Best Plants for Eco-friendly Landscaping: Solutions for Common Problems

Is there drought in your area? Tired of buying pesticides and fertilizers? Try so of these eco friendly plants for your garden. First you need to identify any possible problems in your yard or garden. The initial and most common problems include invasive species of plants, irrigation, and erosion. These problems can all be solved by introducing the correct plants to your yard or garden. Most people go to greenhouses and purchase expensive plants with little attention to what is actually going to succeed in their garden. A healthy Rhododendron will look better than dying roses any day of the week.

I cannot stress this first point too much. Please pick species which are native to your area. This initial action of picking native plants will save you time, money and frustration down the road as well as probably being healthier. For a complete guide to planting native plants and locating nurseries near you which carry them, please visit http://www.plantnative.org/ the people at plantnative.org have set up a large database of nurseries all across the country which can help you and your gardening needs. In case you are wondering why it is so important to plant native species then here are the most common and logical reasons I know of, native plants have immunity to diseases in your area. Native plants also are accustomed to the average rainfall in your area and so they should require less irrigation, also native plants will be more accustomed to local insects and thus you will need less pesticides and fertilizers. If none of these reasons have steered you away from planting palm trees in northern Michigan then please check out the plantnative.org website and hopefully they can present a better argument.

Irrigation can be a large problem for those of us living in areas of slopping hillsides or steep mountains. Here in Appalachia one of the most common solutions is to level ground and in New Orleans one of the common solutions is to reclaim land by burying swamps. But this is not an eco-friendly method and as you will find out when gardening, it is much better to work with the land rather than against it. For centuries people have been cutting into hillsides and making terraced gardens, this method is much easier and much more efficient than attempting to level the entire hill. The use of old railroad ties or barriers can serve as retention walls for your garden and keep the hillside from slipping down. These can serve a particular function in areas where gardens have been established in areas of erosion, or where water flow has been diverted or increased and is thus causing unnatural erosion. Perfect plants for these gardens would be drought resistant and ground covering, such as Ivy. Ground covering plants will provide natural erosion resistance. However as always make sure your ground cover is native to the area. Japanese Cutsu is a ground cover which is taking over here in Kentucky and spreads like wildfire, the introduction of which is having massive consequences for some of our hillsides.

While I hate to harp on about native species, I really cannot say anything more important than that. For years I watched as people in my neighborhood planted the most beautiful species of plants and then spent hundreds of dollars, constantly watering them and fertilizing them and spraying them with pesticides. If you truly want to go the eco-friendly route and have an impact on our world, then please stop buying Miracle grow and pesticides. These unnatural solutions to natural problems will only cause more damage down the road. So please visit your local nursery or farmer's market and find some plants which will do your garden and wallet good.