Sustainable is surely the buzz word of the century, tacked onto anything and everything. But despite its overuse,  the concept of ‘sustainability’ is a still valuable yardstick by which we can measure many human endeavors, including gardening.

Let’s start off with a very simple definition of sustainability:

Sustainability is the capacity to endure over time.

Daylilies and coneflowers make a long lived planting

Enduring daylilies, easily grown, return year after year

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And this concept may applied at many levels: to a garden, a farm, a community, a corporation, or even an entire society.

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Furthermore, for an endeavor to be sustainable it must satisfy social, environmental AND economic conditions.  WHY??

SOCIAL:  If your endeavor is not rewarding in some way,  you will stop doing it.

ENVIRONMENTAL: No endeavor can endure over the long-term if it destroys or degrades the wider environment in which it exists.

ECONOMIC:  An endeavor will fail if it is not economically viable.

Creating a sustainable garden: what does it mean for you and me??

When it comes to making sustainable gardens these criteria become a bit muddy!

Stated briefly:

the sustainable garden is enduring, easy on the gardener and gentle on the earth

In the following pages I will explore what sustainable means for our gardens and our day-to-day gardening activities, both inside and beyond the property boundary.