How Green is Your Garden?

The Palisadian-Post has partnered with locally based environmental nonprofit Resilient Palisades to provide a weekly “green tip” to readers.

Although invisible, there is a needless supply of harmful toxins pouring out of most home gardens, and accumulating in our bodies and local environment.

If you’re a homeowner, consider these two simple strategies for creating a healthier garden for your family, our community and the Santa Monica Bay.

Flowering Lawns and Meadows

Lawns are sometimes functional, but most are purely aesthetic. Unfortunately, most lawns require a constant supply of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers that volatilize into the air when applied, and leave long-lasting residues that children and dogs can then come into contact with.

One easy way to truly green your lawn is to pepper your lawn with native grass and clover seeds to create a “flowering lawn,” which will benefit our dying bees while eliminating the need for toxic chemicals.

Another option is to replace part or all of your lawn with a meadow of native grasses and flowers.

Protect Our Bay

Talk with your gardener about ditching one or all gasoline-powered lawn equipment.

Ask your gardener to:

1. Let the leaves be, or only rake planted areas to protect your topsoil and create leaf piles that welcome beneficial insects and wildlife.

2. Rake hardscaped areas.

3. Switch to high-performing, commercial-grade, battery-operated mowers and blowers where needed, currently discounted up to 75% at authorized dealers.