Climate-Friendly Gardening Practices

As a home gardener, you can be an important part of the solution to climate change by using climate-friendly practices. Sustainable gardening and landscaping techniques can dramatically reduce carbon emissions, conserve water, and slow warming by increasing carbon storage in the soil.

How to Create a More Climate-Friendly Garden

These climate-friendly techniques will help you produce an abundant, healthy, earth-friendly garden. 

• Reduce emissions and inputs. Use more human power, instead of gas-powered equipment.
  
• Protect & improve soils. Help store carbon by keeping soils covered. Make compost from yard waste and food scraps and use cover crops to recycle nutrients and reduce erosion.
• Use water efficiently and manage stormwater. Mulch garden plants, use drip irrigation and rain barrels, and create swales and rain gardens.
• Make your garden friendly for pollinators and beneficials insects. Reduce pesticide use.
  
• Choose climate-friendly landscaping. Learn about alternatives to lawn. Plant to reduce the need for home heating and cooling, etc.

Additional Resource

• (PDF) The Climate-Friendly Gardener