What better way to help save our planet and “Go Green” then to start in your own backyard? Not only will you be helping Mother Nature by being environmentally friendly, but you can receive therapeutic benefits as well. Physical, emotional as well as spiritual well-being benefits can be attained from enjoying and having a garden that can also be your backyard sanctuary.
There is a much needed trend which is gaining momentum to have eco-friendly solutions to insects instead of spoiling your garden with pesticides and other chemicals that have a detrimental effect on our environment.
Take your clue from Mother Nature as you look around for natural solutions for the environment. Birds love snails and slugs and other insects that we would consider pests in our garden. Hang nesting boxes, bird feeders, houses and bird baths to encourage our fine feathered friends to your garden.
Use beneficial insects to naturally find the undesirable pests. By providing mulch and leaves, you will encourage ground beetles and wonderful earth worms which will aerate your soil and consume many of the detrimental insects. Also by adding vegetable and fruit peelings, worms will appear and break this down into compost that can be used as top dressings for your container plants. Use containers for medicinal herbs.
Allow some of your vegetables to go to flowers which will attract the bumble bees, allowing for the pollination process to begin.
Use a container with a lid to catch rain water. The lid will allow you to open it when it is raining and then keep the lid on to avoid a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other contaminates. Rain water is great for watering plants and seedlings and especially for those plants that do not like lime or chlorinated water.
One annoying insect problem is fire ant mounds. Try boiling a large quantity (two-three gallons is optimal) of water on the stove and without disturbing the mound, pour onto the nest. This will kill many of the ants and the queen as well and you are not using destructive pesticides to do it. Other chemical free ideas for ants include fire ant sticky traps that can be used around plants and flowers.
Make sure that small holes and cracks around your home are caulked to provide a barrier for ants. Diatomaceous earth is a powder that can be liberally spread around your home or garden. This dusty substance damages insect
exoskeletons and kills them, but is perfectly fine for the earth.
Encourage your kids to be Earth conscious at an early age. Make Earth Day everyday. Teach them to recycle and use Earth friendly practices at home and in the garden. Children learn by example and what a wonderful example then to provide your children with ways to have a safer environment.
Visit my website for garden accessories, gifts, organic fertilizers, hammocks, bird feeders, houses, baths, inspiration and much more. Sign up for my FREE newsletter with eco-friendly tips and product discounts. http://www.enchanting-garden.com
Have a great nature photo or story of your child that you would like to post? Send to ladybug@enchanting-garden.com for consideration.
for information on natural healing, please visit
http://www.SynergisticCenter.com
Sue uses her love for nature and the environment through her garden décor site which emphasis healing with nature. She has always been a proponent of using natural methods whenever possible. So, when the opportunity became available to use natural therapeutic therapies to help individuals achieve a return to wholeness, she pursued this path and became certified as a Healing Touch Practitioner. Sue has published many self-care articles and ideas for creating your own backyard sanctuary on-line. Sue teaches Care for Self and Subtle Body Energy classes at a local career College and has helped conduct workshops with local hospitals and hospice for caregivers. She is in private practice in Louisiana. She is available for distant healing sessions. For more information, articles and useful links about energy healing, please visit www.SynergisticCenter.com