I'm not just writing about this in an attempt to give the shortest history lesson ever; I'm also introducing Eco Home Resource to the one and only International Sunflower Day! Ever since the "Guerilla Gardening" movement came to flourish, May first got a very sunny makeover. How exactly does one garden guerilla-style?
Caring for your yard can be more than pure labor - it can be an expression of yourself, a never ending art project. You can embrace new trends to spice up the patio furniture. You can get imaginative with household items to create decorative and pragmatic additions to the porch. You can even build homes for the critters that grace your garden with daily visits. The best thing is, we can reuse and recycle to completely re-think the backyard.
Making sure your garden is happy and healthy, there are several things to consider when adding nutrients to your plants...
Neem oil can be an effective and affordable method of pest control for those individuals looking to rid their garden of harmful insects without any adverse chemicals.
As the tumultuous reports continue to surface surrounding contaminated fruits and vegetables in super markets, many consumers and homeowners are taking initiative and beginning to start their own organic garden. Planting and maintaining an organic garden can be a rewarding, as well a delicious, experience.
Composting. A term you hear getting thrown around by eco-experts on a regular basis but can be achieved by anyone. Combining all your yard trimmings and food wastes with a bulking agent will allow it to stabilize over time and create something nice and earthy, a type of soil that can be used for your garden and lawn.
Like gardening but don't have the space for it? Grow one on your roof! While this is unfortunately not possible for everyone, green roofs are wildly popular in places like the UK and Germany and are picking up speed in...
Instead of using metal, plastic, and glass to build our bird feeders, we can now use wood to make a just as beautiful bird feeder that will last for years.
Worm composting is a great and low-maintenance way to put nutrient-dense organic matter back into your garden's soil, while simultaneously cutting down on waste that ends up in landfills.
Light pollution is a reference to the photons created by artificial sources which are "wasted" or otherwise have lost their direct use and instead escape into the night. Gazing across any nighttime cityscape, millions of point sources of light can be identified, each contributing to the regional light pollution, photon-by-photon. Is something as benign as flipping on the lights at night really a source of pollution on par with the myriad of chemical pollutants we face on a daily (or nightly) basis?
A favorite activity of many guerrilla gardening groups around the world, making seed bombs is a fun way to expedite the planting of flowers and veggies around your home and community. They don't take long to make, and they can be planted while walking, cycling, or even driving!
A great way to take some of the guess work and maintenance out of gardening-- while simultaneously making your garden more eco-friendly-- is to choose native species when selecting what to plant in your plot.
When you live in a big city, one of the last things you expect to hear is the distinct clucking of a chicken flock amongst the sounds of traffic and people. However, chickens can provide fresh eggs daily, and can even help with the maintenance of your flower or vegetable garden.
For the city dweller or adventurous gardener, cultivating mushroom logs can be a great alternative to growing fruits and vegetables in the home.
Greywater irrigation can enable us to not only reuse an increasingly precious commodity, but also to improve our lives, homes, and gardens.
Many people that garden already have a composting system in place but are unaware that using tap water to irrigate the garden can account for more than 30% of a home's water consumption.
There are many ways to raise a vegetable garden and those with a green thumb should look into building a greenhouse if they have the space. Having a greenhouse can extend the growing season, leading to more benefits and less energy drain caused by buying supermarket produce, as well as open up a larger selection of what you can grow. With homekits widely available, it's actually quite easy to set one up.
Many people are growing their own vegetables and flowers, contributing to the environment by cutting down their carbon footprint and improving oxygen quality but there is a big debate among horticulturists over the use of peat moss in the garden. This soil conditioner may not be as renewable as many people think and much of the evidence suggests that we should avoid using peat to help preserve our shrinking wetlands.
Over the last 4 years there has been a dramatic decline in the bee population throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. The die off, known as Colony Collapse Disorder, has killed about 30 percent of the hives in the United States over the past four winters.
If you are planning on growing a veggy garden this Spring and Summer, raised garden beds are a great choice. They minimize the weeds, offer good irrigation and you will have fluffy, rich soil for healthy plants. The raised bed will also help to control the temperature of the soil, creating ideal conditions for your plants.
Creating a garden oasis in your backyard, or just having a yard that isn't a barren waste land of weeds and broken concrete, can be challenging on a zero budget. But I am determined and I am looking for creative solutions.
Springtime looms just around the corner, and growth and renewal are the themes of the season. Flowers and plants are sprouting and blooming, and gardening may be a favorite leisure time activity in the coming months. But for those of us without a backyard or our own little piece of land to grow on, gardening may seem like an impossibility. Fortunately, there are ways for everyone, in small spaces, apartments and with no access to a plot of soil, to cultivate your own herbs or vegetables at home.
Few things can compare with the feeling of walking out on a warm summer night and picking fruit from trees you've grown and nurtured in your own backyard. While many people dream of having fresh fruit at their fingertips, most don't realize how simple it is to set up a mini-orchard. Regardless of if you have a giant field or a mattress-sized plot of lawn, there are a variety of options for people who want to grow their own fruit.
It started out as the occasional weed wacking every other weekend in my yard, but now I'm a woman on a mission! I have a deadline and I'm getting down to work!
If you are thinking about starting or expanding your garden this season and looking for more knowledge and a bit of inspiration? Check out these garden transformations by Gardenerd.
Deborah Tull balances education with hands-on activity in her workshops, insisting that "You can only develop your learning through experience, rather than being book-bound." Learning to conserve water, build and maintain healthy soil, and naturally deter pests will only serve you well with practice, so absorb what you can...then go play in the dirt!
Organic gardeners work in harmony with the natural environment, and have a responsibility to create and maintain healthy soil--replenishing what is lacking and nourishing it with organic matter. Organic gardening is a not a new practice, it is a paradigm shift that will change your approach to the environment.
According to NASA research, placing simple house-hold plants such as the Ficus, Golden Pothos, or Bamboo Palm in your home with a fan could have extraordinary (and affordable) air-purifying results!
Making cement creates carbon dioxide, a lot of it. If you are planning to renovate your house or add on to it, consider using concrete mixes or pre-fabricated concrete modules that use less traditional cement or lower carbon cement. These products are also innovative in the way they add recycled paper and glass to create unusual and unique textures and coloring.
This is the second part of an article on recycled rubber tire products and how their use in sports, recreation and landscaping may be a health and environmental risk because the rubber releases harmful substances.
Rubber tires are being recycled into garden mulch and fill for synthetic turf. There are growing concerns about the health hazards this poses because studies have shown the man-made rubber releases substances that are suspected or known carcinogens as well as zinc, lead, mercury and cadmium. Proponents of recycled rubber tires stress that there is a zero to low health risk. Both sides see the need for more extensive studies that consider a wider range of factors as well as fuller picture over time starting before application of the recycled tires.
Green walls, aka. vertical gardens or living walls or green facades, are a marriage of function and aesthetic. They are usually striking, sometimes marvelous, and almost always very beautiful.
Xeriscaping is a Latin portmanteau for 'dry-scape'. The term was originally conceptualized with drought-afflicted land in mind. Xeriscaping is a landscaping technique which effectively and significantly reduced water waste, sometimes by 50% or more.
Whether beginning a garden, bettering a garden or mastering a garden, fertilizer, mulch and compost are helpful, if not necessary in providing your garden with added protection and essential minerals. In order to properly care for and maintain a healthy garden, it's important to understand how fertilizer, mulch and compost affect your garden's health.
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is the nationally recognized benchmark for the design, construction and operation of green buildings. There are LEED standards for new construction and existing building maintenance, commercial interiors and schools, retail spaces and healthcare facilities and - you guessed it - for your home.
Though their vampiric tendencies may seem purely sadistic, mosquitoes don't subsist on blood-lust; the blood is important in necessitating the development of the eggs in female mosquitoes; the bite simply feeds the cycle of propagation. So those red bumps on your skin have borne more than your irritation.
Whether you have a window box for herbs and flowers or a garden that merits its own zip code, we all face the same challenge: How do we keep our gardens healthy and pest-free in an eco-friendly way?
Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in a tour of the original Eco-Home in Los Angeles, California. The home is a wonderful example of a living Eco Home. The owner of this adorable home is Julia Russell. Julia conducts tours throughout the year of her home, taking people through some of the decisions she has made to make her home more eco-friendly.
Artificial lawns have reached the point where they look and feel much like real grass, and combined with the effortless upkeep, they are becoming an increasingly attractive alternative to natural lawns. But, are they eco-friendly, or will installing an artificial lawn harm the environment?
Drip irrigation is a cheap, easy to install irrigation system that uses much less water than a conventional spray irrigation system and is the smart, eco-friendly way to water your home garden.
Cynthia Kiktavi Design specializes in creating beautiful and eco-friendly outdoor living environments that meet the architectural elements of the home and the design styles of her clients. She is also the southern California representative for an innovative artificial grass product.
Did you know that using a traditional gas-powered lawn mower for an hour produces as much air pollution as a new car driving 350 miles?...
By using plants that are indigenous to one's climate zone you can reduce energy and water waste, saving you money. This will also create a regional diversity, allowing the area you live in to have its own personality.
Water conservation is something that ought to be on everyone's minds these days. Drought, and shorter rainy seasons combined with overuse and waste is almost a recipe for disaster in this day and age.
Aside from the fresh herbs, veggies, and beautiful flowers, managing your own garden can be beneficial in several other ways. Kelly Lerner highlights some of the best
Are you in the process of building or remodeling, or do you just want to get rid of those old warped linoleum tiles in your kitchen? Thanks to the boom in eco-friendly products, there is now a myriad of flooring options that are beautiful, functional and good for the environment. You might be wondering how to start selecting the right flooring solution for your particular project.