Calgary Garden Coach

garden design for sustainable and kid-friendly gardens in zone 3

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Pages

  • My Services
  • Garden design
  • Sustainable gardening
  • Gardens for kids... and adults

Categories

  • Captivating combinations (246)
  • FAQs (51)
  • favourite plants (38)
  • favourite quotes (4)
  • garden coaching (59)
  • Garden design (109)
  • garden makeovers (42)
  • Gardens for kids (68)
  • Media (8)
  • Monthly tasks and tips (143)
  • my Adventure Garden (73)
  • my back Shade Garden (50)
  • my Butterfly Potager (46)
  • my Edible Gardens (66)
  • my front Entry Garden (47)
  • my front Shade Garden (22)
  • my front Welcome Garden (56)
  • My garden projects (182)
  • my North Patio garden (11)
  • my Side Garden (22)
  • Other gardens (18)
  • Other resources (81)
  • Plant calendar (393)
  • seeds (56)
  • Sports (1)
  • Sustainable gardening (117)
  • the off-season (46)
  • winter interest (69)
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Sustainable gardening

For me, sustainable gardening means planting plants that will do well in their location with minimal care, in order to have a positive environmental impact.  This means:

  • planting drought-tolerant plants, or at least placing moisture-lovers in wet, shadey locations where they won't need excessive watering,
  • mulching to keep weeds down and to minimize water evaporation,
  • grouping plants with similar sun, soil and water requirements together,
  • not planting invasive species,
  • minimizing water- and fertilizer-guzzling lawns,
  • using compost and other organic sources to feed the soil, and
  • not using synthetic fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides. 

You could also interpret "sustainable" to mean not requiring too much work from the gardener!! Planting plants where they will naturally flourish will achieve this.

After

This is what a low-maintenance garden could look like in Calgary.  This garden was in the fall of its first season, so it will look more full and lush in future years.  Look for more posts under "Monthly tasks & tips" for more ideas, and comments on plants featured in the "Plant calendar" category to help you choose plants that are right for your site.

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Archives

  • August 2014
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Links

  • The Garden Professors
  • Rosalind Creasy Edible Gardening
  • Grounded Design
  • Gardening Zone 3b
  • Gardening Gone Wild
  • Garden Buzz with Nora Bryan
  • Blogs and Blooms with Donna Balzer
  • A Way to Garden
  • Adair Tree Care
  • Garden Girl (Urban Sustainable Living)
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