Did you know that the carbon footprint of the average American is20 metric tons?
如果这一数字让你颤抖，你可能会想知道你如何降低自己的碳足迹。一些生活方式的变化比其他生活更难 - 不是每个人都住在一个环境中，他们可以在他们可以为自行车交换汽车。
然而，大多数人可以减少碳足迹的一种方式是启动一个可持续的花园。
创建可持续花园并不比任何其他花园更困难，对园丁和环境都有众多好处！
有10种方式，您可以将可持续园艺合并到您自己的后院，查看我们的导轨！
1. Composting: The Foundation of Sustainable Gardening
One of the most basic ways that you can create a sustainable garden is by including a compost area.
Whether you choose to have a compost bin or simply a plot for a pile, composting is a great way to encourage the growth of healthy bacteria in your garden and eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers.
Composting is easier than you may think. Instead of throwing out grass clippings and your fruit and vegetable waste, simply set them aside and toss them in your compost bin or pile.
2. Natural Pest Control
谈到可持续园艺时，您将希望尽可能多地消除许多有毒化学品。
这是easy to reach for harsh chemicals when you have a weed problem or a pest outbreak, but these often end up damaging your plants and can hurt beneficial bugs and other wildlife.
许多可持续的害虫控制公式可以在家里制作。
For example, gardeners can make agarlic pepper tea sprayin their kitchen to combat harmful insects.肥皂喷雾are also gentle enough to use in your garden but still take care of pests.
3.改变你的割草方法
气体供电的割草机是危险的空气污染。
To increase sustainability in your garden, choose an electric lawnmower. Even better, use a manual lawnmower.
Manual lawnmowers work best if you maintain your garden well.Manual mowersare not good at chopping down long grass, but frequently mowing will lessen the burden of weeds and overgrown areas anyway—it’s a win-win!
Push mowers are also much more inexpensive than gas-powered mowers, and you won’t have to pay for gas refills in the future.
4. Mulching
这是important to note that if you mulch your garden, it’s only sustainable if you choose a biodegradable material.
Mulching lowers the number of weeds that will sprout in your garden, which means more of the soil’s nutrients are going towards your plants.
Mulching also helps to retain the moisture in the ground, which means you won’t have to water your garden as often. Mulch helps regulate the temperature of the soil, too, protecting your plants from frost in the winter and preventing them from overheating in the summer.
覆盖可以过度，不同的覆盖物比其他区域更好。如果您是覆盖的新手，最好在覆盖覆盖花园之前咨询专家。
5. Save a Trip to the Grocery Store: Grow Your Own Food
生长你自己的有机食品是了解更多关于您所待养殖的植物的好方法，同时也使您的花园更可持续。
Growing your own fruits and veggies saves you a trip to the grocery store as well.
By not buying produce at the grocery store, you’re eliminating the resources it’d take for that food to travel from its source to your table.
6. Plant Native
When choosing plants, make sure you are choosing varieties that are native to the area.
侵入性植物物种可以伤害他们正在入侵的生态系统，自然物种会遭受他们的手。
这是also wise to opt more towards perennial native species, as you won’t have to constantly be pulling up annuals and replanting them each season. This will cut down on the resources you’re using in your garden. Plus, perennials will become heartier with each passing season.
7. Collect Water
Saving water while keepingyour gardenwell-hydrated is always a concern when it comes to sustainable gardening.
一种方法来确保你能够在不使用过量的自来水的情况下充分水的方法是通过收获水。
射出铲斗收集雨水是一种简单的方法。如果您有房间，请将容器放入浴缸中以在淋浴期间捕获多余的水。然后，在达到软管之前，可以将这种水挽救并使用。
8. Plant Trees
环境中的树木越多，越好，右？
树木减少了大气中的碳量，它们是保护花园里的其他植物的好方法。
Trees provide shade for sun-resistant plants in the summer, and they help to let in sunlight in the winter. They can also be planted strategically to cool off your home in the summer months.
9.从现有植物中收获
Continuously buying new plants every year will eventually take a toll on your wallet, and it’s less sustainable than harvest from your preexisting plants.
If you have a flourishing garden, it’s much easier to collect seeds and cuttings from your garden to use for the next season.
无论如何，修剪是任何园丁的必要条件，所以你可能会策略性地削减并拯救一些扦插并继续发展它们。种子可以从各种植物中收获并从头培养。
10. Repurposing
购买容器和花园道具可能是一项昂贵的任务。
一种避免这种方法是通过重新修复您在家里已经拥有的事情。很多人使用toilet paper rollsand empty milk jugs as planters for seedlings.
Damaged kitchenware, like bowls or mugs, can be used as pots for larger plants. Wheelbarrows that no longer function well can be used as large planter beds, and they will fit right in with a rustic garden aesthetic.
The Journey to Sustainability
这是not always possible to create a 100% sustainable garden overnight.
If this is your situation, map out a gameplan and work your way towards a more and more sustainable garden.
这可能意味着通过在使用软管的同时在您的大部分浇水时生长起来，这可能意味着开始。最终，您可以开始收获水并使用它来水合您的花园！可持续园艺是每个园丁都应该努力的目标。
有关园艺和可持续性的更多条款，请查看我们的其余部分！
