Sustained With Simplicity

By Joel M. Lerner
Saturday, March 3, 2007

In just a few years, sustainability has changed from a "What?" word to a buzzword. People are recognizing the threats to our resources -- water, air, soil, forests -- as evidenced by the tremendous public response to the recent documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," which won an Oscar this week. We can't sustain our planet, much less ourselves, with current practices.

It's a common human response to a huge potential disaster to say, "What can I do? I'm only one person."

Fortunately, there are many things each of us can do in our own living spaces that, taken cumulatively, can make a difference. The solutions are relatively simple, and they're not especially new. Sometimes it's simply a matter of thinking differently about how you're doing things.

The landscape is one place where many people and institutions have done a lot of work based on the principles of sustainable gardening, also called permaculture. Among them are Ben Haggard, a master gardener, teacher and consultant in the Southwest whose 1993 book, "Living Community: A Permaculture Case Study at Sol y Sombra," details his work on the garden of that name in Santa Fe, N.M. And, closer to home, Hundredfold Farm, just west of Gettysburg, Pa., has developed a manifesto of landscape goals for the member-owned community, where 14 homes are clustered on an 80-acre site in a way that's designed to preserve its rural character.

You don't have to give up aesthetics to go green at home. Some activities might have to be performed in a new way, but you will gain knowledge about yourself, your site and your community. You will be rewarded with a deeper and richer garden experience.

Based partly on some of the guidelines offered by Haggard and by Hundredfold Farms, and partly on some of the practices I employ, here are 10 ways you can establish a healthier, happier garden as well as help preserve and renew the Earth.

· Promote sustainability. Use plants, trees and shrubs that are native to your area and already thrive there. The primary advantage is that they have adapted to the growing conditions and shouldn't need extra water or nutrients. Keep the soil in good condition with homemade compost and mulch. Collect rainwater for use in the garden. Search out Web sites that offer information about indigenous plants. Locally, check out the Maryland Native Plant Society at http://www.mdflora.org, and the Virginia Native Plant Society, http://www.vnps.org. Garden centers and cooperative extension offices can also recommend plants.

· Control use of pesticides and herbicides and use on-site materials. Employ natural remedies such as soap sprays, weeding and hand removal. Use the least toxic methods of control. Encourage beneficial insects such as ladybugs and parasitic wasps. Research the techniques of integrated pest management and use them in your landscape. Recycle organic plant material on your property. Compost it. If plant material is diseased, bag it and send it out with the trash. Leave grass clippings and fallen leaves on the lawn.

· Re-create natural beauty. Use an informal style, with free-form beds and curving paths. When possible, use local materials for fences and structures and local stone for walls, paths and patios. Coordinate plantings for 12-month interest, such as spring-flowering bulbs and trees, summer-flowering perennials, fall fragrance and leaf color, and winter flowers and interesting bark. Make vegetable beds as beautiful as flower beds by training them on trellises, arbors or other structures, and mixing in beneficial flowers, such as marigolds. Include herbs and vegetables that have a variety of leaf colors. Use berms and swales to vary the elevation.

· Encourage diversity. Plant a variety of plants and allow plants, birds and insects to have a place. A landscape should not be a still life, but a dynamic habitat for wildlife. Urban gardeners need to be careful not to attract undesirable critters. Contain compost, limit birdseed and keep water features clean.

· Use and preserve land appropriately. Lots of people are proud of their broad green lawns, but unless you live on the prairie, turf grass can be a greedy master. If you want golf-course-type turf, it can require lots of water, chemicals to keep it healthy and energy to keep it mowed. The permaculture solution is to plant less turf and more flowers and useful plants. Trees for fruit, shade and carbon dioxide reduction, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers are all more desirable than grass. Use all spaces for plants, including patios, porches and balconies. Plant window boxes.

· Use less energy. Make the most of collected water to irrigate the garden. Disturb the land as little as possible. For example, heavy machinery uses gasoline. Create berms for sound protection and privacy. Plant swales to reduce rainwater runoff, which can cause water pollution. Use shade plants to reduce cooling costs and windbreaks to reduce heating costs. Use muscle power and not horsepower as much as possible. Even small devices, such as hedge trimmers, use nonrenewable energy.

· Increase food production. Plant more fruits and vegetables so you can "eat locally" and seasonally, and decrease the need for food to be transported all over the world. Plant berry bushes and nut trees. Visit farmers markets and farm stands in season. Increase food supplies by using greenhouses, cold frames, root cellars and harvest succession to expand growing seasons.

· Make garden chores more valuable. Instead of pulling weeds, mowing the lawn or shearing with hedge trimmers, use that time to compost, mulch, plant and harvest.

· Educate yourself and others. Learn the major environmental problems in your neighborhood and region. Find out what the solutions might be and how you can help. The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay ( http://www.alliancechesbay.org) has been an invaluable resource in this area.

· Take responsibility. Reduce your imprint and let nature have a larger role. Investigate community resources, such as community gardens. Evaluate the practices you use in your garden and decide whether they are environmentally responsible.

Joel M. Lerner is president of Environmental Design in Capitol View Park, Md. E-mail or contact him through his Web site,http://www.gardenlerner.com.