University of Vermont Extension
Department of Plant and Soil Science
Winter News
Article
GREEN RESOLUTIONS FOR
THE NEW YEAR
Dr.
Leonard Perry, Extension Professor
University of Vermont
With
mention almost daily in the media of global warming and environmental
issues,
now is a good time while making resolutions for this coming year to
think
green. Here are several ideas how you
can practice “green gardening”, avoiding or lessening negative impacts
on the
environment. In some cases you may be
having a positive environmental impact.
Put
as little as possible into the local landfill.
Recycle cardboard, cans, and compostable materials. Wash and reuse
plastic pots, or return them
to your local garden store for their use if they have such a program
(if not,
perhaps you might encourage them to do so).
Using clay pots, where possible, avoids using plastic pots originally
derived from fossil fuels.
Start
a compost pile. Add to your compost
grass clippings, dead leaves, plant residues, and other organic
matter. Add vegetable kitchen scraps, but not meat
scraps. Use the compost to enrich the
soil and to improve plant growth. Make
sure you turn the pile often, and add the right proportion of
ingredients
(carbon and nitrogen sources), to ensure you get good quality compost.
Use
alternative controls for pests and diseases. These might include
biological
organisms. The pesticide Bt, made from a
bacterium that attacks specific caterpillars, is a good example.
Mechanical controls include such methods as
picking off beetles, and trapping slugs under boards or in beer.
Cultural controls include more spacing to
promote air circulation and reduced disease, or even proper mowing to
lessen
turfgrass diseases.
Apply pesticides and other horticultural chemicals
only as a last resort. When using, use
them prudently, read all label precautions and follow label
directions. Scout your susceptible plants at least weekly
for pests, and deal with them before they get out of control. Realize
that pests in low levels may do
little harm. Diseases may be a result of
poor culture. Look for disease resistant
varieties. When using chemicals, choose
least toxic ones. A diversity of plants,
even some weeds, can promote beneficial insects. Using pesticides may
kill them.
Store any pesticides properly, and dispose of old ones
or empty containers safely. Keep them in
areas or cabinets where children and pets can’t get at them, or spill
them by
accident. Have materials such as kitty
litter and plastic bags handy in case they do spill. Check with local
waste disposal facilities on
proper handling to dispose of old chemicals and empty containers.
Use cover crops and mulches instead of
herbicides. Minimizing tilling of soil
and disturbance, or using no-till, will keep weed seeds from reaching
the
surface where they germinate in the light.
Cover crops and organic mulches keep weeds down, as well as adding
valuable organic matter to soils.
Synthetic weed barriers are good around annuals, trees, and some
shrubs,
but not perennials (they keep them from their natural spreading). Keep
in mind some of these fabrics need mulch
on top to keep them from breaking down in sunlight.
Use fertilizers only as needed. Use organic forms if possible and
available. Good compost and organic
matter in soils lessens the need for fertilizers. Synthetic
fertilizers can add pollution to
waterways if overused, and require fossil fuels to manufacture. The
natural gas used to manufacture 200 bags
of lawn fertilizer would heat an average home for a year. Each
40-pound bag of fertilizer contains the
fossil-fuel equivalent of 2.5 gallons of gasoline. Get a soil test kit
from your local Extension
service office. Test your soil yearly if
possible, and different areas of your landscape if they have different
crops
and culture. You may find you need to
add little if any fertilizer, or only certain ones.
Other ways you can lessen your impact of gardening on
the environment include mowing properly, developing a landscape to
minimize
mowing, using “green” tools and equipment that don’t use fossil fuels,
conserving water, installing a rain garden, choosing landscape plants
to
minimize maintenance, using landscaping to reduce home energy use,
creating
wildlife habitats, and planting trees to provide oxygen and reduce carbon
dioxide. Perhaps you can think of some
more?
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