By: Lindsey Cline-Shrader
Whether you clink champagne glasses in your cocktail best or from your couch, it’s impossible to escape the fever of new beginnings this time of year. The new year buzzes with the promise of fresh starts, making it the perfect time to nurture a new garden ethic or adventure. Here are three impactful garden resolutions for 2025: transitioning to organic methods, creating pollinator havens, and starting a lush vegetable patch.
1. Make the Switch to Sustainable Gardening
Sustainable gardening fosters healthier, more resilient gardens that benefit both your backyard and the ecosystem beyond.
One impactful way to begin this transition is to cease herbicide and pesticide use. These toxic chemicals seep into the soil and trickle into waterways, disrupting soil microbes that form the base of our delicate food web and decimating beneficial insect populations, such as bees and butterflies.
Embracing organic weed control protects the delicate balance of beneficial life thriving in your garden. In garden beds, simple practices like mulching, which suppresses weeds while enriching the soil, or hand-pulling persistent invaders can replace chemical sprays’ quick but damaging effects. Ask yourself if you can make peace with dandelions and violets in your lawn? (No one has yet to criticize my less-than-perfect turf.)
There are gentler options than commercial herbicides for stubborn weeds in stonework. If aggressive crabgrass or the like threatens to take over your patio, try flame weeding, which involves burning weeds with a propane torch (check local fire restrictions before doing so). Or, a mixture of three-part vinegar to one-part table salt and several drops of dish soap acts as a natural weed killer. (Many recipes call for commercial-grade vinegar, which I find unnecessary.) This mixture also damages soil, but the effects are reduced in paved areas and far less catastrophic than industrial herbicides.
Occasionally, herbicides may be the most effective solution for removing invasive species. In these instances, paint it on newly cut stems, roots, or stumps with a paintbrush rather than spraying to reduce environmental impacts. As always, wear protective gear. Be aware that in response to lawsuits over Roundup’s links to cancer, chemical company Bayer recently replaced glyphosate, the active ingredient in most Roundup products, with new herbicides. Unfortunately, independent studies suggest these replacements are even more toxic to insects, trees, and humans than the original glyphosate-based formulas. Glyphosate is still available at local garden stores.
By avoiding insecticides, we protect beneficial predators and allow plants to strengthen their defenses through natural insect interactions. Insects improve plant resiliency—a nibble from a caterpillar or nematode encourages plants to utilize their natural defenses by producing protective compounds or toughening their tissues. This interaction helps plants adapt, boosting their defenses against future insects. Plants’ roots send out signals to one another, helping entire plant communities maintain resiliency.
Spiders and predator insects, such as wasps, praying mantes, ladybugs, and beetles, help control prey insect populations like mosquitoes and flies. Insecticides indiscriminately kill beneficial insects and disrupt this natural pest control. Transitioning to organic gardening may require patience and dedication, but the reward is a garden full of resilient, vibrant life.
2. Create a Pollinator Paradise
Pollinators are critical to ecosystems and food production, yet they face increasing threats. This year, take simple steps to create a sanctuary for them by leaving perennial stems high, fallen leaves where they lie, and planting for all three seasons.
Leaf cover and plant stems are vital winter shelters for overwintering insects. By letting leaves remain in your garden beds, you mimic the forest floor’s rich, insulating carpet, cradling insect life through the colder months while enriching your soil. Similarly, hollow plant stems and native grasses offer nesting and hiding places, protecting pollinators in their most vulnerable states.
Three seasons of blooming plant life sustains pollinators (and ourselves) throughout the year. While summer blooms are easily covered, early spring and late fall bloomers fill essential gaps for pollinators. Early-blooming ephemerals like bloodroot, Virginia bluebells, or native trees provide much-needed nectar for emerging pollinators. Late-season stalwarts like asters and goldenrods support these crucial creatures as they head into hibernation or prepare for migration.
3. Grow Your Own Fresh Harvest
Amidst busy lives, harvesting a sun-warmed tomato or a crisp kale leaf from your garden is profoundly fulfilling. Starting a vegetable patch is a New Year’s resolution that not only reduces waste and promises a bounty of fresh, healthy food but creates a deeper connection to nature (and, per my therapist, counts as rest for the busy-minded).
Perennials are an easy gateway to gardening as they forgive the constant seeding and weeding. Plant them once, and they’ll reward you with years of harvests and minimal upkeep. My favorites are blueberry and currant shrubs and a grape arbor, which also provides summer shade. Perennials like asparagus, artichokes, and rhubarb (as well as annual squashes) require space but little else.
If you’re going for gold, raised beds offer better drainage and soil depth. Two 4’ x 4’ cedar raised beds keep our family flush with easy-to-grow cucumbers, kale, tomatoes, garlic, and green beans. Rich, loamy soil gives vegetables the best start, and a drip hose will keep them thriving throughout the season.
These three garden resolutions reflect care for the environment, an eye for natural beauty, and a heart for personal growth. Here’s to a year of sowing new habits and reaping the rewards. Next year, we’ll toast your success among your flourishing sanctuary, whether it be a drift of milkweed, a simple patch of pumpkins, or a thriving space full of blooms.
