How To Make Your Garden More Sustainable

How To Make Your Garden More Sustainable

It's important to be as sustainable as possible in every aspect of your life, even when gardening. Although gardening may just be a hobby to some and a way to use nature for our own purposes, there are ways in which you can give back to your local environment. But where do you start when it comes to making your garden more sustainable? In this blog, our sustainable homeware experts from Northern Willow are going to discuss how to make your garden environmentally friendly with a few simple steps.

So, how do you make your garden more sustainable? There is a myriad of ways you can make your garden more sustainable a few of them include but are not limited to: 

Read on to find out all about how to make your garden more sustainable and how Northern Willow's range of sustainable, stylish basket ware can help you do this.

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How to Build a Sustainable Garden

Why is Sustainable Gardening Important?

Sustainable Garden Basket FAQs

How to Build a Sustainable Garden 

Sustainable gardening can be a daunting task, especially if you are new to it, it can take more time and consideration than regular gardening. You should regularly evaluate the impact you are having on the environment through the products you use, the species you are planting, and even down to the tools used to maintain your garden. We’ve highlighted in more detail below the first simple steps you can take in building a more sustainable garden:

Create Compost From Recycled Materials

Compost is a huge part of gardening; it helps improve the health of your soil by helping it to retain moisture and nutrients. Compost needs three main elements which can all be made using sustainable materials:

• Brown- These are carbon-rich materials which can include items such as fallen leaves and branches.
• Green– These are nitrogen-rich materials, including used vegetable and fruit waste, grass clippings and even coffee grounds.
• Water- It’s important to have the right amount of water to create healthy compost - try collecting rainwater instead of the stuff from your tap!

Use the perfect combination outlined above to create your own sustainable and free compost. You could routinely add these to a large bin, and with the help of time (and a few worms) you could have your own ready made mix!

Make Homes For the Wildlife

It's not only the plants that we’ve got to care for, but also the wildlife that lives in our own backyard! You could make a beehive, a bird box and even little bug hotels to give the local wildlife a little helping hand, particularly if the area you live in doesn’t provide many green spaces. This in reverse can even help your garden thrive with more bees, which means more flowers getting pollinated and a more diverse ecosystem within a garden can help produce cleaner water and air for the local environment. Get creative with making your bug hotels, you could use a range of twigs, leaves, and sticks, or you could reuse an old wicker basket!

Grow Your Own Fruits and Vegetables

Growing your own fruits and vegetables not only means that you have an array of delicious, fresh and free food available to eat, but it also means that you will be helping the environment. When you buy products from supermarkets or shops, you are in turn contributing to the emission of fossil fuels. Greenhouse gasses are burnt when importing foods from other countries into your local supermarket. To make sure you get the freshest and most in-season fruits and vegetables growing in your garden, check out this guide on the best time to plant certain fruits and vegetables from lovethegarden.com

Sustainable Wicker Baskets for Planting 

Sustainable baskets are incredibly versatile and a great way to add a touch of sustainable style to your garden, balcony or front door space. Outdoor wicker baskets can be used for both planting and for storing your tools. Wicker is a great, sustainable material to use for baskets as they are often made from sustainably sourced materials, such as our collection at Northern Willow, with ethical practices taken in every step of their production. So you can not only be sustainable in the products you are planting, but also in what you are planting them in.

Why is Sustainable Gardening Important?

It is a common misconception that the actual act of gardening is sustainable enough, and to a certain extent, it is - but only when using the right products. Sustainable gardening has so many positive impacts for both the local and wider environment which include but are not limited to:

• Reduces carbon emissions- the more plants we grow the more carbon dioxide can be absorbed out of the air.
• Helps to benefit endangered species- sustainable gardening promotes a biodiverse ecosystem in the garden which can act as a point of refuge for endangered unique species who may not thrive in a typical garden.
• Reduces the spread of weeds- by planting species that are native to your environment, you can prevent invasive species from unnecessarily growing and harming the local biome.

Sustainable Garden Ware At Northern Willow 

At Northern Willow, we offer a range of handmade, sustainable baskets to add stylish storage for both outdoor and indoor areas around your home. We’re proud to offer a range of timeless wicker baskets made from a range of sustainable materials including water hyacinth and rattan. 

From garden ware to elegant kitchen storage and more we have baskets to suit anyone's needs. Providing basket ware that is both stylish and eco-friendly we have something for everyone with free UK-wide shipping. Explore our site to find out more about our beautiful range of sustainable, handmade baskets.

Sustainable Garden Basket FAQs

What Is a Plant Basket Called?

There are multiple names for a plant basket, however, they are most commonly known as planters, flowerpots, plant pots. Baskets used to carry plants around the garden or to forage are usually called Trugs.

Will a Wicker Basket Last Outside?

Despite being made from natural materials, we recommend only putting wicker baskets that are specifically designed for the outdoors for the outside. If you use a regular wicker basket outside and it is left to get wet or damp it can grow mould and mildew and eventually over time break down. If you are struggling with mould on your wicker baskets, why not read our recent blog? - ‘How To Clean Your Wicker Basket & Top Tips For Making Them Last’