Released On 7th Apr 2025

7 Ways To Create An Eco Friendly Garden

Creating a sustainable garden isn’t just about making your outdoor space look beautiful—it’s about working in harmony with nature to support the environment, conserve resources, and encourage biodiversity. Whether you’re an experienced gardener or just starting out, there are plenty of simple and effective ways to make your garden more eco-friendly, without having to hire a gardener. Here are our favourite 7 for you to try out.

Use Companion Planting

Companion planting is a fantastic way to naturally deter pests, and give your plants a lot of other benefits so they stay healthy and strong. For example, if you’re growing tomatoes, you can plant marigolds around them to deter whitefly. If you’re growing carrots, growing garlic and onions in between them to mark the smell can deter carrot root flies. There are a huge range of different flowers and crops that provide benefits when planted next to each other, so do your research (or ask your local friendly gardener).

Improve Soil Health

Soil is the key to creating any healthy garden, especially a sustainable one. It traps and stores carbon from the environment, as well as providing a home for the billions of microorganisms and tiny creatures that help to maintain the health of your garden, and the planet. Taking the time to improve your soil health also helps give your plants the nutrients they need to become strong and withstand out ever-changing British weather patterns.

You can learn more about what type of soil you have and how to keep it healthy here.

Make Your Own Compost

Making your own compost is a fantastic way to nurture your garden while also reducing waste and saving money. And it’s the easiest thing in the world! Here’s a quick rundown:

Gather Your Materials

You’ll need what we call ‘greens’ which are nitrogen-rich, and ‘browns’ which are carbon-rich. These things together create the perfect environment for composting. Greens could include lawn clippings, fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and filters, and crushed egg shells. Browns are things like dried leaves, shredded paper and cardboard, wood chips and twigs, sawdust and straw. You should avoid meat, dairy and oily foods.

Create Your Bin

You can buy a compost bin, or build your own using things like wood pallets or slatted wood. If you’re going for the pile method, start with a layer of coarse materials like twigs or straw so there is some air-flow.

Layer Your Materials

Alternate layers of greens and browns, aiming for a 50:50 ratio. Bury food scraps in the centre of the pile, and add a layer of soil on top every few layers. If you want to speed up to process, you can also add in worms.

Keep It Moist

Keep your compost pile moist but not soggy. It should feel like a wrung-out sponge, and it shouldn’t smell bad. Make sure you turn the pile every 1-2 weeks to allow air to circulate.

Wait!

Finally, be patient! It takes time for things to break down, after all. But before long, you’ll end up with some lovely compost that’s ready to go into the garden.

Choose Native Plants

Part of being eco-friendly in the garden is nurturing native wildlife – and the best way to do this is by planting native plants to support native insects. Choosing the right kinds of native plants also means they’ll need feeding and watering less, as they are better adapted to the climate than foreign ones. This is called a naturalistic planting design – using the right native plants in the right place – and it makes sense ecologically and financially, since you won’t need to replace plants that don’t survive in your climate. Even if it’s just a small wildflower patch, native flowers will encourage a huge diversity of wildlife.

Let The Lawn Grow

One of the best ways that you can create a sustainable garden is to leave the pristine lawn in the past. Unless you’re playing golf on your lawn, it doesn’t need to be uniformly trimmed. A long lawn is a healthy lawn! With water shortages and droughts being a very real possibility thanks to climate change, and new eco-friendly lawn might be the way to go. If you let the lawn grow, before long you’ll see the magic happen. Selfheal, Alchemilla, achilleas, ox-eye daisies and lots more will start to pop up, giving you some lovely pops of colour across the lawn. Mowing the lawn in the late summer means that the stems will protect the grass through the colder months.

Plant a Dry Garden

We’re all very busy, and for some people watering their garden is something that slips down the to-do list. But you still want a lovely, luscious garden to come home to. So why not opt for a dry garden, either in a border or your entire garden.

Dry gardens use plants that are happy in dry, sunning conditions similar to the ones you’d use if you were planning a Mediterranean garden. It’s not a restrictive style of garden either, you can have everything from woody, fragrant herbs and decorative cactuses to olive trees, and need minimal water to thrive. It’s also a great option if you have a sloping garden, since these kinds of plants cope better with water run-off.

Natural Pest Control

A lot of pest control options being sold nowadays are chemically based pesticides, and while these do get the job done, they’re incredibly harmful for your garden’s natural inhabitants. And there’s no real way to control what it harms and what it doesn’t. But there were garden pests long before there were pest control chemicals, and if you’re aiming for a sustainable garden then you can adopt more organic growing methods. This ranges from companion planting, mulching, using natural repellents like neem oil and garlic, or even attracting beneficial insects that can deter or eat the harmful ones.

Collect Rainwater

If you want to save water (and lower your water bills) while keeping your garden lush and green, then you need to start collecting rainwater. Water butts are the standard option for this, but any large container that can be sealed will work. Place this underneath a downpipe, and every time it rains you will collect rainwater. Grab yourself a watering can, and you’re all set. You can then use that water to care for your plants, saving water and keeping your garden happy. No need for hoses or sprinklers at all!

By making small, thoughtful changes in the way you garden, you can create a space that is not only beautiful but also environmentally friendly and self-sustaining. It’s all about working with nature rather than against it—so start experimenting, enjoy the process, and watch your garden thrive in a way that benefits both you and the planet. If you have any questions, or want some support getting started, feel free to get in touch with our team today.