By adapting our previously held ideas of what lawns and gardens should look like for us and our neighbors, and shifting to what we can do in our yards for all the insects, small mammals, birds, butterflies and moths, we are ready to slow down and enjoy our outdoor spaces as stewards of those areas. If you’ve been keeping up with some gardening trends, you may have already replaced some of your lawn with some native plants to attract and feed pollinators. These are all trends in the positive direction of the adaptive gardening movement.
Abandon the self-centered view and immerse yourself in the natural world you can enhance for all living things. These new trends will be also very good for our bodies as we age. Whether you have already experienced a health issue you need to care for or an injury you want to avoid, the adaptive gardening movement will be beneficial for you. “If it’s good for our body, it’s good for the Earth.”
Becoming an adaptive gardener gives you a healthier approach to gardening, and allows you to take care of your body, reaping all the benefits we know time outdoors offers us.
You may be trying a No Mow May, to help dandelions feed early emerging beneficial insects when precious few flowers are blooming.
You may have grown lazy and are enjoying container gardens – placing them not only near water sources but even mixing flowers and vegetables in one container.
Have you stepped up your raised bed affection and are now flirting with raised beds on legs so you can sit comfortably or even stand rather than kneel or bend over, to tend plants in a really raised bed?
These trends are science-based and data-proven. Gardening with ecologically meaningful purpose will mean less muscle strain and fewer injuries. Limit your need to weed, for instance, by planting dense ground cover, or locally sourced plants which have already proven they are well adapted to your area.
With these trends in mind, how does the adaptive gardening movement utilize the additional idea of “keeping up with the times?”
Our awareness of the increasingly mounting deposit of plastic in our landfills, oceans and even farmer’s fields through the use of agricultural plastic use and micro-plastic dispersal everywhere (measured and monitored in our soils) can be disheartening. We can take some breaths of fresh air (even knowing micro-plastics are likely to be in that air) and realize there are experts in the horticulture industry working in creative ways to lessen the prevalence of plastic in our gardens. By finding creative ways to collect and recycle pots, for instance, we see the evolution of plastic sorting machines when pallets full of the pots dutifully returned to our favorite garden centers are cleaned, sorted and recycled. But where are the newer trends for us to be aware of? How important is it we keep up with the times to help mitigate and in some small measure eradicate plastic use in the greenhouses where we love to browse, daydream and shop?
The best advice for keeping up with the times, now that you are an adaptive gardener following that philosophy and those trends, is to become familiar with QR codes. These are the small squares, in black and white tile patterns, on many items we see daily. You may be familiar with these on the merchandise you buy or have seen on museum displays even. QR codes are “Quick Response” links to internet information about a particular item. Smartphones are the way we can keep up with the times by getting comfortable scanning QR codes when we see them on plants or products in the garden centers.
Free to use, (some phones don’t even need a QR code reader app) you simply aim your phone camera at the QR code, and you are taken to the web or even YouTube linked to that item. By using QR codes, plant retailers are eliminating plastic tags and large plastic informative sheets on each plant. You’ll get the same information from the website linked to the QR code as you would on a large plastic tab. Think of that plastic no longer used – keep up with the times and support the movement and efforts shown by the companies omitting plastic tabs when a printed QR code can deliver even more information pertaining to the plant or product you’re considering.
Watch what’s growing. See what’s going on in your yard. This is the perfect time of year before all the plants fully leaf out, to notice all the nuances in your yard. You will begin to see what is going on out there that you haven’t noticed before. If you see last season’s bird nests think about their location and assume the bird-identified features with great appeal. Can you enhance it by adding a bird bath or protected water source? Can you plant similar plants to the one where you spy the bird’s nest? Imagine doing these things could attract another bird family because of that plant’s structure, color or growth habit.
Phone apps to identify birds by their songs can be educational and rewarding to use. “Merlin” is a well- respected free app, and easy to use, by holding your phone the direction of the bird call or sound, and letting it listen. The names of the various birds heard and recorded through the open app will pop up along with a thumbnail picture of the bird to help you with visual identification and a sonogram of the song retained in your phone if you want to use that aspect of the app.
Be a lazy gardener, slow down, and listen while you learn.
Do you have elements of fun and whimsy in your garden so your “sit place” is entertaining with those light-hearted elements? Items that are sentimental or meaningful to you will add extra mental health benefits to your space.
The trends we follow as we adapt our lawns and gardens to our aging body’s ability to care for the property we steward will offer us multiple rewards. As the trends change, the reasons behind them will remain based in science and reinforce what adaptive gardeners need. Join the adaptive movement, be lazy, and reap the rewards.