There are so many ways you can use your garden to get ‘greenie points’, it would take a book to talk about them. If you’re a bit slack with recycling, drive your car to work or forget to turn off your lights sometimes, gardening is a brilliant way to do some serious carbon trading.
Not only is a garden friendly for the environment, but it can make your life a lot more comfortable AND give you an outdoor living area you’ll enjoy spending time in. Now I realise that time is a precious thing to most people, so I’ve come up with a few ideas that don’t require too much ongoing maintenance. Incidentally, April is the ideal time to do these things.
Plant a tree.
I don’t mean a big gum tree – they grow too big for most suburban blocks – but a medium-sized tree will give you shade and structure and offset some of those greenhouse gases we all contribute to. Deciduous trees may be a good option as they will provide shade in summer, yet let light and warmth through in winter.
For Australian plants, which may be best suited to our climate and rainfall, there are some lovely small and medium sized trees including Acacia Spectabilis – the Mudgee Wattle, with beautiful golden pom pom flowers and delicate grey green leaves – and the Eucalyptus Torquata – the Coral Gum, with vibrant flowers and fascinating buds).
Make a compost bin/pile.
People seem to think that compost will smell bad, take up too much room, or be too hard. Not so – a good heap of compost will include kitchen scraps (not meat), lawn clippings, dead leaves, newspaper and should smell sweet. It will break down beautifully, and provide you with mulch for next season’s garden beds.
Reduce your electricity bill.
Does your bedroom face west? Or your living area? Do you hate it when you come home from work and your house feels like an oven? Strategically planted shrubs and bushes will help cool down your house, stop the curtains from fading, and make burglars think twice about breaking in through that ‘Bouganvillia-protected’ window. Plant Australian natives, such as the Albany Woollybush or the Albany Banksia, Banksia Coccinea outside your window and you’ll have the pleasure of watching birds at play while keeping yourself cool.
Prune to let the heat in.
As the cooler weather approaches, it is time to prune back some of our hardwood plants, let more winter sun in on those cold days and reduce the heating bill a little.
Turn the reticulation off?
April is a time when you need to consider the water use in the garden carefully. Perth had less than 3mm of rain in March, so unless April showers kick in we may need to keep the water up to our gardens for a little bit longer. It’s also important to take some time to make sure your reticulation is working properly – an inefficient or damaged system can waste a lot of water.
Lawns in particular are quite thirsty – the average lawn will require 20mm of water a week and may require reticulation for a little longer yet. While a lawn might cool down the areas around your house and provide valuable recreation space, with increased water restrictions always a possibility in the future it may be also worth considering a lower water use alternative.
While we’re talking lawns though, April is the right time to fertilise your lawn. If you’re using a commercial fertilizer, don’t give your garden any more than the directions on the packet tell you – it will just run into the river and upset the eco-system for fish and birds.
Build/buy a pond.
I’m a big fan of having water features in gardens, and the right kind of pond will attract frogs, birds and all manner of interesting insects. It also gives you a chance to play with a whole different range of plants.
Happy gardening in April. Prune, plant some bulbs and winter annuals, fertilise your lawn and try some of the eco-friendly things I’ve suggested. Your garden will love you for it.
Ruth Wykes
