Jamie Durie, the sexy Aussie gardener known as much for his six-pack abs as he is for his ability to handle weeds, says one great way to help the environment is to turn your front yard into paradise, filled with native plants. You can even make it relatively private with a strategically-placed hedge for those Saturday mornings when you want to relax with your coffee away from the prying eyes of nosy neighbors. According to Jamie, you'll even use less fertilizer and water this way. The ambassador for Al Gore's climate program shares some insight regarding how you can turn a simple garden into a project that will help preserve the earth.

Q: What major gardening change could people make to help the environment?

A: People need to rethink their front lawns. To create a lawn, you have to cut down trees, shrubs and native plants. Then you have to level it out and pump it through with water, fertilizer and chemicals. Then you've got to push a noisy lawn mower on it once a week. We usually tend to grow our front lawn for our neighbors, not ourselves. How often do you see Ma and Pa kicking back and enjoying a cocktail on their front lawn?

I like to teach people to take ownership of their front garden. Plant native plants on the boundary of the front lawn so that these shrubs will create a hedge to give you privacy. Then choose indigenous native ground cover and local flowering plants to replace the lawn. Maybe add a small deck.

Then you can read the morning paper and have a cup of tea in the privacy of your own brand-new, front-yard sanctuary. You've encouraged native birds and native bees back into your yard. We all need the birds and the bees to move the pollen around.

If everybody did that, you'd reduce the need for chemicals and fertilizer. And, of course, you wouldn't need to mow the lawn every week, and you certainly wouldn't need to water it as much. Instead, you have an ever-changing garden with native plants flowering at different times of year rather than a bland front lawn that's just putting on a show for the Joneses.

Q: What does green gardening mean?

A: It means creating a garden that treads lightly on the planet and its resources. A number of factors come into play when you have a green garden. You should be recycling all your vegetable matter. Any organic waste that comes out of the house or garden should be composted, or you could do what I do and start a worm farm.

You can buy these worm farms from nurseries or garden centers. The worms eat their way up through the vegetable matter. They leave behind excrement in solid and liquid form that you can use in your gardens. Worm excrement is the most fantastic organic fertilizer on the planet. The kids love it because the worms continue to multiply and eat through the tray. I've had a worm farm for 10 years now. It doesn't smell. I just literally throw the vegetable scraps in there each night, and the worms continue to make their way through the fresh matter.

Q: What green gardening tips do you have for people who don't own land?

A: Anyone can grow a vegetable patch or herb patch on a balcony or rooftop terrace. And anyone can have a worm farm and recycle their vegetable matter and green waste.

Q: How do you think climate change will affect gardens in the future?

A: While some states still have good rainfall, there are many states that are suffering because of lack of water in their reservoirs. Essentially we need to focus more on drought-tolerant plants. It's about intelligent plant selection. It's working with the environment, not against it. We need to learn to fall in love with our own local plants again. That's really the gardening of the future.

» USA Today