This is about more than doing something positive for the environment on the 22 April, rather it is all about gardening in a way that honors the spirit of Earth Day on every day of the year. So the emphasis is on growing native plants, planting flowers to attract pollinators and doing your best even if this amounts to a small container if this is all you can accommodate. These ideas come from an article by Amanda which I found on the American Meadows website.
As Earth Day approaches on April 22, we?re getting excited to celebrate and do something positive for the environment. But lately we?ve been talking about how to garden every day like it?s Earth Day. What does this mean? For us, it?s putting in effort throughout the season to help our local pollinator population with native and easy-to-pollinate plants. It’s eliminating the use of harmful pesticides and generally thinking about how our gardens positively ? or negatively ? affect the earth on a daily basis.
So this Earth Day, although we’ll celebrate, it will be more of a continuation of the type of work we?re doing in our gardens all year long. And we truly hope you?ll join us in this initiative to garden like it?s Earth Day everyday.
Milkweed is essential for monarch butterflies’ survival.
Go Native (As Much As You Can)
We like to add as many native plants as we can to our gardens, paired with other non-native, easy-to-pollinate varieties so we can offer up habitat, breeding grounds and food for pollinators all season long.
Why plant native? There are dozens of reasons to add plants that are native to your climate, but we?ll focus on two of our favorite. Native plants have evolved in your region to survive, which means they want to grow in your garden! Native plants often require less maintenance, water and fertilizer than non-natives. This is a tremendous help to both the gardener and the environment.
Swamp Milkweed and Butterfly Weed are great natives to add to your garden to help support the struggling monarch butterfly population. Milkweed is essential for monarchs in that it provides breeding grounds and food throughout the entire span of their lifecycle.
It has been proven that native plant species are better at supporting pollinators and local wildlife in your area, including bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and more. Studies show that even a small increase in native plants in one garden can help boost the number of pollinators and wildlife visiting that area.
I am a keen gardener and so created Garden Pics and Tips for people who love gardens and enjoy great pictures of plants and gardens. Also covered are practical tips on all aspects of gardening.
