Go Green with Natural Yard Care
Our gardening choices have an impact on things we care about, including the health of our families and pets, and the preservation of natural resources and wildlife. Natural yard care choices for landscape design and maintenance will transform your yard into a beautiful, healthy refuge, while reducing waste, potentially harmful storm water run-off, and the amount of garden chemicals and water you use. Go natural with these five steps; you’ll save money and have more time to enjoy the beauty in your yard.
- Build healthy soil
A successful garden starts with healthy soil. Soil contains food, water and air that is needed by plants to grow. The healthier the soil, the more nutrients a plant can soak up. Take care of your soil and it will take care of your plants.
- Plant right for your site
Choose plants that fit the conditions in your yard and give them a good start. Plants grown in the right conditions thrive without a lot of care, water, fertilizer, or pesticides.
- Practice smart watering
Giving each area of your garden just the right amount of water is the key to growing healthy plants with less work. Watering too much or not enough grows weak plants that are vulnerable to pests and diseases. Wise watering reduces maintenance needs and saves valuable water for people, salmon, and other wildlife.
- Think twice before using pesticides
Healthy gardens provide their own natural defenses against pests and diseases. Good gardening practices help plants outgrow many weeds and other problems, and even attract good bugs that eat pests. When pests become a problem, natural pest controls protect the bugs, birds, and other predators that control pests—and are also safe for people, pets, and wildlife.
- Practice natural lawn care
Building healthy soil and watering properly can help grow a beautiful, healthy lawn that outgrows most weeds and other problems with less work, water, fertilizer, pesticide, and waste.
To learn more:
- Explore the Bellevue Botanical Garden’s Waterwise Garden to see natural gardening in practice.
- Get hands-on experience by joining the Waterwise Garden Volunteers
- Dig into details. Pick up Bellevue’s free Natural Gardening Guides in the Garden’s Visitor Center Welcome Room. Additional resources and online versions of these “how-to” guides are available at Bellevue’s Natural Yard Care website.
