Natural Gardening Benefits - Urban Landscapers Ltd.

Natural gardening has a different approach to conventional gardening. In conventional gardening, chemical fertilizers and amendments are applied at intervals to feed the plants while leaves and other plant debris are constantly picked up. Everything is kept “tidy” but soil health is reduced.

With natural gardening, leaves are either left whole or shredded to form a mulch over the ground allowing natural decay to occur. The decayed material provides important food for ground dwelling insects and microbes that form a beneficial symbiotic relationship with the plants. It’s important to note that plants rely on soil life to absorb most of their nutrients. For example, many nutrients like phosphorus and some micronutrients exist in rock formations that are difficult for plants to dissolve. Plants have engaged the services of special types of fungi, called mycorrhizal fungi, that anchor themselves in plant roots and from there extend their strands of mycelium into the surrounding soil. Their powerful digestive enzymes break down these rocks to harvest the nutrients, which they then trade with the plants in exchange for carbohydrates the plants make.

In my own garden I can practice natural gardening and I see how much healthier that plants are. I leave the leaf litter in the garden so over time it decays and feeds the micro organisms while providing shelter for beneficial insects. I also add some organic fertilizers which further feed the soil bacteria. Plants, if grown in their right environment, need less of our attention than we think they do.

Tags: Irrigation & Lawn