used for your plants – they are also used for your weeds!  Why spend hours every week pulling out all the weeds – when you can virtually stop them growing in the first place?

Germination and all the growth that take places beneath the ground uses valuable soil nutrients that cannot now be used by your plants!  Each seed needs a certain balance of warmth, moisture and sunlight to germinate – so by covering your beds with at least 10 cms of mulch you will prevent these ‘ideal’ conditions from forming for most seeds. 

No germination – no weeds!

photo credit: jeffreyw

And that thicker layer over your earth will also reduce evaporation and help to keep the soil cooler and less parched: perfect for reduced watering and reduced effort from you weeding; both of which could save you the time to be doing something far more useful!

Save Resources:
By actively making your own compost, growing green fertilisers and maintaining your eco friendly balance (attracting natural predators to kill or outcompete the pests) – you can prevent all that growth, processing, packaging and transportation or man-made fertilisers and pesticides as well as limit the destruction of natural environments like peat bogs and wetland landscapes.

Your compost – reduces demand for water and chemicals to be used in fertilisers
Your compost – reduces the transportation of waste to polluting landfill sites
Your compost – reduces demand on peat cutting and packaging of plant materials
Your compost – offers the perfect home for invertebrates, snakes and birds

Green planting – increases the nutrients in your soil for your plants
Green planting – reduces the land available for weeds to grow on
Green planting – reduce the demand for chemical requirements for maintenance

Eco balance – reduces the need for chemical insecticides and treatments
Eco balance – reduces the risk of disease and plant damage
Eco balance – increases the biodiversity of life in your garden
Eco balance – increases your knowledge of ecosystems and climate change
Eco balance – increase your enjoyment of outside space and wildlife

photo credit: comedy_nose

If you live in what is called a ‘hard water’ area, you may consider changing to ‘soft’.

Now it’s not like you can change the bedrock of your house, so it would mean fitting a water softener to your existing water pipes to make the change.

But why would you go to that trouble and expense if you didn’t really have to – I mean the water still runs like normal, is clean to drink and washes dishes etc?

But there is a massive difference between the 2 types of water – and the soft water option can help you to live a more eco-friendly life.

How Can It Really?
Well, hard water contains magnesium and calcium that it picks up from the rocks on it’s path from falling as rain until it reaches your tap.  And these minerals can cause some serious damage to your plumbing and smaller white goods in the kitchen – not to mention your boiler and washing machine!

This build up of minerals in the water is then transferred into your pipes as it sits there waiting to be used – and can reduce the amount of water getting into an appliance, and cause permanent damage to the pipes as well.  Replacing either is a squeeze on natural resources and a costly exercise to boot!

And, with the capacity for water flow reduced, this can sometimes cause the appliance or boiler to have to work harder to keep the same level of function – or use more energy but give a poorer performance!

Soft water doesn’t contain any of these minerals, so leaves your pipes clean and working at their best!

How Can I Tell The Difference?
It isn’t immediately obvious which water you have got based on watching your boiler or feeling your clean clothes – but just using the water from your tap will show which water you have.

These minerals show themselves in water residue in the form of ‘lime scale’, so if you have a white patchy deposit on your shower head, grey residue left on your glass shower curtain, blobs of white ‘chalky’ stuff in your kettle, the list goes on…..

Sound familiar?

Now think of all the chemicals, cloths, scourers and time you have to spend keeping your bathroom and kitchen clean – then think of all that chemical waste!

And, think about washing your hair, hands and body.  Washing in soft water creates a lather more readily using less toiletries – and gives a more thorough clean.  People say that washing in soft water makes their skin feel better and hair look shinier!

How Big Is A Water Softener?
They will easily fit under your kitchen sink in smaller flats, or anywhere in a larger home – even a garage will do.

Basically it works on the main water pipes going in to your home or offices and changes the composition of your water before it enters your home.

Most water softeners are easily fitted and will pay for themselves within around 5 years due to the better efficiency of your heating and hot water systems, as well as in the reduced reliance of cleaning chemicals and toiletries!

And your appliances will last longer and stay efficient throughout that lifespan – and don’t worry about your appliances if you have been using hard water – as the softened water running through will eventually clear all the existing limescale!

So, taking the minerals out of your water could save you a lot of time and money.