Sustainable Gardening

Some strategies to ensure your garden is:

Low maintenance         Sustainable             Regenerative in nature

Low Maintenance

This means that the garden can be left for periods without constant attention.  This is achieved primarily through the use of various mulching techniques and the creation of micro climates using multifunction trees and plants such as:

Glyricidia Sepium (mother of cocoa) is a multifunction tree.  Its most significant use in some places is as a ‘living fence’.  Cuttings can be planted just a handspan apart and the lower branches woven together as they grow.  The tops are constantly pruned at about a metre high and the trimmings used as green manure or compost.   If left to grow naturally it will grow up to 4 metres with a wide branching crown, it will produce large bracts of lilac colored flowers at the end of the dry and the seed pods can be gathered and need to be planted immediately as the seeds to not remain viable for long. 

Moringa is another multifunction tree.  It is a very useful food source as the leaves both fresh and dried contain a wide range of vitamins and minerals.  Flowers are also used raw in salads and attract bees.  The pods when young are used for curry and when the pods are left to dry the seeds are used for oil.  The leaves are a very useful soil amendment used as green manure mulch and compost accelerator.  The young leaves can also be gathered, crushed and mixed with water and used as a foliar spray for stimulating plant growth.  Moringa trees will grow very lush when watered well, especially if the leaves are frequently harvested the re-growth is 

Both these trees are useful in creating micro-climates to protect more delicate plants.  They can be left to grow tall and lush during the hot time and when cooler weather comes or the angle of the sun changes the foliage can be harvested and shaded areas opened up as required.  It is therefore important when planting to consider the angle of the sun at the during those times when other plants need protection.

Lemongrass is an edible crop, used both for the stem in cooking and the leaves for making a refreshing, calming tea. however, it has several other significant uses.  As a border to raised beds it helps contain moisture in the soil and hold the shape of the bed, it also insulates raised beds made of materials like steel or plastic that hold in heat.  The roots break up hard soil and once it reaches a certain height the leaves can be chopped and dropped as mulch or used as a carbon source in compost.

Vetiver grass can be a commercial crop where the roots are harvested for essential oil.  In a similar manner to lemongrass it can be used to hold the shape of raised beds and keep moisture in the soil as well as breaking up hard ground.  The leaves are very useful as mulch and when used as a border to a vegetable bed or fruit tree can be chopped and dropped in situ thus eliminating the need to buy or carry mulch from one place to another.  It also helps to create the protection of a micro climate for young trees or seedlings.  It is really important in sloping sites and areas of high rainfall in preventing erosion and holding soil.

Regenerative in Nature

Regenerative gardening is a way of preserving and increasing the life in the soil through;

·      natural methods of fertilizing, 

·      increasing soil biodiversity and carbon content,

·      increasing the water holding capacity and

·      protecting the soil from excesses of heat and cold and extreme weather events such as fire and flooding.  

This is achieved primarily through nurturing the soil with a diversity of plants that perform different functions in the life of the soil.  It is like maintaining our own health through eating a diversity of foods that in total provide all the nutritional needs for our bodies.  If we ate only chips and sausages our bodies would not function well, when we eat a balanced diet our bodies are happy.  It is the same with the soil it requires a balanced ‘diet’.

An important aspect of regenerative gardening is not to disturb the soil unnecessarily.  There is life in the soil, threads of mycelium, colonies of bacteria and microorganisms etc.  However, care must be taken not to allow the soil to become compacted.  Therefore, beds should be of a size that the center can be reached easily without walking on and compacting the soil.  When weeding it is useful to cut the weeds at ground level instead of pulling them out.  When weeds are cut low the roots rot and this allows oxygen and water to penetrate the ground gently.

Sustainable

A sustainable garden is one that achieves a high level of productivity with a minimum of energy – both human and mechanical. 

 It can reach maximum biodiversity through the careful use of resources many of which are created within the system.  Specifically, the trees and grasses mentioned above that provide ongoing, self-renewing support to the soil and the environment.

It functions on the minimum use of water by using techniques that hold water in the soil and allow maximum penetration of available moisture.

The ‘garden’ is not an end in itself, its structure and components are established to ensure that it will continue to function as a natural system with a minimum of human activity

An important element of a sustainable garden is the use of local plants that not only provide food and medicine but will encourage birds and insects into the garden.