Do your bit for a greener planet

Do you want to do your bit for mother earth? Do you think that it's important to help make nature greener? You can start by filling your own garden with more greenery! Plants absorb CO² and release oxygen. Plus, greenery gives animals a place to make their homes. These tips can help you do a few simple things to increase the amount of greenery in nature.

Tip 1 : Flagstones out, greenery in

Have you noticed just how hot flagstones can become in the summer? Flagstones hold heat for a remarkably long time, which isn't very good for the earth. In contrast, plants can help your garden to cool down. Take a good look at your flagstones. You can easily pull up some of them and replace them with plants. Not only is this good for nature, it also looks amazing. Decide for yourself whether you want to pull up some of your flagstones or replace all of them with a green lawn. Every little helps to make the earth a healthier place.

There are lots of simple options to make your garden greener. What do you think of a lovely, lawn patio? Plant a green lawn where your stone patio used to be. Create a path with woodchips to mark it out as a separate area. Do you want to switch to a completely maintenance-free garden? Then plant ground cover plants amongst the lawn. These horizontally growing plants provide extra shade in the garden for beneficial animals and reduces the likelihood of weeds. Do you prefer colourful creeping thyme? Or greenery that you can walk on? Then moss might be right for you. Bright green and feels great under your feet. Perfect for warm days!

A lawn is not the only thing that you can plant in your freed-up spaces. If you still want to keep your stone patio, you can plant a green border around it. You can do this by replacing the flagstones around the outer edge with a colourful combination of flower bulbs and perennials. Cheerful looking and good for the environment. Provide some more natural cooling with trees that act as an umbrella. Plant a number of trees in the middle of the patio or in several spots and enjoy cooling off in the shade on those hot summer days.

Tip 2 : Choose sustainable plants

The foundation of a green garden is its plants. The type of plants that you choose is very important for the health of you garden and for attracting beneficial insects. Organically grown garden plants help soil life start to regenerate. Absolutely no chemicals are used to grow these plants. Good bacteria, fungi and insects are used to grow the organic seeds and cuttings into strong and healthy garden plants. This growing process helps plants to improve their own defence systems to better fight off diseases and pests. The good bacteria, fungi and insects will make themselves at home in your garden if you plant organic plants. This will give you a healthier garden with fewer pests. Give your plants some organic plant food every now and then to keep them healthy.

In addition to being organic, do you want to set your garden on the path to needing less maintenance? Then choose native plants. These are plants that originally came from the area where your garden is located. The plants are used to this soil and climate, meaning that they need less care and will stay healthier for longer. Plus, they encourage more biodiversity. Just like flowering organic plants, flowering native plants are good for butterflies and bees, which are in turn good for the environment. These insects protect the garden against pests, help plants and flowers to reproduce, and collect nectar.

Tip 3 : Green roof and wall cover

Plants are good at cooling down the inside of your house as well as the garden. A green roof and wall covering will keep the summer heat outside. This will help you to save money on air conditioning and make your house look stunning at the same time. Ivy is perfect for this. This fast-growing climbing plant spreads to cover the entire outside wall. Give your outside walls a Mediterranean ambiance with flowering climbing plants: You could opt for a clematis, climbing rose, climbing hydrangea or grape vine. These plants will not hold on to the wall themselves and will need a little help from a climbing rack. You'll be able to enjoy a cool house and gorgeous flowers all over your wall every summer.

Flat roofs also release a lot of heat. Green roof cover plants have a very good insulating effect and also prolong the lifespan of your roof. Not to mention, they are very low maintenance. Sedum roofs are becoming a massive green trend. Succulents, mosses and flowering plants are placed on this type of green roof. The flowering plants will also attract bees. Bees use the roof as a resting place before flying off to search for food. Another reason to go for a green sedum roof!

Tip 4 : Water in the garden

Water can do good things for your garden. It cools down the garden in the hot summer, attracts animals to the garden and provides moisture for the plants. How about a cooling pond? Bring a bit of colour to your pond with waterside and marsh plants. Plant oxygenating plants in the pond to keep the water clear. You can sit in your garden and watch the fish swimming and dragonflies flying. Dig a few streams originating from your pond to supply the whole garden with enough water. That way, you'll barely ever need to water the plants. In the summer, you'll see birds and hedgehogs cooling off and having a drink in your garden. It will make your garden extra charming and cosy. If you opt for a large swimming pond, then your pond can also cool you down. Double the fun!

If you want to help to cool down the planet, start in your own garden! Taking any one of the steps above is a small step towards a greener world. Take a look at our garden plants and get started!