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Eco-friendly garden - Great Dixter

Firstly what is eco-friendly gardening? Well, to me it is creating a garden that feels
naturalistic, wild, humming with life, while using sustainable resources and being
respectful of all the elements that make up a garden. It means considering the
interactions taking place between the plants, creatures, water, soil... encouraging
beneficial organisms, the garden’s allies, and repelling its enemies. In other words,
putting life first... and resorting to the use of garden’s commercial napalm
products only when you absolutely have to.

I’d highly recommend reading an article in Garden’s Illustrated (https://www.gardensillustrated.
com/feature/great-dixter-astounded-ecologists), which talks about this incredibly bio-diverse
ecological garden - Great Dixter (pics below & right). Eco-friendly gardens can be some of the
most beautiful in the world! This list began as a brainstorming exercise, and ended up being, well ...
still a list, on all the ways I can think of to be eco-friendly in the garden.
1. Conserve species: both creatures and plants, especially critically endangered, vulnerable or rare
like the Hoodia, Orbea and Adenium species, Ansellia africana and other Eulophia orchids.

2. Use indigenous species - as they are necessary in the life cycles of other creatures and
are able to withstand the local climate, with low pesticide or fertilizer needs.

3. Ensure minimal contamination to your environment of rubbish, toxins, or pollution
4. Low pesticide use/Organic alternatives like Neem oil/Use of Pest repellent plants

5. Remove and dispose of invasive plants from your garden so that seed is not spread
6. Use Organic fertilizers, home-made compost, mulch, and sustainably sourced alternatives i.e not Peat

7. Practice water conservation: waste water use, use of drought tolerant plants, rainwater harvesting