Green is the "hot" word of the day. It is the "in" thing to do. Chances are, if you are reading this, you have been a gardener for a while, and are already "green" in your practices.  I count myself among those...but you can never stop improving what you do. I find myself learning new things I can do to lessen my footprint on the earth. I want to leave the earth a better place for my children's children.

Here are some tips I have found helpful:

• Compost year-round- during the gardening season it is easy to remember to place the scraps in the compost bin. During winter, you can also add your scraps from cooking. Good items to add are vegetable scraps and coffee grounds. Do not add any meats, fats or dairy products.

• Go native- Choose plants that do well in your climate. Contact your local nursery for their recommendations. This will provide you with a beautiful garden with less effort and less resources.

• Group plants together by their watering needs- This will allow you to save water by concentrating your efforts on those plants that need the water vs. watering your entire garden the same.

• Mulch- mulch helps retain the moisture, moderates the soil temperature and also helps prevent weeds. You can also add mulch to container plants. Check this article out for more ideas on mulch.

• Use rain water- You can purchase a rain barrel or place buckets around your garden. There are so many different ways to capture rain for use in your garden.

• To bag or not to bag- When you mow, leave your grass clippings on your lawn. It will add nutrients, organic matter and moisture to the soil. As long as you can see the grass, it is not harmful to the growing grass. You can chose to bag every other time (or as you choose), but place it in your compost bin. This also applies to your leaves in the fall.

• Make a backyard habitat- By attracting birds and other wildlife, it will lessen your need for bug spray, since the birds or bats will eat them. If you attract beneficial bugs, it will lessen the need as well.

• Grow a garden to eat- Grow what you eat, eat what you grow. Plant vegetables that you love to eat, and it will lessen your dependence on store bought foods that possibly have chemicals, and saves you money too!

• Visit farmer's markets- If your garden doesn't do as well as it should, or you forgot to plant something, visit your local farmers market and support local gardening.

• Water in the morning- Normally in the morning there is little wind to carry or evaporate the water. Also, it gives the plants the moisture needed to make it through hotter days. Watering in the evening allows more chance for mildew or disease to set in.

• Create fences or arbors from the twigs or branches you prune or that have fallen. You can get creative and make a fence, arbor or garden art by using twine to tie the twigs together. It looks great and saves you purchasing something that may not be as good for the environment.

• Use solar power- use the sun to power your fountains or lighting in the garden.

• FREE soil or mulch- many communities do not accept grass clippings or branches in the normal trash pickup, and you have to take it to a special place to dump. Most of these places are using this to make compost, and offer it to the public for free, or a small cost. I love this program! Just be careful because there may be some objects, such as broken glass or rocks in the mix. I run mine through a sifter before I place it in my garden.

• Use hand powered tools- Hand powered tools use your energy. Your next best option would be electric powered tools. Try not to use gas powered tools as much as possible since the put out more pollution that your car does. For every hour you use a gas powered mower, it puts out as much pollution as driving a car for 100 miles.

• Make your own fertilizer- Compost tea can easily be made by placing compost in a fine mesh type bag (pantyhose works great). Place the bag into a bucket of water and let sit. Stir the water once a day until you have a nice brown "tea".  Use this to fertilize plants as needed.

• Chose environmentally friendly products- when you need to get rid of weeds or harmful insects, chances are that there is a better way than purchasing chemicals from the store. And you might have the ingredients already in your kitchen. Check this article out for more options.

• Mow your lawn high- Only cut off 1/3 of the blade at any one time. More than this will stress the grass. It is best to keep your grass anywhere from 2-3" tall, depending on your grass type.

• Use your compost- Add compost to your gardens each season. Work it in to the top 6-8 inches of the soil. Not only will this add nutrients, but it will improve any soil by making it more loamy. Throughout the season, you can add compost around the plants, or make compost tea.

• Sweep your hardscapes- After mowing, sweep the grass clippings off the sidewalks and driveway. This also applies after you fertilize. This will lessen the chance that they will be swept into the storm sewers and pollute our water.

• Gardener's Black Gold- a.k.a. worm poop! Make a worm bin and put them to work composting your kitchen scraps and making gold! Worm poop makes great compost tea! Your plants will love it.

• Call your local experts- Check with your local extension agents, nursery personnel or master gardeners for answers to your questions, or assistance in your garden. They are there to help you succeed.

• Keep learning-  Attend gardening shows, go to classes, talk with fellow gardeners, read books and magazines. There's always something new to learn...that's one of the great things about gardening.