Is there a resource to find which plants one can grow to reduce CO2/purify the air? I'm in a hardiness zone 6 to 8 and looking to put my backyard garden away for the winter and plan it out for next spring. The front garden is already a pollinator garden, and part of the backyard is vegetables but I want to make more use of the area.
I must say, I’m liking the sound of your garden!
Advice I’ve often heard is simply to plant trees. (Young trees! Wild trees!) Ideally trees appropriate to your area, which require a minimum of maintenance. Here’s an article with more detail on that.
I’d add that fast growing trees would work best, and evergreens will continue photosynthesising while deciduous trees sleep for the winter. So perhaps connifers might be a good option. Pine needles can be useful if you collect them too. Scattering a few around your vegetable patch can apparently help to keep slugs away.
Alternatively, you could plant a few fruit trees among your vegetables. Cherry trees and apple trees might work well, and they don’t mind sharing soil (unlike oak trees which have a habit of sucking up all the nutrients from the surrounding area).
If trees are unfeasible though, perhaps smaller, fast growing plants. Things like bamboo would probably be an excellent choice. Though care should be taken with fast growing plants, as they can be invasive in some areas (things like kudzu and japanese knotweed, for example).
I found a Stack Exchange page with a list of good plant species on it, but do check that they’re appropriate for where you live. Wikipedia often shows the distribution of plant species in the wild, so it can be a good place to check.
