Many people don’t fully realise it, but the fight against climate begins in your home and in your garden. We often think of our climate crisis as a problem for others to solve. But while governments and big business have to play their part, there is also a lot that we can do as individuals. Collectively, our small actions can add up to make a big difference.
In this article, I want to discuss some of the key ways that you can help to mitigate climate change in your garden. Many of the problems that we face, we can begin to tackle by gardening in a responsible, ethical and eco-friendly way.
Fight Climate Change By Cutting Your Carbon Footprint
When trying to work out how you can fight against climate change in your garden, the first thing to look at is how a garden can help you cut your reliance on damaging systems, and reduce your personal impact on people and planet.
Growing Your Own Food
One of the most obvious ways that a garden can be used in cutting carbon footprint is in food production. By growing at least some of your own food at home you can cut your reliance on food systems which contribute to our climate crisis.
Growing your own food year round, which is easier if you have a polytunnel or other undercover growing area, means that you can reduce the out-of-season, imported produce you purchase. Such produce carries a high carbon cost – both in terms of its cultivation and its transportation. So growing as much of your own food as you can is the greenest option.
Growing Other Resources
As well as thinking about food, it can also be useful to think about the other resources that a garden can provide. From fuels, to fibres, to dyes, to crafting materials, to herbal medicines – we can derive many of the things we need from the plants that we grow.
Thinking about growing plants in our gardens which provide not only the food we eat but also other resources can help us reduce consumption. And reducing our consumption in general is one of the best things we can do to live in a more sustainable and eco-friendly way.
Of course, gardens that are well designed and well managed can also provide the resources required for their own maintenance and enhancement over time. We can make use of the things our gardens provide to keep them healthy and productive.
We can compost, make paths, bed edging, plant supports etc. from local, natural materials. And we can mulch and make organic fertilizers, companion plant and rotate crops to optimise yields and improve plant growth. And these are just a few examples.
Wiser Water Use
The way in which mains water is provided often means that we don’t think all that much about what it takes to bring it to our taps. In a garden, we can reduce the negate carbon impact associated with excessive or unthinking water use, and truly learn to value fresh water and use it wisely.
We can collect rainwater, and direct and manage it in the best possible ways to reduce the carbon cost and other problems associated with unwise water use. Also, we can use ponds, bog gardens, rain gardens or other water features to catch and store this precious resource. And we can use wise water management to foster excellent biodiversity, and create systems that can sustain us and other life over the years to come.
Reducing Waste
Through gardening, we can reduce waste in a range of different ways. By growing our own food, we can reduce food waste in broader food systems. And by learning how to use, preserve and store the food we grow, we can prevent food waste at home. Food waste is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, so the more we can do to prevent it, the better.
Composting is one key way in which gardeners prevent waste. So if you do not already compost at home, you should set up a system right away.
In our gardens, we can also make use of items that would otherwise have been thrown away. Rather than buying new, we can remember that old adage that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. In creating and managing and maintaining our gardens over time, we can use and value not only natural but also reclaimed and reused materials. This is one more way to reduce overall consumption and live in a greener way.
Sustainable Garden Purchases
We can also make sure we fight against climate change in our gardens by making sure that we buy the right things when we do have to buy things. For example, we can reduce plastic use wherever possible and avoid short lived or disposable plastic items and plastic packaging.
We can also help make sure that we do not contribute to the destruction of vital carbon sinks by making sure we garden peat-free.
Fight Climate Change By Sequestering Carbon in Your Garden
As well as thinking about how the steps we take in our gardens can help us cut our personal and household carbon footprints, we can also think about how we can draw down carbon in our gardens. As gardeners, we can take steps to maximise the carbon that is sequestered in our gardens, and keep more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Planting Trees, Shrubs and Perennials
Of course, the power houses of carbon sequestration in any garden are trees. Trees catch and store carbon as lignin in their trunks, branches and roots. These large plants are particularly effective in carbon sequestration. So planting a tree or two, or even more in your garden can be a great way to go.
But trees are not the only plants which can aid in trapping more carbon in your garden. Shrubs and woody plants like bamboos can also play an important role – and will also remain in place in your garden over the longer term.
In addition to planting trees and shrubs, we should also think about planting herbaceous perennials – especially those with deep and woody roots which are especially useful in keeping carbon locked up. Gardeners will often focus on typical annual crops. But growing a wide range of perennials can also provide you with bountiful food and other resources, while also sequestering more carbon in your garden. Perennials of all kinds will remain in place, helping to trap carbon for many years to come.
Taking Care of and Improving the Soil
In gardening in an eco-friendly and sustainable way, soil care and soil management is key. Soil holds four times the amount of carbon stored in the atmosphere, and more than is held in vegetation. So how we care for the soil in our gardens is even more important than what we choose to grow within it. Soil can act as an effective carbon sink and offset a significant proportion of man-made carbon dioxide emissions annually.
No dig methods, mulching and minimising disruption and compaction, can help make sure that the soil contains and holds onto as much carbon as possible.
Are you doing your part and fighting climate change in your garden? Share your experiences or suggestions with us below.
