The Climate-Friendly Gardener

From the Union of Concerned Scientists:

As temperatures start to drop around the nation, the time has come to wrap up your home garden and prepare for next year. Most gardeners will be planting bulbs for next spring and taking steps to protect perennials from harsh winter weather over the next few weeks. But did you know that actions you take now can also help in the fight against global warming?

Tracey Payton, a horticulture educator from Norman, Oklahoma, offers this tip on how to be a climate-friendly gardener.

“Mulch is a great way to protect bare soil, and most importantly for the climate-friendly gardener, it can help prevent carbon loss. Uncovered soil is vulnerable to releasing more carbon than it stores. Mulch also has other benefits, such as protecting against temperature fluctuations that can damage plants, suppressing weeds, and reducing moisture loss and soil erosion. Using mulch can be as easy as an additional 2-3 inch layer of compost or straw in the garden; in the flower bed, cotton seed hulls, bark mulch, or wood mulch can be used. Do only keep mulch about 2-3″ deep and away from perennial plant stems to prevent rot and other moisture problems.”

More climate friendly garden tips here at climatefriendlygarden.org, or download The Climate Friendly Gardener:

Tip #1: Choose low-emission garden products and practices
Gasoline-powered garden tools are major emitters of carbon dioxide (CO₂), the primary global warming gas. But emissions can also come from unexpected sources such as fossil fuel-based fertilizers and pesticides and peat-based potting mixes. Use electric or push mowers, rakes, and other low- or no-emission tools, compost, and natural pest-control methods.

Tip #2: Don’t leave garden soil naked
Stabilize, build, and add nutrients to garden soil that would otherwise remain bare by planting winter cover crops such as grasses, cereal grains, or legumes. In addition to preventing erosion and keeping weeds down, they add carbon to the soil when they are turned under in the spring. Peas, beans, clovers, and other legumes convert nitrogen from the atmosphere into natural fertilizer.

Tip #3: Plant trees and shrubs
Because of their size and long life span, trees and large shrubs remove more heat-trapping CO₂ from the atmosphere than other plants. As an added bonus, well-placed trees offer summer shade and protection from winter winds, reducing emissions associated with home heating and air conditioning.

Tip #4: Recycle yard and food waste
Organic waste decomposing in oxygen-poor landfills generates methane, a heat-trapping gas 23 times more potent than CO₂. By contrast, composting this waste in the presence of oxygen minimizes methane production. Composting also produces a nutrient-rich soil amendment that reduces the need for synthetic fertilizer while helping soil store more carbon.

Tip #5: Make your grass “greener”
Lawns absorb carbon from the atmosphere, but some studies suggest that this climate benefit may be undercut by heat-trapping nitrous oxide emissions related to fertilizer use and generous watering. While there is no scientific consensus yet on the climate impact of lawns, you can make yours as climate-friendly as possible by choosing drought-tolerant species, mowing high, watering during the coolest part of the day, and leaving grass clippings to fertilize the soil (and add extra carbon) naturally.