EXCHANGE CHEMICALS FOR HOME REMEDIES
Stop relying on chemical warfare – it’s time to ban those toxic products and save the planet
We’ve got used to gardening in a certain way. We follow styles and a desire to tame nature, to grow perfect plants, while valuing precision and a neat and tidy aesthetic.
We hold these gardening principles dear and many of the chemicals which we use to kill weeds, green up lawns, eradicate moss, promote growth, extinguish insects or tackle diseases have been our gardening aids for generations.
But not all of these products are good for us or our planet.
Glyphosate, the main ingredient in some weedkillers, was recently given another five-year licence by the EU, despite concerns being raised over its potentially carcinogenic properties.
However, as we become more environmentally aware, it will become obvious to us that the use of many products which we purchase liberally is unsustainable.
Another threat to traditional gardening is the increase in plant diseases and pests arriving in Europe. Xylella fastidiosa is the latest bacteria to represent a potential major threat to the horticultural industry.
Outbreaks so far in continental Europe have caused destruction to olive trees in Italy and have spread to France and Spain.
Many of our old favourites, such as lavender and rosemary, may also be at risk from this disease. Box blight has been a plague for some time now and if a plant can’t be grown without chemical intervention, should we drop it from our planting palette?
What will this mean? It will mean embracing gardens that aren’t perfect.
I forecast that habits and practices which are widely accepted now will increasingly be challenged.
In the meantime, we can do our bit in our own plots and reduce our reliance on chemical warfare.
Here are some ways to go greener this year... There are a number of tried and tested, and surprisingly effective, homemade remedies for common garden problems and they’re easier on your pocket too!
Recycle a kitchen spray and get mixing. For example, one part cows’ milk to two parts water can be effective against blackspot, which can plague roses in warm wet conditions.
Chamomile tea makes a safe fungicide and can be used to prevent damping off disease of seedlings. You can also sprinkle cinnamon powder around seedlings.
Baking soda mixed with some veg oil and water can be used on leaf blight, powdery mildew and as a general fungicide.
Similarly, an infusion of chopped garlic, veg oil and water can be a good insecticide.
Methylated spirits can be used to remove woolly aphids from the trunks of fruit trees.
Just soak a cloth and rub the insects away. your garden uncultivated, which the weeds will quickly colonise.
ATTRACT NATURAL PREDATORS
These creatures, such as the ladybird, will hoover up aphids. They like herbs, including mint, chives, coriander, fennel and dill, and flat-topped flowers, such as yarrow. Include calendula, statice, alyssum and cosmos in your flower beds. Ladybirds (like hedgehogs) need places to hibernate in winter, preferring crevices of bark on trees and piles of leaf litter.
You can create your own ladybird house by using a simple