Eco-Friendly Gardening isn't just about gardening without chemicals. It involves the whole life cycle of Nature that has been precisely designed for us. We, the gardener, the landscaper, the designer or the architect, must work with nature to help develop an ecosystem that's sustains life in our landscapes.

Learn and encourage healthy bugs like ladybugs, lacewings, and other predatory insects to come into your garden and feed on your pests. You will be amazed at how little sprays and pesticides you will need to use with these great bugs at your side. You can introduce plants like fennel, dill, allyssum, ammi majus,  - "Queen Anne's Lace", and cumin.

And don't forget the soil. This is the life blood of your plants. Add as much organic matter as you can in order to feed the soil organisms. These organisms will break down organic matter and will eventually feed your plants. Try to make your own compost. Not only does compost nourish the soil, but reduces kitchen and garden waste immensely!

Finally, learn to tolerate a little bit of damage by insects here and there. If you wipe out all your pests, what will the ladybugs feed on?

Everyday, we try to educate ourselves about new information in the gardening field so that we can pass this information on to you.

Please feel free to send us your comments. We'd love to hear how your garden did this year and any problems you had.  Or if you would like to be added to our informative newsletter please click here with "Newsletter" as heading.

Vege Garden Concept Plan

By Susanne Frank

At this particular garden, we needed to create more space for a variety of vegetable plantings so this encouraged a concept that was more natural in essence to draw the eye away from the strong bold lines of the fence.

My main element for this concept then became the existing brick edge in the form of curves. This also encouraged different levels in the garden to create interest and movement. The curved planted gardens were then created, that also become very practical for the owners activities. The planter boxes are 200, 300 and 400 mm high and built from the same brick as the existing garden edge to retain stability throughout the garden.

To give the vegetable garden more space I extended the existing brick garden curve with another brick curve in front so as to meet and join the rest of the garden.

To view other landscape plans go to our plan gallery here. For more information about how you can become ECO-Friendly click here or to find out what ECO-Friendly really means click here.

Vege Garden Concept Plan

By Claire Doussard

My design for this vegetable garden is based on repetitive geometric patterns. Even if at first sight it seems to be the traditional European kitchen garden, a further look permits us to appreciate some fantasy in the design.

The original shape of the garden, half straight half curved, brings dynamism to the formal patterns. Moreover, to give more perspective to the garden, I used different heights of planting and planter boxes of 400mm high. A climber such as Clematis forms a last level and gives more depth to the whole garden.

As an engineer student, I learn that in every project, both design and its convenience are important. That’s why I wanted a garden easy to crop and harvest, which explains the choice of geometric patterns and gravel pea lanes. Moreover, geometric gardens are best viewed by an elevated point of view, which is the case here thanks to the owner’s balcony.

So here is a smart and convenient vegetable garden, admittedly not the ones of the Villandry Castle, but a pleasant alternative.

To view other landscape plans go to our plan gallery here. For more information about how you can become ECO-Friendly click here or to find out what ECO-Friendly really means click here.