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Grow a Green Garden

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Ranked #28,713 in Healthy Living, #394,244 overall

Why I'm Going Green

I'm going to be honest with you. I didn't start this Earth-friendly thing because I was worried about the environment. I started it to save money. In fact, I'm not so sure global warming isn't just part of a natural cycle. There, I said it! It feels good to come clean.

The truth is, decreasing my carbon footprint was just a happy accident. But I felt surprisingly good about it. Now I look for other ways to go green at home, and I'm sharing these ideas with you.

Contents at a Glance

The 7 Virtues of Using Cow Manure in you...
A Favorite Plant Rescued
Free Compost and Mulch
Save Money by Saving Water
Supplies for your Garden on eBay
Best Green Gardening Tips

The 7 Virtues of Using Cow Manure in your Garden

When you see the results of this tried and true (and GREEN) fertilizer, you'll say "Holy Cow!". The flowering plant in the picture above is a bougainvillaea. It was literally on its deathbead when I covered its soil with manure and watered it in. Within a couple of days - voila! My favorite flower was back.

I'd had success with manure before. It seems like every plant I have loves it. So I jotted down a list of reasons why I think you should try it, too.These are the seven best reasons to use it in your garden.

1It's GREEN! That's right. It has no chemicles, so it's safe for the environment. In fact, it's really just recycled plant material.
2It works! Plants love it, because it's nature's fertilizer.
3It's cheap. And if you live near a dairy farm, you might be able to get it for free. (You'd have to collect it yourself, though.)
4It's pet friendly. No need to worry whether fluffy will get sick digging in your ferns. It's all plant material.
5It's convenient to buy. It's sold most everywhere gardening supplies are sold. I usually find it at the big box stores like Lowes and Walmart.
6One bag goes a long way. When I install a new plant in my garden, I combine half topsoil and half manure to make its new home. I've had great results doing it this way.
7It's versatile. ALL plants love it whether they bloom, produce fruit, or grow veggies. It doesn't matter. No special formula required. Farmers in Pennsylvania have known that for centuries. They use the manure of neighboring dairies to grow their acres of delicious corn.

A Favorite Plant Rescued

This Surprise Bougainvillaea has pink, white, and variegated (pink & white) coloring around its little white flowers. I purchased it a year ago and was disappointed when it seemed to catch a disease. The leaves wilted and turned yellow before reaching full size. I decided to try some manure on top as a last resort because Miracle Grow hadn't helped. To my dismay, it bounced back wonderfully.

Free Compost and Mulch

In South Carolina, and probably in your state, free compost and mulch is available.

Our electric company trims the branches around the power lines throughout the year and will deliver them to my yard at no cost. The downside is that I have no choice about what type of tree it comes from (usually oak) and there is a slight risk of the mulch being from a diseased tree.

Another gardening perk offered here is that my county has a compost pick-up location. Again, this is totally free. All I have to do is come pick it up.

Check your local munipality and power company to see if these services are available in your area.

Save Money by Saving Water

Barrels like this one from Atlanta Rain Barrels can help save money.

Every Spring my water bill went up dramatically. Why? Because I'd get Spring fever, buy a bunch of plants and have to water them all for a week while they get settled into their new homes. No sooner was that done than the summer heat set in, and the soil dried out and needed more water. Let's face it, gardening can be an expensive hobby.

Last summer, I noticed that an area next to the house stayed damp because of the dripping air conditioning condensers (yes, I have more than one). The drip lines release water drops constantly in this South Carolina heat. It seemed like such a waste not to make use of it. So I did some research online and found that in the South, an a/c unit drips fifteen gallons or more a day! I vowed to collect this for my thirsty garden.

What I came up with was a system using the same kind of rainbarrel my neighbors use to gather run-off from their gutters. My husband and I went to Lowe's and bought a rainbarrel with a lid to keep mosquitoes out. The cost was about $80. We attached hoses to the drip lines of both units and fed them into the barrel. Since the barrel came with a valve at the bottom, I attached a small garden hose to it for watering my beds. Eventually, we plan to add a pump to it for water-pressure.

We were so proud of ourselves for this little Earth-friendly project, even if our motive was more about our wallet initially. Now I have guilt-free watering. Hm-m, maybe I can afford some more plants!