When you’re looking to live a more sustainable life, you’ll soon realise that there are many areas where you can make meaningful changes. And your garden is one of them.
Our gardens can be a source of joy, a refuge and a way to improve our wellbeing. But many of the gardening practices we commonly use aren’t that good for our environment.
And this can have a profound impact, given that in the UK over 90% of homes have either a garden or a balcony. (Coisnon et al., 2019) So if we adopt eco-friendly practices, it will have an equally big but positive impact.
I’m an avid gardener myself, so of course I want to make sure that what I do with our outside space is both good for our wellbeing and the environment.
That’s why I was keen on learning as much as I could about eco-friendly gardening and how I can turn our outside space into a haven for us and wildlife.
In this article I will share with you what I have discovered and how you too can have a sustainable garden.
So What Is Eco-Friendly Gardening?
First things first, let’s find out what it means to garden in an eco-friendly way. Like with other things, it’s about reducing the environmental impact our gardens and what we do in them have.
So it relates to any aspect of gardening, not just the products we use: what we plant, where we plant it, how we feed and water our plants, how we maintain our garden and what tools we use.
The core principle of eco-friendly gardening is to work with nature to create a space that will benefit us and wildlife and reduce the environmental impact.
An eco-friendly gardener aims at working within the limits of the available resources, growing those plants that will thrive under the natural conditions in the garden and minimise the use of resources. At the same time, they won’t use harmful and toxic chemicals or material that is derived from fossil fuels or other non-renewable sources, such as peat. (Kiesling & Manning, 2010)
This might sound a bit complicated and rather difficult, but it isn’t really. And to show you that everyone can do it, let’s look more closely at how you can be a sustainable gardener.
1. Accept That Your Garden Is Also A Habitat
If you own a house with a garden, your garden is part of your property. However, as an outside space, it’s also a habitat for a variety of wildlife. Many organisms will make your garden their home, creating their own ecosystem.
This is important to realise, because it makes you recognise that you share the space with other creatures and that you can’t just do whatever is best for yourself. Think of it as living in a shared house with friends.
You might fancy putting on loud music in your room at 2 in the morning or leaving your dirty socks lying around in the living room, but you don’t. Because you know that your friends wouldn’t appreciate it.
And it’s the same with the wildlife in your garden. You don’t want to do things that will disturb them, make them leave or even worse kill them.
The way we looked at gardens for hundreds of years was as spaces where we can mould nature to our own wishes. Think of the manicured gardens of Versailles or any other palaces around the world.
It’s such a revelation when you come to realise how many little and bigger creatures live in your garden, even one that isn’t necessarily that eco-friendly: bugs, spiders, worms, bees, butterflies, birds, mice, voles, etc.
And you can’t help but want to create a garden that helps them thrive. At least, that’s how I felt. Next time you’re in your garden, have a closer look at your plants and soil and see how many little beasts you can find.
Thankfully, times are changing and more and more gardeners accept that they share their outside space with a variety of wildlife and make an effort to make their garden work for them as well as themselves.
And that’s great, because studies have shown that gardens could hold the key to conserving many of our insect species, as long as we provide them with the right habitats. (Morpurgo et al., 2024)
2. Discover Your Wild Side
One of the things that we humans are very keen on when it comes to gardening is neatness. Ultra short lawns, trimmed bushed and hedges, weed-free beds and neat rows of flowers are seen as the epitome of what a garden should be.
But this neatness isn’t good for biodiversity. Science has shown that cutting a lawn frequently reduces the amount of plant species and insects that live on it. Reducing mowing to once or twice per season has shown to increase biodiversity by 30%. (Sehrt et al., 2019)
Now I’m not saying you should just let your garden grow wild, but having wild areas will benefit wildlife enormously. And does your lawn really need cutting every week in summer?
We have decided to create a wildlife garden that benefits nature as well as ourselves. A third of our garden is left completely wild and is only cut down using a scythe once a year. We use this old manual method because it’s better for wildlife.
Another third of the garden we turned into a wildflower meadow. While it was hard work, taking off the topsoil and sowing wildflower seeds, it was well worth it. The amount of bees, butterflies and other insects we get is amazing.
Again, I scythe our meadow in late summer and go over with the lawn mower once in winter to keep the grass down.
The final third of our garden we use to grow our own fruits and vegetables. We have a polytunnel and several raised beds where we grow healthy and delicious food for ourselves. Many of the veggies we grow provide food for wildlife too, in one way or another.
As you can see, having wild areas doesn’t mean you can’t also have areas that are for you. I’m not into growing flowers, but I do love growing my own veggies, and our garden provides space for this and for all the important little creatures.
So make some room for wildlife in your garden, because doing so will help our environment.
3. Weed And Pest Control The Natural Way
Keeping your garden free from weeds and common garden pests can be a big job. That’s why many gardeners resort to chemical solutions, i.e. pesticides, as they make it much easier.
But these chemicals aren’t good for the environment. Most of the pesticides used don’t just remove the plant or insect it’s supposed to, but also negatively impact non-target species.
Especially, pollinators such as bees and butterflies have been shown to suffer when pesticides, insecticides and herbicides are used. (Muratet et Fountaine, 2014)
But using pesticides can also impact on the number of birds that visit your garden. House sparrows, great tits, chaffinches, black birds and robins are likely to stay away if you use these chemical solutions. (de Montaigu et Goulson, 2023)
So what’s the answer? Using natural ways of keeping your plants safe from garden pests and your beds clear of weeds.
Keeping Pests Under Control Without Chemicals
The first thing to say is that these pests are part of the ecosystem, without them many other animals wouldn’t be in your garden either. So pest control is a balancing act.
You don’t want them to destroy your plants, but you also don’t want to eradicate them completely from your garden. And most plants can tolerate being nibbled at by small numbers of pests.
This means a few aphids on your tomato plants or roses won’t cause any harm. Of course, an infestation could destroy the plants or at least reduce the yield.
The good news is that nature is great at keeping things in balance, unless we humans intervene. So let nature do her thing and deal with pest control.
Each pest has one or more likely several natural predators. By encouraging those into your garden, they will keep pest numbers down to a level that your plants can tolerate.
Our wildflower meadow and wild area do just that. Lacewings, ladybirds and predatory wasps are just some of the useful creatures that we attract to our garden that keep pests under control.
And there are other things you can do too, without having to resort to chemicals:
- Physical barriers – handy tools like netting, insect mesh and plant collars can keep pests away from your plants without harming them
- Companion planting – with this ancient gardening method you grow different plants in the same bed, which will be mutually beneficial to each other, for example by deterring pests
- Crop rotation – don’t grow the same plants in a plant family in the same place every year as this can cause a build up of pests, especially with veggies
- Use Probiotics for your garden – these beneficial bacteria will support the health of your plants to make them more pest resistant – our recommendation: Microbz probiotics for the garden
I use all these methods and have not had any issues with garden pests since. That doesn’t mean none of my plants got nibbled at, but not to the extent that it caused a problem.
Companion planting especially was a revelation to me and I have been using it very successfully for three years now. There isn’t much in the way of scientific proof around that it works, but millions of gardeners swear by it, including myself.
However, some studies have looked at this topic and shown that it’s not just some wild fantasy. One study has looked at planting wheat and cucumber together. The results were that if planted together, the cucumber yield was increased. (Chang et al., 2017)
Weed Control Without Using Herbicides
First I want to address the term weed, which I don’t like. It suggests that some plants are better than others, which is an attitude that can cause harm to our planet.
Only if we value every plant, fungus and animal equally, will we be willing to do what’s in our power to save them and with that the environment.
Let’s be clear: what makes a plant a weed is only our own preference. Anything we didn’t plant and don’t want in our garden is put in this category.
But many plants we classify as weeds are good for wildlife, such as nettles. And while I understand that you don’t want nettles in your flower or veggie beds, they should have a place in your garden.
We have a nettle patch in our wild area and every spring, we pick off the tops and make a delicious and healthy nettle soup. The rest of the year, they are food for many insects and their offspring.
However, there are areas where you don’t want unwanted plants, like veggie beds where the weeds would use up vital nutrients the veggies need to produce a good crop. And if you have paving or a patio, grass and other plants growing up between the slaps can be a hazard.
So here are ways to remove/prevent these unwanted plants without using chemicals:
- Manual weeding – yes it’s a lot of work and many gardeners (including myself!) hate this task, but it’s the best way to get rid of unwanted plants without using harmful herbicides
- Suppressing weeds – use a layer of organic matter, such as wood chips or mulch to suppress weeds and prevent them from coming up
- Block weeds – for more stubborn ones, cover the soil with cardboard first to create a barrier that even the toughest weed can’t break
- Physical barriers – use physical barriers such as weed edging to prevent grass and weeds from getting into your beds
- Plant up free areas – by planting ground-covering plants in the spaces between your flowers, you can stop weeds from coming up
Like with pests, tolerating a reasonable amount of weeds in your garden will help our environment. For example, why shouldn’t a lawn have daisies and dandelions in it? These flowers look nice and help pollinators.
Especially dandelions are a great plant for wildlife. According to the Wildlife Trust, over fifty species of insects use them as food sources. So having them in your garden will attract many of these little creatures, including bees.
So learning to live with weeds in your garden is vital if you want to practise eco-friendly gardening. Read our articles to find out more about eco-friendly weed control.
4. Provide Food And Shelter For Wildlife
You have probably heard the phrase “if you build it, they’ll come”. It means that if you provide wildlife with food and shelter in your garden, they will move in. And it’s true.
If you create different habitats in your own outdoor space, you will find that it will soon team with life and the biodiversity in your garden will increase, which is great for our environment. And if we would all do it, we could stop the decline in insect numbers.
Studies have shown that if we ensure our gardens are rich in divers flowers, pollinators would thrive. (Neumann et al., 2024)
So how can you make sure your garden is the right habitat for as many different creatures as possible? Let’s start with food.
Feeding Your Wildlife
You have to start small when considering how best to feed wildlife. Insects are at the bottom of the food chain, so if you cater for them, animals higher up the chain will follow.
Nectar and pollen are one of the most important food for insects. So having a good variety of flowers, wild and cultivated, will provide a lot of food for all sorts of bugs and other critters.
Many manufacturers who sell flower bulbs and seeds will tell you if they are good for wildlife in some form or another. It might say they are good for pollinators or wildlife friendly, so look out for these terms.
But it’s not just flowers: many insects will eat different things before they reach adult stage. Think of moths and butterflies as an example. Their caterpillars will eat leaves from different plants.
The best way to make sure you provide food for as many insects as possible is to leave a wild patch. Let nature do her thing as she knows best what wildlife needs.
Once a variety of insects are catered for, their predators will follow. This will include predatory insects, such as spiders, but also birds, bats and small mammals.
The more different plants you have in your garden, the more insects will find food and, the more wildlife will be attracted to it.
One thing that is important is to plant flowers and plants that will flower at different times. You want to provide food for wildlife from spring through to summer and until autumn.
We have a big ivy bush that starts to flower in late summer and will produce berries into late autumn. It’s a magnet for all sorts of insects when most other flowers have stopped producing nectar and pollen.
And don’t forget to also provide water. Especially in summer, when it doesn’t rain much, water is a scarce resource. Bird baths, ponds and dishes with water are all great ways to do that.
Housing Wildlife
As part of creating habitats for wildlife, you need to make sure they have places to sleep and bring up their young. Only then will they make your garden their home. Here are some things you can do to create shelter for a variety of wildlife:
- Create a wildlife pond – this will attract dragonflies, damselflies, amphibians and other water-loving creatures and provide a water source for all wildlife
- A pile of leave litter – placed in a sheltered corner of your garden, this can shelter all sorts of animals, including mice and voles
- Put up bird nesting boxes – these will attract different bird species to your garden including great tits, blue tits and house sparrows
- Hang up bug hotels – these cater for different insects, including solitary bees, butterflies and ladybirds
- Provide a pile of logs – they are a great place to live for many bugs and beetles
We have all of these in our garden, and it’s amazing how much wildlife we get. We even had to get a second bug hotel, because the first one was full within a few months. Now they are both full of solitary bee larvae.
Our wildlife pond houses at least three frogs, although they haven’t produced young just yet. And every summer dragonflies and damselflies seek it out to lay their eggs. As their young are fierce predators, we know that our pond must contain a healthy amount of prey for them.
5. Make Your Own Resources
Gardening needs a lot of resources: compost, mulch, water, fertiliser. And while you can buy all these, you don’t have to. Not only will this save you money, but making your own will allow you to keep your garden eco-friendly as you will work within its own resources.
All of the resources you use you can make without having to buy them:
- Install water buds to collect rain water – not only is rain water free, but it’s also better for your plants than tab water
- Start a compost heap – turn your kitchen scraps, weeds, crass clippings and plant parts into nutrient-rich compost
- Make your own leave mulch – rather than throwing autumn leaves in your garden bin, bag them up and make your own mulch to put on your beds in spring
- Create liquid fertiliser from weeds – many weeds, including nettles, make great liquid fertiliser to feed your plants in summer, and it’s easy to make
It might take some time to get everything set up and producing, but it’s well worth it, because you can avoid buying resources your garden needs.
If you do have to buy compost at some point, make sure it’s peat-free. Peatlands are capable of storing an enormous amount of carbon dioxide. According to studies, peatland degradation is responsible for 4% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. (Matilla 2024)
So we need peatlands if we want to combat climate change. Whenever you buy any compost, make sure it’s peat-free.
6. Grow Plants That Suit Your Garden
One thing we like to do is grow plants in areas or climates where they won’t thrive unless we use a lot of resources to make it work. Think about very thirsty plants grown in the desert. It works, but only if we use huge amounts of water, which is a very precious resource.
In our gardens we might grow certain plants in specific areas because we can see them from the kitchen window, and they look nice. It’s a natural instinct to make the garden work for us. However, often we work against nature by doing so.
Instead, we should look at the different areas, establish the conditions and plant what will thrive in these conditions.
There might be areas that don’t get much sun, so grow shade-loving plants. Sandy soil tends to dry out quickly, which can be difficult for many plants. But drought-resistant plants won’t have a problem.
Do you have areas that get waterlogged every time it rains? Grow bog plants that will love these conditions.
There will be a plant for any condition you’ll find in your garden. It’s just a question of finding it.
7. Reduce Waste And Plastic
You’d be surprised how many things you can reuse in your garden. Pretty much any container can become a plant pot. I have seen people use an old bath tub as a raised bed. And the fewer plastic plant pots you use, the better.
We all know how bad plastic is for our environment. One issue with plant pots is that the plastic degrades in the sunlight. This leads to them shedding microplastics, which end up in your soil. That’s not good.
Microplastics can change the soil composition, which can have an impact on the plants growing in it. It can reduce the amount of various plants being able to survive in the soil. (He et al., 2024)
So removing plastic as much as possible from your garden will help to keep your soil and plants healthy. It’s not an easy feat, especially if you have acquired a shed full of gardening tools and accessories over the years.
And some plastic you just can’t avoid, because everything today seems to contain this material. But what you can do is think before you buy and if you can reuse anything, do it.
There are also many eco-friendly gardening products out there that will help you get the best from your plants while also protecting the planet.
Another thing many gardeners do is sow a large amount of seeds. Inevitable, they end up with too many seedlings. While you could just throw them on the compost heap, you could also pass them on to friends, family or neighbours.
Or if you are entrepreneurial minded, why not put a little stand in front of your home and sell them. Add an honesty box, and you can make money without having to be there.
We do this with our strawberry plants. We already have so many that we don’t need any more, but the strawberries still send our runners every year. We push them into pots filled with soil, cut them off once they have taken roots and grow them on.
Once they have been established, they are ready to go to a new home. It’s also a great house-warming gift, especially for friends and family with kids.
Conclusion
Eco-friendly gardening is simply put, a way to garden that reduces your impact on our environment. Working with nature instead of against it, you can create an outdoor space that works for you as well as for wildlife.
Our gardens are a vital habitat for wildlife, and it’s important to realise that. There are many things you can do to make your garden sustainable, above all, leave wild areas, where wildlife can thrive.
We are far too keen on neatness and exactness when it comes to our gardens. But that just isn’t natural. And isn’t a garden full of birdsong and activity a much nicer place to relax?
Embrace your wild side and become an eco-friendly gardener.
