Want to grow a sustainable garden, but not sure where to start? These easy tips will get you on the right path.

Growing a sustainable garden means paying attention to how your gardening practices impact the environment, and choosing to use eco-friendly options in your garden.

However, beyond just using organic growing methods, sustainable gardening also means keeping an eye on the big picture, and treating your garden as a living part of the ecosystem and the planet. It means nourishing your soil and the microbes it contains. It means finding ways to minimize pest damage by using naturally occurring predators, companion plants, and other environmental aids, rather than resorting to simply killing the offending pests.

Above all, growing a sustainable garden means recognizing and respecting the natural environment around you, and working within it to grow a garden that is healthy and contributes to a healthy planet.

Whether you are wanting to start a sustainable garden for the first time, or incorporate some more sustainable practices into your current garden, this article shares 15 simple ways to get started:

1. Practice Sustainable Garden Design

When you’re thinking about getting into sustainable gardening, it’s a good idea to incorporate resource-conserving practices in your garden in order to protect your plants and soil. There are many water conservation and soil preparation practices that you may incorporate into the design of your garden to make it more green and reduce its impact on the environment.

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2. Compost Your Green Waste

One of my favorite sustainable gardening practices is composting — the recycling of your food and other natural waste to be used as organic fertilizer. Instead of throwing away your dead leaves, flower heads and grass clippings, you can compost them into a nutrient-rich, organic fertilizer for your garden. This will make your soil richer and your produce healthier and more delicious.

3. Save Your Seeds

When your flowers and vegetables have matured, they’re going to produce seeds before they dry out. Collect these seeds and store them in a cool, dry place. You can use these seeds in the spring next year to grow your plants again. You can start from the easier seeds to save such as tomatoes, peas, beans and pepper and work your way up from there.

This will save you tons of money on buying new seeds annually.

4. Celebrate the Natives

Native plants are those plants that grow naturally in your region. It’s easier to grow and sustain these plants because they’re already suited to the rainfall, soil and climate in your region. Native plants require less effort and even less water to maintain and grow. Moreover, by growing native plants you will also be helping in the preservation of the birds and insects in your area by providing food and shelter for them.

5. Say No to Herbicides

It’s best to use sustainable methods to maintain your garden. Instead of using chemical herbicides you should use organic methods to control your weeds and pests. Weeds may be pulled out directly by the good ‘ol method of getting down on your knees and pulling them out … it’s not only greener but it’s great exercise for you as well.

6. Use Beneficial Insects to Get Rid of Pests

Beneficial insects are nature’s perfect way of controlling pests without using harmful chemicals. These insects eat up caterpillars, mites, aphids and other bugs that consume plants, and the best part is that they’re completely harmless to pets and people.

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7. Mulch, Mulch, Mulch

Another important technique that gardeners can employ to create low-maintenance, healthy gardens is mulching. Mulching has a multitude of benefits:…

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See the full article at 3Tags.org for more tips…