Mary Hiller, executive director of MedExpert International, likes to spend some of her free time gardening. Mary Hiller often grows vegetables, and considers sustainable crops an important element.
Sustainability for home gardens often expands organic gardening practices. Common initiatives to make home gardens more sustainable include composting, sustainable maintenance practices, and plant choice.
Composting, whether by raking leaves over the garden, or using compost bins to dispose of food waste, helps enrich soil. This returns nutrients to the dirt, reduces waste, and improves the quality of plants.
Using sustainable maintenance methods promotes a healthy ecosystem. Cultivating between plants with a long hoe, for instance, reduces the incidence of weeds and aerates the soil, reducing the need for chemical herbicides. It also includes manual weed control, and controlling pests through beneficial insects, promoting overall ecosystem health.
Choosing plants that thrive in one's own climate helps reduce the environmental cost of gardening. Gardeners who choose regionally appropriate plants need fewer soil additives and less water.
