More Eco-Friendly Suggestions for Your Greenspaces

Coincidentally two of my daily reads have come up with some excellent suggestions for making your backyard (or balcony or little patch of community garden) a more eco-friendly place.

First, I only happened to look down to see who wrote the lovely article in Whole Life Times entitled "Love the Landscape, Lose the Lawn: Eco-Friendly Ideas for Your Yard" and lo! it was our very own Virginian, Jenny Rough. She offers up five steps to a greener yard (and by the way, she writes, the average American household allots 60 percent of the total water use to lawn-care) which include going native (plants), eating your estate (turn your grass into vegetable gardens), keeping the rain (coincidentally, my husband has just done what Jenny suggests. We have kept a patch of grass close to our storm drain unmowed to collect runoff), swapping your shingles (rooftop gardens), and giving a hoot (okay, if you don't know what that refers to you just didn't grow up in the 70s). She also provides some great sites for more browsing. Great job, Jenny and congratulations.

Moving right along, the wonderful SusieJ as posted a tip for keeping those grody rose diseases from decimating your crop (Is that how you spell grody? Am I dating myself? Calling all Valley Girls! Like, Omigod, when was the last time you thought about Valley Girls?) The Magic of Chives. Who knew! Thanks for the suggestion, SusieJ. We (er...my husband) is going to have to try that. We wouldn't want anything taking over this beautiful thing...