Environmentally-conscious landscaping isn’t just about limiting or altogether avoiding the most potent chemical fertilizers — it’s also about benefiting from the wide range of safe alternatives nature provides.

This is true whether we’re talking about a lawn, a sports field, a garden or the vast acreage of a farm. Almost anywhere you look, nature has laid out a wealth of resources for us to use in growing vibrant, healthy plants.

There’s a wide array of safe fertilizers that can be used on the land. These alternatives are free of the potential risks that some chemical fertilizers carry, or the animal by-products that are often used in agricultural operations that may transmit hormones, pharmaceuticals and even pathogens to the soil, the plants and potentially to the consumer.

Here’s a sampling of nature’s best:

Hay mulches: With mulching, landscapers and farmers cover the ground with a thick layer of organic material. As the hay mulch decays, it sows richness in the soil. By blocking light, this protective cover also has the effect of suppressing weed growth.

Alfalfa meal, flax seed meal, cottonseed meal and soya meal: These are all wonderful sources of nitrogen, which plants need to thrive.

Seaweed: This cover can be applied in liquid, meal or fresh form. It is rich in essential trace elements, especially when it is harvested out at sea. Similar alternatives used by some organic farmers are kelp meal and spirulina.

Compost teas: This is a nitrogen-rich fertilizer that can be made from comfrey, nettles and other composting plants. 

Lime: Many home gardeners know that lime is a great source of calcium and magnesium. Plants need calcium to support growth and aid in the absorption of other key nutrients. Applying lime also helps to break up heavy clay soil, and can also be calibrated to increase the pH level in the soil if there is a deficiency.

Nitrogen-fixing crops: Wheat, oats, rye, vetch, peas, fava beans and clover are sometimes referred to as “green manure” crops. They can be planted in advance of the main crop, and then tilled into the soil when they mature. As they grow, they preserve soil nutrients through absorption, preventing loss that can occur as a result of natural leaching. Later, when they are tilled under, they return these nutrients to the soil, even as they add their own growth-accelerating nutrients. Their roots also prevent erosion and improve soil structure. When these cover crops are added to a garden or field in the fall or winter, they will also reduce the growth of weeds.

Green sand: Green sand feels like sand and has the same consistency; and that’s not surprising, because it is sand. What makes green sand stand apart is that it features ten times the moisture absorption of the sand you would typically find at beaches. It also can help loosen clay soil. Green sand is mined. Because it was once part of the ocean floor, it is rich in potash, iron, magnesium, silica and at least two dozen other trace minerals. It sounds like it would make a great multivitamin, and it does — for your plants.