How to garden more sustainably: It's all about the little things

A compost heap is one way to give something back to the garden soil. Photos: Christin Klose/dpa

Even if you have a wonderfully green garden, it's not quite the same thing as nature. However, you can take steps toward sustainable action right in your own backyard, and in the process become very aware of the way nature works.

"While in nature the substances involved in the growth and decay of plant and animal life are in balance. In the course of the industrialisation of agriculture, a lot more was taken than given back," says Marja Rottleb of the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU).