FREE ADVICE !
Test my knowledge with any general gardening problems or help in organic methods.
No obligation to buy. As a hobby and business, we are happy for you just to look around and ask questions about the nursery.
Small groups can arrange visits by prior appointment.
Compost all soft materials, grass cuttings ,prunings etc. in heaps. Mix materials in layers and water if dry. Food waste can be composted separately to make a rich fertilizer.
Nettles and comfrey can be rotted for several weeks in buckets of water then diluted down for a liquid feed.
Wood ash from bonfires saved dry is a good source of potash for fruit and vegetables.
Mulch with natural materials that slowly break down and suppress weeds.
Try beer traps, copper tape or simply collect up from dark corners and under pots etc to control slugs and snails.
Old net curtains, fleece or netting protect against most pests and insects.
Use soft soap sprays against aphids.
Encourage and learn to identify Lady birds, hoverflies, lacewings and their respective larvae in the war on aphids.Wasps and birds hunt caterpillars, while frogs, toads, slowworms and ground beetles eat slugs and their eggs.
Use plantings and maintain some wild areas or a pond to encourage wildlife diversity.
Some herbs, onions and garlic help hide the smell of other crops such as carrots, detouring carrot flies and aphids.
Collect rainwater from house and shed roofs into water buts. It is better for plants as unchlorinated, and more suited to acid loving plants, as well as saving water and money if metered. Grey water from sinks can be used on shrubs and trees though not on edible veg and salads.
Mulch after watering to stop evaporation.
Use flower pots or cut off upturned plastic bottles sunk next to plants to water direct to the roots. Keeping the ground surface dry also discourages slugs and snails that love wet conditions.
Stand pots and containers on saucers to hold water.
Wine corks and bottle stoppers make protective eye guards on canes.
Cardboard loo roll inners make biodegradable plant pots.
Old rubber gloves cut in strips make rubber bands.
We use natural materials generally around the garden
that biodegrade and can easily be replaced: e.g bamboo canes, prunings for
pea sticks, natural string, chestnut stakes and natural mulches.
Just a few ideas to share that we use.