Eco-friendly gardening might seem like a daunting task, but with a minimal amount of preparation, it’s actually quite foolproof. Mark Campbell, whose garden will be featured in this month’s Edina Eco Yard and Garden Tour, says that he learned how to incorporate eco-friendly elements in his all-organic garden using the trial-and-error method, often relying on Internet-based research and experience as an apprentice in sustainable agriculture. By taking a few small steps, you can conserve resources while enhancing your garden space and leaving it poised to thrive.
Choose Low Maintenance, Hardy Plants
For a start, Campbell recommends plants that are hardy enough for Northern zones, don’t require intense pest control and won’t deplete the soil of nitrogen. He is fond of gooseberry and black currant, attractive bushes that are not tempting to squirrels and birds. He preserves the fruits to make jams, syrups and sauces, and pulls them out of the freezer when it’s time to make holiday pies.
He also favors low maintenance perennials like peonies, day lilies (he uses the edible day lily petals in simple green salads) and hostas in his plot. Because he has plenty of shade, he’s become somewhat of a hosta buff, as a member of the American Hosta Society who hosts more than 550 varieties in his garden.
Chemical-free Pest Control
As the chef at Beaujo’s Wine Bar & Bistro, Campbell is strongly motivated by his love of food in choosing what he grows. Since he also wanted fruits that could be eaten in hand, he has been working on several varieties of apple trees, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, plums and more. These choices pose a greater pest control challenge, since ready-to-eat fruits like the apple are especially prone to pests. One natural solution is to bag each apple with a nylon sack that supplies aeration and sunlight but keeps the apple maggot away.
Campbell also works with Surround WUP, a spray made with kaolin clay that protects the leaves, however, leaves a silver film on nearby plants like the hostas below. Maintaining a chemical-free garden has been a laborious undertaking, but one of the benefits he enjoys is the attraction to toads, dragonflies, butterflies and other insects that are nurturing to the garden.
Dianne Plunkett Latham, Chair of the Edina Energy and Environment Commission, former president of the Edina Garden Council and a member of the Eco Yard and Garden Tour, says she doesn’t mind the appearance of the Surround WUP product, which she also uses. “Gardeners are always trying to get silver-leafed foliage for contrast; this is a way to do it.”
Between the spray and the nylon bags, she had a successful apple yield last year that lasted her through March. The nylon bags double as a solution for pests on her hybrid tea roses. Her other solutions for treating pests include insecticidal soap and a Murphy’s oil soap mixture that treats insects like Japanese beetle bugs and aphids. She also opts not to spray her lawn, and doesn’t fret when she sees a bit of stray clover or violets in her grass.
Mulch, Mulch, Mulch
Both Latham and Campbell are strong proponents of mulching in the garden, even in the vegetable patch, to hold in moisture and cut down on weeds. They don’t send away fallen leaves, but rather stockpile them to use as mulch. Campbell breaks down unwaxed cardboard boxes and paper bags and lays them in the garden to decompose, rather than putting them out on recycling day. He also buys a mulch of ground pine needles, made by a company in Waconia, which doesn’t break down as quickly or discolor like traditional mulch and cuts down on slugs that would normally find a home among hostas.
Composting
Reusing food waste is another way to enrich the garden. Campbell has a system of vermiculture (worms that he ordered from an online supplier), which serves as the destination for all of the food scraps from his kitchen. The castings are used to fertilize the soil. For him, the low maintenance pets have come to be an inexpensive and enjoyable hobby.
Latham has found another way to put her kitchen scraps to work, by saving all of her eggshells, which she grinds in a blender and disperses among the hostas to discourage slugs, and the peonies, which benefit from the calcium.
Saving Water
Water conservation is an integral part of eco-friendly gardening (see our sidebar on water conservation for simple ideas on how to reduce water consumption). The Lathams have a pretty extensive drip irrigation system, which is a bit more of an investment. While Campbell doesn’t have anything this elaborate, he hand waters the entire garden. It’s more efficient than using a sprinkler system because he can discriminate toward the areas that need water the most and doesn’t lose water to evaporation. He also likes the way he is able to check in on everything in his garden, often making discoveries along the way.
Edina Eco Yard and Garden Tour
Sponsored by the Edina Energy and Environment Commission (EEC)
Sunday, July 31st, 1–5 p.m.
Purchase tickets in advance at Edina City Hall or on the day of the tour at the home of Dan and Dianne Latham, 7013 Comanche Court.
Tips from a Master
Water Conservation Tips from Scott Weicht, member of the Eco Yard and Garden Tour, whose home features a 2,500 gallon rain water capture system:
1) Start small with a classic water barrel placed on the end of a downspout, a first step toward water conservation that requires little investment.
2) Measure how much water you use by fastening a meter on your garden hose. It will help you determine how much water is needed from a conservation system to support your yard and garden.
3) Do your research online. Weicht used the Internet to implement his water tank and rainwater filter and ordered most of his materials online, including a pump similar to the water pump used at lake cabins. He uses a combination of recycled rainwater and city water to meet his watering needs.
