Buying sustainable products for the garden

Greener gardening isn’t just about using fewer chemicals. Make sure you’re buying sustainably, too – it’s easy if you know how and where to look…

Garden furniture

For wooden garden furniture, look for a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) label on the product. The FSC is an international body that encourages responsible and sustainable forestry. It’s a benchmark used throughout the UK on everything from fencing to railway sleepers and garden furniture – just look for the tree logo.

Eye-catching design pieces

You don’t have to buy brand new pieces for your garden, you can pick up some great, one-off pieces from your local reclamation yard.

Choose anything from stone nymphs and lions-head gate-guardians to huge granite balls and all things gothic, such as gargoyles and griffins.

You can add a twist to planters by choosing things like copper tubs, chimney pots and old tin baths.

Find a reclamation yard near you at Salvo's website.

Alternatively, there are lots of eco-design books you can choose from. Why not browse through our range at www.tesco.com/books

Pathways

Before settling on decking or brand new paving, is there another, cheaper way of adding a pathway in your garden?

Again reclamation yards are good places to start. They all have plenty of recycled paving with bags of ‘worn in’ character and some will also have railway sleepers, poles and timber.

Many major paving companies have cottoned on to the need for sustainable materials. One of the biggest, Bradstone, has introduced Old Town Conservation, a concrete imitation paver that is manufactured using 85 per cent recycled and reclaimed aggregates. It looks just like the real thing and comes in a subtle grey-green finish reminiscent of those old, weathered flagstones you find in country houses.

Planting

If you’re thinking of growing your own veg, it’s good to know that the compost you’re using is sustainable.

For years peat was the favoured choice, but peat is a valuable natural resource and its extraction causes damage to precious wildlife habitats in places like Somerset and many parts of Ireland.

Peat is formed by the decomposition of organic matter over thousands of years. It's used as a soil conditioner and as the bulk constituent of many types of growing media in garden centres, as it helps aeration and holds onto nutrients and water particularly well.

Compost, on the other hand, is a renewable, sustainable resource. It's typically made from vegetable scraps, leaves and branches, coconut husks, farmyard manures, grass clippings or spent hops. It’s also a superior soil improver and slow release fertiliser all in one.

Ideally make your own – check out our guide to home composting – or look for bags with the 'peat-free' tag.