Sustainable gardening: 10 ways to get growing

Often also referred to as compost, growing media is the material you usually purchase in bags for seed sowing, as grow-bags, for filling tubs or for potting-on. Sometimes you will see it badged as specialised (for acid-loving plants, for tomatoes or for orchids, etc).

Trust gardens have not used peat-containing growing media for decades now, so our gardeners are well-versed in the positives and negatives of the alternatives. As an organisation, we campaign actively to protect and repair Scotland’s peatlands, both for nature and as a carbon sink, so we encourage all gardeners and growers – professional and domestic – to move away from peat in growing media.

Try to recycle your growing media at the end of the season. If your plants grew healthily in it, you could use what is left as a mulch, add it to the compost heap or even re-use it next year (adding a bit of plant food).

Read more: It’s time to end the sale of peat

Variability is the biggest challenge with peat-free growing media because manufacturers sometimes struggle to find steady supplies of their ingredients. As a result, at many Trust gardens we just make our own – from mixes of garden soil, leaf mould and home-made compost.

The trickiest growing media to get right is for seed sowing, where the particle size and hygiene is critical for young seedlings. In our home-made seed-sowing compost we sometimes resort to adding in a little heat-treated soil, but the heating does kill off the good soil life along with the bad. We also find good leaf mould, sieved, works well too, without that disadvantage.

Read more: A three-step plan for starting a compost heap

Excessive digging over time can turn soil structure into virtual soup, and even forking-over releases carbon to the environment too.

You will see a lot less cultivation going on in Trust gardens these days as many follow ‘no-dig’ practices – avoiding a lot of sore backs as well! We’re layering on organic material instead and seeing a rise in productivity.

Gardeners are often very generous with plants, and many people in your local community will be happy to pass you a division, a cutting or some spare seeds if you have spotted something interesting over their garden fence.

Chain stores are good at selling plants very cheaply, but a lot are imported. Charity garden open days or local galas and fairs are an alternative source of inexpensive and sometimes unusual plants.

Always have a good look for any bugs, beasties or diseases that might be lurking though before putting them into your garden. A session in quarantine or a thorough check of roots and shoots is advisable and is something we do in Trust gardens to try to avoid difficult and expensive problems down the line.

Seed is a great way of getting sustainable plants, as packets are small and light compared to plastic pots full of heavy compost. With annuals and herbaceous plants you can get lots quite quickly, so you’ll have plenty to fill a border or to share and swap.

Always make sure seed comes from a reputable source, especially if you’re buying online or from abroad. Check it has not been illegally collected from the wild and is not carrying pests or disease with it.

You can also save your own seeds to sow again another year. This works better for species rather than hybrids or cultivars, which don’t come true but can still be fun!

Gardeners love to experiment with plants, pushing the boundaries of what might be hardy. At some Trust places, history and garden design dictates what we grow; but in others, we have more room to play about.

However big or small your garden, it’s a good idea to have a diversity of solid performers as a backbone if you can. Too many plant deaths from a cold winter or a dry summer is disappointing and a bit of a waste, even if you can compost them – and replacing them can be expensive.

If you have space to grow your own produce, it can be very rewarding and saves on food miles too. Feeding a nation, a community or even a household takes scale and efficiency in food growing, but every little counts when it comes to sustainability.

Take a look at where your favourite edibles come from – you might be surprised how much is flown in from abroad. Can you grow some of that? Or try growing something new and different that adds interest to your meals – for example, herbs for cooking, or annuals like nasturtiums with edible leaves and flowers.

When we grow produce in our gardens, we like to keep some of it for display but if possible we will try to use, sell or donate it. You can’t get fresher than what you grow yourself.

Growing in small spaces

If growing edibles is your ambition, try to maximise your output by specifically growing varieties that do well where you live. This means doing your research by asking around, looking online or visiting a local Trust garden to see what we do.

Although the climate is changing, there is still no point growing aubergines unprotected outdoors in Scotland, for example! And you will get better results from faster-cropping sweetcorn varieties suited to northern climates.

We are lucky to be able to grow our own cut flowers to use around Trust places. While there are some UK flower farms, flowers found on the high street have often been flown in, with the biggest exporters including Kenya and Ethiopia.

If you love a bouquet, why not try growing your own too? You’d get a ready supply of fresh blooms to enjoy or gift to others. You can pick varieties in your favourite colours and choose ones with scents you love.

How to make a hand-tied bouquet

We all know how good weeds are at finding any nook and cranny to grow in! We can learn from them and sow something prettier in the same place.

If weeds have colonised the joints of paving, why not try sowing some thyme instead – perhaps at the margins? The bees will love the flowers, and you will get a lovely scent whenever you walk over it!