Eco-Friendly, Organic and Natural Tips for your Backyard Garden

I LOVE having my kids out in the garden, enjoying nature and experiencing the joy of growing things. I believe teaching them a respect of nature, and an understanding of their environment whilst they're young is so incredibly important!

We have a very small urban backyard, but still manage to grow quite a bit of green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, a range of herbs, lemons, mandarins and other bits and pieces. There are birds and small animals that come to spend time in our little oasis…. And we LOVE spending time in our little piece of GREEN too!

I try to keep our garden organic and completely free from nasty chemicals. Some of what I do is what my parents and grandparents did in their backyards, and some came from things I discovered along the way.

Here are my favourite 6 QUICK and EASY changes that you can make in your backyard to make it more ECO-FRIENDLY, and a wonderful place for your kids to spend their time playing and daydreaming!!

1.    Got a snail or slug problem? Collect your eggshells leave them out to dry for a couple of days and then simply crush and sprinkle the shards around your plants. Snails and Slugs have soft, sensitive little bellies and they hate the scratchy feeling of the eggshells... so they won’t go near it and will slink off to find a new home. We’ve gone from snail city, to zero snails using just eggshells… The kids LOVE getting into this one too!! I can’t remember the last time I’ve to do it myself…. but then again, we do have some rogue eggshell shards in the grass! J

2.    Compost…. I LOVE to compost! It’s so easy and my garden LOVES me for it!! People may say my method is wrong and that you need a compost bin (and compost bins are great!!)…But, I live in the city and have a very small yard where space is at a premium. The compost bin we had took up way too much space…. So now, I just dig a little hole in the garden and bury my fruit and veg peelings in the hole and cover it back over with soil. Six to eight weeks later it’s composted. I have rich, healthy soil full of worms that my plants truly LOVE! Just be sure not to bury any onions or citrus, as the worms don’t like them!

3.    Got weeds? Don’t go for a nasty chemical spray…. just pull them out by hand regularly to keep them under control. I use a weeding stick with a hook on the end to help get the roots up…it’s so much faster! If your weeds are between pavers and hard to pull out, try spraying them with white vinegar or pouring boiling water over them. If they are super stubborn, break the top off the weed first and then spray it with white vinegar. My big one LOVES spraying the pavers!!

4.    Have a wooden outdoor setting? Consider a natural oil this year, rather than one of the chemical ones. My big one LOVES to help us oil the outdoor setting with her paintbrush…. It’s a weekend full of fun and mess (and last year we had a bit of brown grass as it had so much oil spilt on it), but the outdoor setting still looks great a year later! Always give your outdoor setting a good brush off with a stiff brush to remove any dirt etc. first. If it’s really dirty, I’ve used a little dishwashing detergent in a bucket of water when I’ve scrubbed it down, rinsed it off with the hose, and then left it to completely dry in the sun before I oiled it.

5.    Plants need a boost? Opt for the natural fertilisers like chicken poo or cow poo if you can…. but realistically, living in the city, they can be hard to get hold of!! Seamungus is my favourite go-to option for when I can’t get hold of some poop. It’s seaweed based and my plants LOVE it! There are also other seaweed options available and seaweed does do wonderful things for your soil… my camellias and gardenias thrive on it!! I’m sure some of you are wondering, why can’t I just collect some actual seaweed from the beach? Well, I’d LOVE to do that from a natural, I LOVE my organic garden perspective…. but, it can un-balance the beach/ocean eco-system and it's actually illegal in some areas. So if you want to go 100% natural with some beach seaweed, I’d check with your local council to see if it’s legal in your area first.

6.    Is your vege patch needing constant watering? Grab some sugar cane mulch and spread over your garden bed. It will help the soil retain water and you won’t need to water your vege’s as often. The sugar cane mulch will slowly break down and become organic matter in your soil. I like to give the garden a good drink before I mulch and I mulch at the beginning of every Spring.

I hope at least one of these 6 is new to you…. Get the kids out in your backyard and give one of these natural, eco-friendly garden ideas a try….. I’d LOVE to hear how you go!! xxx

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