Change the World on Earth Day: Plant a Garden

Friend of mine went out to the yard a few weeks ago to enjoy some early spring warmth and sunshine. Unfortunately, the lawn company had just sprayed the place with the poisons used to create an unnatural perfection. My friend ended up seriously ill for almost a month. It's unprovable, but there's no doubt it was a reaction to the chemicals poured on the yard.

Honor Earth Day tomorrow by firing your lawn company (yes, even the ones that claim to be "green." If they're spraying anything other than compost tea on your lawn, it's poison. All chemical fertilizers, weed-killer and pest-killers are also made from petroleum sold by mooslin terists.)

Organic lawn care is easier, healthier and far, far, FAR cheaper.

Or make it really easy, healthy and cheap by turning that unproductive grass into delicious, fresh organic vegetables or gorgeous flowers.

If you plant heirloom flowers and vegetables, you need to buy seed only once - save the seeds and plant them again next year. The best source is Seed Savers Exchange.

You don't even need an actual yard. Try container gardening on your porch, balcony or roof.

As I wrote two years ago:

This year, try thinking beyond the usual annual borders and weeded-and-feeded grass carpets.

How about maintenance-free groundcovers that never need to be mowed? Some have tiny flowers or a pleasant scent.

Instead of annuals you have to drive to the garden center to buy and replant every years, flowering perennials are more expensive up front, but once established keep blooming for years. Check the UK Horticulture Department, or your local Cooperative Extension Office, for ideas.

Or try native wildflowers and wildlife habitat gardens through the Salato Wildlife Center's Native Plant Program, or global-warming-fighting native shrubs and trees. Outside Kentucky, your local Cooperative Extension Office can help.

For great alternatives to lawns, plant lists, step-by-step instructions and fabulous photos, try the most popular gardening magazine in the country.

The key, and the first step, is to stop thinking of your yard as something that has to be maintained, and start thinking of it as a place to be enjoyed.

Not to mention saving the planet.

Cross-posted at They Gave Us A Republic ....