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Urban Gardening for Sustainability

Recent studies suggest we are now experiencing the planet’s sixth mass extinction event. This is a period of rapid loss of species over a relatively short period of time.

It can be difficult for individuals to act to reduce further losses but we can help by growing a diverse range of species in our backyards, working with others to produce wildlife corridors and advocating for government action.

Freshly picked garden vegetables in a crate.

Urban Nature & Sustainability

There is a lot more than just planting trees to being sustainable. We need more and better quality green open spaces and these need to be distributed equitably within cities.

Everyone should have access to trees and urban greenery. This can be in the form of street trees but also verge gardens, green walls and roofs, rain gardens, sports grounds and, of course, parks and gardens.

Sustainable Gardening

The SGA provides an excellent overview of the benefits of sustainable gardening and we’ll be writing in detail about this over the coming months.

Edible Gardens

Growing your own vegetables is one of life’s great pleasures, especially for us urban gardeners who might have limited space and opportunities to get our hands dirty.

A well-planned edible garden can provide fruit and vegetables for your entire household and potentially for family, friends and neighbours.

With a suitable climate and adequate space, you can become almost self-sufficient with a backyard veggie patch but where that’s not possible, you can at least supplement your groceries with homegrown food.

Wildlife Gardening

Wildlife gardening involves creating gardens that attract local wildlife. This can mean pollinators like bees and butterflies but can also refer to birds, lizards or even bats and possums.

Attracting wildlife is often achieved by planting native and indigenous plants which can include trees, shrubs, herbs and ground covers.

Composting

Urban gardening can also help mitigate climate change. Composting is one of the main ways we can reduce methane emissions. Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide and is 25 times more potent.

Food and other organic waste releases methane when it decomposes in landfill. By composting food and garden waste we can significantly reduce methane emissions and of course, the end product can be used to add nutrition and organic matter to your garden.

Additionally, emissions occur when our waste is picked up and delivered to landfill or recycling centres. Any composting we can do at home equates to emissions avoided.