A low-carbon garden buzzes with life, sparkles with water, and is packed with plants. If designed well, it can act as a carbon sink, actively combatting climate change
As gardeners, we have a chance to make a direct, practical difference in combatting climate change. Every time you grow a tree, your soil, or let your grass grow long, you could actively be increasing the carbon your garden absorbs.
Too often, though, we return all that carbon dioxide right back into the atmosphere by firing up a petrol-powered mower, filling pots with peat-based compost, or scattering artificial fertilizers. So, low-carbon gardening needs a twin approach. Lower your carbon emissions to neutral by gardening sustainably, then maximize the carbon your garden sequesters and stores, and help it actively combat climate change.
"Gardening sustainably is a journey, and it’s fine to start small and work up to the bigger changes later. The important thing is that everyone does something."
Not only do hedges actively sequester and store carbon, they also providing nesting sites, food sources, and shelter for wildlife.
Use the links below to find out more about hedge habitats, including advice on planting and trimming hedges.
Fedges serve as somewhere to stack woody garden waste while it slowly rots down, providing shelter for wildlife, too. These beautiful woven borders can provide windbreaks and a handy way to dispose of anything too woody to go on the compost heap.
Coppices of hazel, birch, willow and dogwood trees provide a renewable, carbon-free source of beanpoles and pea sticks as well as a wildlife habitat. Hazel is best for the uprights, and willow for weaving poles together – don’t stick willow into the ground as it roots very readily.
Home-grown food, when grown sustainably, has a much lower carbon footprint than that produced by conventional agriculture. Vegetable gardens store more carbon when permanently planted with fruit trees, berries, and vegetables, interspersed with to fill gaps. Use mulches such as homemade , make paths from woodchip rather than concrete or grass, and grow organically for maximum carbon benefit.
Compost bins make good use of green waste from the kitchen and garden; this avoids waste going into landfill where it releases methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Soil mulched with compost holds on to nutrients and rainwater better, so meaning less need to water and feed your garden. An all-round winner!
Trees suck in carbon, storing it in lignin-rich trunks and locking it in the ground. Plant a tree in your garden and you help offset not just your own carbon footprint, but that of your children too. It's one of the most effective ways your garden can help fight climate change.
"A billion tiny actions have brought us to the edge of environmental crisis. And a billion tiny actions can pull us back from the brink."
Meadows of naturally occurring wildflowers are threaded with closely mown paths, which lead through the clouds of butterflies, bees, and other insects that thrive here. Having a mown path helps keep it looking 'gardened'. Put away the mower and your lawn to something resembling natural grassland – one of the most efficient carbon sinks.
Tapestry lawns are full of flowers and low-growing, mat-forming plants. No-grass lawns have the benefits of a grass lawn but without the eco-drawbacks of weekly mowing. There are many suitable plants inluding white clover, chamomile, creeping thyme and yarrow.
Rain gardens and ponds are designed to absorb excess rainwater; in the diagram at the top of this article the densely planted damp garden also feeds into a deeper pond. This helps reduce flooding, benefitting both you and your neighbours.
Flower borders line the central path, with layers of trees, shrubs, and perennials. Focus on long-lived plants; this means less replanting and less soil cultivation, helping you avoid disturbing fragile ecostystems and releasing carbon that was locked in underground.
Every litre, or gallon, of mains water you use adds to your carbon footprint. Rainwater harvesting will keep your dependence on mains water supplies to a minimum in summer. The best approach of all is to minimise your water use, wherever it comes from, by mulching and picking your plants carefully. Connect water butts to downpipes for an eco-friendly water supply.
Driveways of reclaimed stone slabs and infilled with low-growing plants provide parking but with added beauty, wildlife value and rainwater absorption. Concrete has a high carbon cost, so minimising its use will help keep your carbon footprint down.
