Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for the EcoBeneficial Gardener
1. Reduce or eliminate your lawn – it’s an ecological desert.
2. Focus on increasing the health of your soil – it’s filled with life! Compost is king for most soils, not fertilizer.
3. Eliminate synthetic pesticides, herbicides + fungicides. Use organic counterparts sparingly, if at all.
4. Support beneficial insects with appropriate native plantings. They are nature’s pest control.
5. Plant for a succession of bloom throughout the growing season to support native bees and honey bees. Bees are critical, keystone species.
6. Emulate nature in your garden – use local wild areas as your reference.
7. Plant the right plant in the right place. Don’t put sun-loving plants in the shade, moisture-loving plants in dry soil…
8. Remove invasive plants and replace them thickly and quickly with regional native plants.
9. Tolerate some messiness in your landscape to support wildlife. Check out all the critters living under a dead log!
10. Boost the ecosystem in your landscape by planting a diversity of regional native plants.
Best wishes for a happy and ecologically healthy 2014!
From Kim Eierman at EcoBeneficial!
Photo: Ruby-throated hummingbird nectaring on Campsis radicans (Trumpet Creeper)
Photo credit: Flickr_Kelly Colgan Azar
6 Comments
More from EcoBlog
Another Challenge to Honey Bees – You Can Help!
Backyard beekeeping has risen dramatically in the U.S. Unfortunately, in many areas there just aren’t enough nectar and pollen plants to go around to feed all the hungry honey bees. The result: starving honey bees or bees that seek out any sugary substance close at hand, in order to survive.…
Read More
Great Native Plants for Hummingbirds: What Are You Growing?
Want hummingbirds? Skip the feeder (or add to it) and grow some of the native plants that hummingbirds favor. Hummers particularly love red tubular flowers, so make sure to include some. Here are some hummer favorites: Native Perennials and more for Hummingbirds Agastache foeniculum (Anise Hyssop) Aquilegia canadensis (Canada Columbine)…
Read More
Benefits of a Blanket of Snow in Your Garden
Love it or hate it, snowfall in winter is a reality for most of the country. EcoBeneficial is in the “love it” category. Here’s why: Snow as Insulator Snow is not only beautiful, but a blanket of snow acts as just that – a natural blanket of insulation for your garden…
Read More
Hello Kim –
Thank you for your continued helpful advise – I love everyone of your postings.
Happy and healthy 2014 and success with all your plantings.
Cheers –
Helga
This is a great list! Happy New Year, Kim.
Thanks Phyllis! Hope you will share the list with Bee City USA followers. What is good for bees is good for the environment!
Thanks for your support Helga! Best wishes to you for a happy and “green” new year!
Best wishes for the New Year from neighboring Tuckahoe – unfortunately i cannot keep bees- against village regulations……
I love your 10 New Years resolutions and while I already do some (lawn!!_ i shall try to do all of them in 2014.
Thanks Susanne! Good to hear that you will be adopting even more “green” resolutions. Every bit helps. Even if you can’t keep bees, you help tremendously by planting for honey bees and native bees. Happy New Year!