McLain on Gardening -- Getting close to sustainability

For a number of years, one of the buzzwords in gardening has been "sustainability." It seems like just about every other new gardening book, magazine and television show has been about sustainable gardening, at least in part. But what does it mean?

There are a lot of definitions floating about. Here's one: "Sustainability is the concept that man can achieve his social and economic goals without damaging the environment or endangering either biodiversity or natural ecosystems."

That sounds like it's straight out of an Ecology 101 textbook. Applied to gardening, I think sustainability means we can garden year after year in ways that won't damage the soil, water, air or the many diverse forms of life that live above and beneath the soil's surface, while continuing to enjoy the rewards of gardening.

The first step toward gardening sustainably is to become aware of how Mother Nature grows things. The vast grasslands and forests that once covered our country are prime examples of sustainability in action; these ecosystems evolved and grew over thousands of years without a single person spreading fertilizer or spraying for pests. The dead plant parts simply rotted and returned their nutrients to the soil with an assist from countless microorganisms and small critters. The nutrients were then recycled into new growth and new plants.

We can mimic Mother Nature's methods in our own landscapes: our trees, shrubs, lawns, and flower and vegetable gardens. We can compost weeds, kitchen vegetable and fruit waists, lawn clippings, and dead plants and prunings, plus the fallen leaves of autumn.

Or we can buy commercially made compost if we don't have enough raw materials or time to make our own. After adding compost to the soil, microorganisms, earthworms, other small critters and fungi will convert it into the nutrient forms that our plants can use. And there's a bonus: In the process, these unseen helpers build good soil structure, making space for storing moisture and air that plants will use over time.

Or, you could use chemical fertilizers that don't build one iota of soil. Instead, they will provide nutrients in a feast-or-famine manner; if it isn't used fairly quickly, it will leach below the root level or be volatilized back into the air.

Rather than rely on chemical insecticides, there are a number of good gardening practices that will most often keep the bad bugs under control. Again, Mother Nature comes to the rescue (with a little help from us).

Yes, our early grasslands and forests had their share of harmful critters, but they also had beneficial insects, spiders and predators that lurked in the soil, ready to keep the bad critters in check.

Your garden may already have a vast army of beneficials scouring your plants for prey -- if you haven't been routinely using an arsenal of chemical pesticides that will usually destroy them, right along with the beneficial bugs. There's no need to use chemical pesticides when you spy a few bad bugs contently feeding on one of your beloved plants. Instead, let the beneficial insects and other helpful small critters, including spiders, do the job for you.

Predators will come and feed in your garden if there is enough prey available to make it worthwhile. In most situations, there is no need to purchase an army of these warriors and turn them loose. It's sort of like the line from the movie "Field of Dreams": Provide them additional food in the form of nectar and pollen, and they will come.

Beneficials will come to feast and stay in your garden if there is a banquet awaiting them. In addition to those tasty bad bugs, provide them with an additional enticement: nectar and pollen for themselves and their offspring. Plant plenty of flowers throughout your landscape, and also include them in your vegetable garden.

Beneficials will stay in your landscape only as long as there is prey available and a sweet dessert. You need to become tolerant of some bad bugs in your landscape, but be assured the predators will keep their numbers in check.

We are dependent on the melting snow of the Cascades for our water. There is simply no way that those of us who garden in our Valley can become sustainable regarding water. But we can become water-wise and use only what our landscapes actually need. In the past, far too much of it ran down the gutters. Likewise, too much water has been polluted by the misuse of pesticides.

One of the best ways to conserve water is by selecting plants for our landscapes that are not water hogs. When you select a new perennial, shrub or tree, consider using those that are xeric, that are water-thrifty once they have become established. Good choices include plants that are native to our area.

Lawns are the biggest water hogs in our landscapes. We often think that we need huge lawns for our kids to play on. Today's kids often prefer electronic gadgets over kick-the-can, however; if this is so in your household, consider cutting back your lawn and replacing parts of it with shrubs and trees.

Can you make your landscape 100 percent sustainable? Not really. But you can move toward that goal. If those of us who garden all join in the effort, our planet can become much healthier and last longer.

* Freelance gardening columnist Jim McLain can be reached at 509-697-6112 or ongardening@fairpoint.net.