Green Perspectives: Tom Christopher on Sustainable Gardening

The Need for Change

I’ve been gardening and writing about gardening for more than 30 years, and in that time I cannot remember ever meeting a gardener who didn’t aspire to be constructive. A desire to enrich the earth to some modest degree motivates all of us.

Yet the way in which we grow our plants depends overwhelmingly on the consumption of limited, often nonrenewable, resources and fossil fuels. We’ve become a part of the global environmental problem.

Consider, for example, these statistics about something as common as lawn care.

• According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the inefficient engines used in gasoline-powered lawn and garden equipment generate 20 percent of the smog-producing hydrocarbon emissions and 23 percent of the carbon monoxide emissions from all mobile sources—a category that also includes cars, trucks, and buses.
• Nationwide, 30 percent of the water used by residential customers goes to landscape irrigation, mostly to water lawns. That’s 7 billion gallons pumped from streams, rivers, and aquifers every day. We like to think of this as a problem of the western states, yet I know of streams and rivers right here in Connecticut, my home state, that run dry in summertime so that we can slake the thirst of our lawns.

Does this mean I am anti-lawn? Absolutely not—I know from my decades of personal experience in horticulture that turf can be a very practical as well as handsome groundcover. But I also know we need to maintain our lawns in a less environmentally costly manner.

We need to be smarter and thriftier in every area of our landscaping, from flowers to shrubs and trees, from the lily pond to the rock garden. Our reward will be not only a healthier environment and a better future for all, it will also be immediate and personal.

For here, as my friend Dave from Brooklyn says, is the beauty part.

I don’t like to work any harder than I have to or pay a dime more than is necessary. Because sustainable gardening depends on reducing the need for inputs (of materials and energy), it translates into less labor and expense for me—or you.

What Makes this Blog Different:

• Reliable, accurate information: If you are interested in gardening and environmental issues, you know there are lots of people and organizations competing to advise you about gardening sustainably. I’ve found, however, that much of the information is poorly researched, misleading, incorrect, or self-serving—“buy my sustainable product!” That’s why I am creating this blog in association with The New York Botanical Garden. With the help of its experts, I can provide cutting-edge, accurate information based on first-hand experience. What’s more, you can be confident that the information and the reviews of products you’ll find here are designed to benefit you, the gardener, not some marketer’s bottom line.
• Gardeners as leaders: If we are going to deal successfully with the environmental challenges that face us today—greenhouse gases, a rapidly changing global climate, a growing population, and limited natural resources— we need advocates for sustainable living in every local community. In this blog, I’ll gather the information about techniques, tools, and materials that can help us with the outdoor piece of that equation. By sharing this information, I’m hoping we can all enhance our ability to serve as leaders in our families, neighborhoods, and beyond.
• I need your help: I’m depending on readers’ responses to keep this blog focused on the topics that matter most to you. When you’ve got ideas or questions, please don’t hesitate to post a comment. The challenge we face will need all of our skills, knowledge, and imagination.

The views and opinions of the blog author and expressed in comments do not necessarily reflect those of The New York Botanical Garden. References to products or Web sites in the blog or comments do not imply endorsement by The New York Botanical Garden.