Our gardening practices at the VegHeadz garden have changed as our awareness of our environmental impacts has increased. There are two overlapping types of gardening for those who want their gardens to be environmentally friendly which are similar, but distinct—sustainable gardening and regenerative gardening. Sustainable gardening aims to do no harm and maintain current conditions. Regenerative gardening goes a step further and seeks to actively improve and restore ecological health, making the garden a positive and integral part of the surrounding environment.
Sustainable gardening focuses on creating and maintaining a garden that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. Practices promoting garden sustainability include:
Resource Efficiency: Using water wisely, selecting drought-resistant plants, and employing rainwater harvesting systems.
Soil Health: Maintaining soil fertility through composting, mulching, and minimal use of synthetic fertilizers.
Biodiversity: Planting a variety of species to promote a balanced ecosystem and attract beneficial insects.
Waste Reduction: Recycling garden waste and avoiding single-use plastics.
By implementing these practices, sustainable gardening aims to minimize environmental impact, conserve resources and promote long-term ecological balance.
Regenerative gardening uses these and other methods to not only maintain, but to improve the health of the garden and surrounding ecosystem. Its goal is to heal and rejuvenate the landscape of which the garden is a part, resulting in a net positive impact on the environment. This includes:
Soil Regeneration: Building soil health through practices like no-till gardening, cover crops, and the use of biochar to increase carbon storage.
Ecosystem Restoration: Creating habitats in and around the garden area that support wildlife and nurture native plants, restoring any degraded landscape in the area by practices such as reducing turf and replacing with native shrubs and ground covers, controlling erosion and runoff, and creating conditions favorable to microorganisms. When possible, this includes “wilding” areas to allow nature to restore the habitat with no input other rhan removing invasives.
Regenerative Design: Designing gardens to mimic natural ecosystems, integrating permaculture principles and making the best use of non-renewable resources. An important aspect of regenerative design is creation of a closed system where waste from one element is used as a resource for other elements in the design.
Sustainable gardening focuses on creating and maintaining a garden that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. Practices promoting garden sustainability include:
Resource Efficiency: Using water wisely, selecting drought-resistant plants, and employing rainwater harvesting systems.
Soil Health: Maintaining soil fertility through composting, mulching, and minimal use of synthetic fertilizers.
Biodiversity: Planting a variety of species to promote a balanced ecosystem and attract beneficial insects.
Waste Reduction: Recycling garden waste and avoiding single-use plastics.
By implementing these practices, sustainable gardening aims to minimize environmental impact, conserve resources and promote long-term ecological balance.
Regenerative gardening uses these and other methods to not only maintain, but to improve the health of the garden and surrounding ecosystem. Its goal is to heal and rejuvenate the landscape of which the garden is a part, resulting in a net positive impact on the environment. This includes:
Soil Regeneration: Building soil health through practices like no-till gardening, cover crops, and the use of biochar to increase carbon storage.
Ecosystem Restoration: Creating habitats in and around the garden area that support wildlife and nurture native plants, restoring any degraded landscape in the area by practices such as reducing turf and replacing with native shrubs and ground covers, controlling erosion and runoff, and creating conditions favorable to microorganisms. When possible, this includes “wilding” areas to allow nature to restore the habitat with no input other rhan removing invasives.
Regenerative Design: Designing gardens to mimic natural ecosystems, integrating permaculture principles and making the best use of non-renewable resources. An important aspect of regenerative design is creation of a closed system where waste from one element is used as a resource for other elements in the design.
Carbon Sequestration: Actively working to capture and store atmospheric carbon in the soil and in the plants.
Regenerative gardening includes disturbing the soil as little as possible, keeping the soil covered, providing a continuing supply of organic matter, keeping living roots in the soil, planting more perennials, and placing an emphasis on diversity by planting many different species and varieties which are more likely to thrive in that particular environment.
Desired outcomes of regenerative gardening include improving soil health (structure, organic matter, and fertility), increasing biodiversity, increasing soil carbon retention, maintaining or improving garden productivity without application of synthetic chemicals, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Sustainable gardening is a vital first step in reducing our ecological footprint, while regenerative gardening offers a path toward healing and rejuvenating Earth’s natural systems.
This brings to mind the proverbial “butterfly effect” which merely illustrates that small things matter, and we are all connected to a bigger system. Our actions now, today, are the result of previous actions and this can, in turn, lead to a different future. With one small gesture we can change someone's life or help change the world.
By incorporating elements of both sustainable and regenerative gardening, we, as gardeners, can contribute to a more resilient and thriving environment in our own space and the world in general, recognizing that everything is connected.
Good Source of more information: SARE— What is Sustainable Agriculture? https://www.sare.org/resources/what-is-sustainable-agriculture/
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