12 Month Plan Nature

Results						Steps to Take

						Use organic products in your garden not a chemical cocktail of pesticides, weed killers, and chemical fertilizers. This is healtheir for you and your garden.
						Plant a wide variety of plants . This will give your garden a natural strength and reduce its susceptibility to disease
						Join an environmental group. Express your energy in a collective way by joining a group that voices your concerns about restoring nature.
						Lobby your local garden centres to stop selling invasive pest plants
						Avoid growing invasive or pest plant species in your garden. This helps prevent birds eating fruit and taking the seeds back to bush areas.
						Spray or neuter your pet to ensure you do not end up with more pets than you wanted.
						Plant native plants to attract New Zealand native insects and birds.
						Start your own herb garden. Growing some of your own food is therapeutic
						Leave grass clippings on the lawn every so often, this will return nitrogen - a vital nutrient - to the soil and the added organic matter will help prevent moisture loss
						Plant a winter windbreak to protect your garden and your home from wind
						Plant a low allergen garden close to the house to reduce the effects of hayfever
						Adopt a pet from a shelter, rather than buying one from a breeder
						Attract other wildlife to your garden, such as lizards by planting patches of dense wiry native ground cover, allowing leaf litter to build up under trees or using chunky mulch layers.
						Scoop up your doggie doo in biodegradable poop bags so your buddy's No. 2 isn't immortalized in a plastic bag
						Take the time to visit nature and spend time relating with it.
						Keep cats well fed and indoors at night to ensure they do not attack or scare away native birds and insects
						Never dump pest plants in or near bush areas because some will spread from stem cuttings and roots
						Grow more plants indoors. Even simple spider plants can improve your space by bringing nature in and cleaning the air.

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