The Early Show

Grow A Truly Green Garden

By Caitlin Johnson

August 21, 2007 / 11:32 AM EDT / CBS

Just because your garden is full of green plants, doesn't mean it's environmentally friendly.

The Early Show gardening expert Charlie Dimmock says there are ways to go green in your own backyard.

The easiest way to achieve this, Dimmock says, is to stop using chemicals in your garden. Then your garden will provide habitat for native insects and animals.

"The problem with chemicals is not only do they kill off all the bugs, but they kill off the good bugs as well as the bad ones," she said. "They totally over-do the situation."

Some people claim that natural chemicals don't work, but Dimmock says they will still kill bugs as well as traditional pesticides, they just might take more time.

"The thing with bugs and things like that is they're not silly," she said. "They're not going to kill everything off because they want a supply of food. It's a case of getting a balance in your garden so it's not going to be instant. It's going to be a year, two years."

Try propagating good bugs like lady bugs, which eat other bugs. You can buy lady bugs and other insects at garden centers, online and from garden catalogues and magazines. Dimmock also suggested tiny microscopic worms called nematodes.

Dimmock says that natural chemicals protect the groundwater and runoff and are also better for your plants. The problem with traditional pesticides is that they don't just kill bugs or weeds, they kill everything they encounter, Dimmock says. If you plant is not in good health, the traditional pesticide could wind up hurting, not helping, matters.

Plant a variety of flowers and shrubs so you have something in bloom all year long, or as much of the year as possible. This attracts insects and birds to your garden year round.

More Gardening Tips

Gardens are great things to have not just because they are nice to look at and can provide fresh vegetables, but the nitrogen from their roots helps improve the soil. Dimmock says when you are done with your garden, leave the roots to rot so they will fertilize the soil without having to use chemicals.

If you are growing tomato plants, you want to keep whitefly away. Try companion planting using marigolds at the base. Whiteflies don't like the marigolds. You can also use lavender chives and garlic.

Let some of your vegetables go to flower. They attract bumble bees to the garden, which is great for pollination. They also attract hoverflies that prey on pests.

Leave part of the garden wild and natural. Put up nesting boxes and bird feeders to encourage birds to visit. Birds will eat slugs and snails. Place piles of logs around your garden. The logs will draw ground beetles that eat insects which feed on your plants.

If you have large areas of lawn, try leaving one section to go wild. It is great for the insects and has a very romantic feel. Also, you don't have to do so much mowing.

If you don't have space for a large compost bin, go for a wormery. Put a lot of liquid fertilizer on the bottom and add a small amount of garden compost. The worms do all the work. They breakdown all your peelings and produce compost.

It's worth having a waterbutt on a shed to collect rainwater, which is fantastic for seedlings and plants that don't like lime. Go for one with a lid and make sure you place it high enough to fill the watering can underneath.