Regenerative Gardening vs. Sustainable Gardening: What is the Difference?
Hello gardeners!
In recent years, terms like "sustainable gardening" and "regenerative gardening" have gained traction among gardeners. To be honest, I thought they were basically interchangeable until I looked up the definition of regenerative gardening. My intentions align with regenerative gardening principles more so than sustainable gardening.
I used sustainable gardening as an umbrella term, for principles to guide responsible gardeners, committed to minimizing the negative impacts of gardening on the environment, while promoting biodiversity, conserving water, improving soil health, and reducing waste.
What is Sustainable Gardening?
In my September 23, 2024, blog post on definitions, I define sustainable gardening as methods focused on cultivating plants and managing our gardens in ways that are environmentally responsible, resource-efficient, and regenerative. Oops! Perhaps I should not have used the term regenerative. I was thinking of regenerative as fostering the ability for plants and soil to be healthy and rejuvenate.
Key Principles of Sustainable Gardening:
Resource Conservation: Using water wisely through techniques like drip irrigation, rainwater harvesting, and mulching to reduce evaporation.
Waste Reduction: Reducing plastics in the garden, composting to create nutrient-rich soil amendments, and reducing reliance on synthetic fertilizers.
Native and Drought-Tolerant Plants: Choosing plants to support local wildlife and selecting plants to minimize water and maintenance needs.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM): Employing natural pest control methods, such as encouraging beneficial insects, to eliminate chemical pesticide use.
Soil Care: Avoiding practices that deplete soil nutrients.
Sustainable gardening ensures that the garden does not contribute to environmental degradation and can continue to thrive over time.
What is Regenerative Gardening?
Regenerative gardening takes sustainability a step further. Instead of simply maintaining resources, it aims to actively restore and enhance ecosystems. Regenerative practices are rooted in the idea of healing the land, improving biodiversity, and reversing environmental damage. This approach mirrors the principles of regenerative agriculture, which seeks to rebuild soil health, sequester carbon, and promote ecological balance. This is what I thought sustainable gardening was.
Key Principles of Regenerative Gardening:
Soil Regeneration: Building rich, living soil by adding organic matter, avoiding tilling, and fostering microbial diversity.
Carbon Sequestration: Using plants and soil to capture and store atmospheric carbon, helping to mitigate climate change.
Biodiversity Enhancement: Planting a variety of species to attract pollinators, beneficial insects, and wildlife, resulting in the creation of a balanced ecosystem.
Closed-Loop Systems: Recycling all organic matter, such as leaves and plant clippings, back into the garden to reduce waste and maintain nutrient cycles.
Water Resilience: Designing landscapes that capture and retain water, such as rain gardens and swales, to reduce runoff and to improve water availability.
Regenerative gardening is about improvement. Making the garden and its surrounding environment healthier and more resilient over time.
Key Differences Between Sustainable and Regenerative Gardening
While both approaches share a commitment to environmental stewardship, the main difference lies in their objectives:
Sustainable gardening seeks to maintain balance, ensuring that resources are used responsibly, and harm is minimized.
Regenerative gardening focuses on actively improving ecosystems, repairing damage, and creating conditions for natural systems to thrive.
So after this little aha moment, I know now I am committed to regenerative gardening because I believe we, as gardeners, can make a difference to the health of the planet, one garden at a time. Moving forward with my research I look forward to talking about this difference in principles with horticultural experts and climate scientists to gain a greater understanding of sustainable gardening and regenerative gardening methods.
Still after reviewing sustainable gardening principles and regenerative gardening principles, for me, there is still one very large piece missing - climate change.
What role will climate change play in the methods we use in the garden and the management of our gardens?
As I often say, this is a journey we are on and education is an important part of that journey. Please join me as we get our hands dirty on this REGENERATIVE GARDENING journey. Be well.