The Herald - The Herald Magazine
Ground forces Steps
CLIMATE change is already affecting us all and we must act now to reduce carbon and other dangerous emissions. Over the last year, even in douce little Scotland, we’ve seen the changing climate turn normal weather patterns upside down, with storms, flooding, droughts and record-breaking temperatures.
So as gardeners we should be prepared for whatever the elements throw at us: supplement water supplies during a drought, give our plants the best chance of surviving downpours, or change our planting regime if necessary.
If you have mains water, only a severe drought will impact your supply. But water butts for the garden, topped up by downpipes from the roof, eke out diminishing reservoir levels.
Living in the countryside with my own spring water,
I anxiously monitor its flow during a drought, especially after one spring feeding our storage tank ran dry a few years ago. You certainly come to value water and since the surplus feeds my irrigation system in the kitchen garden, nothing is wasted in our house.
How water affects a garden depends on the type of soil, and the steps we take to modify the ground is also affected by the plants we want to grow. We may even need to choose different species if the ground becomes unsuitable.
Water passes straight through gritty, overly free-draining soil, so the simplest solution is to grow plants that thrive there: rock roses, Mediterranean herbs, or asparagus, for example. Their roots would rot in wetter ground. The top of my potager is perfect for these grit lovers.
And I quickly discovered that asparagus couldn’t cope with a corner of the kitchen garden with the heavier clay-like ground you often get in new-build properties. Some crowns quickly died and others lingered on miserably until I put them out of their misery.
As ever, we all crave “the moist, free-draining, moderately fertile soil” the seed catalogues assume we all have. This perfect ground does its best to both retain and drain away moisture as required, but even this struggles in torrential rain.
We can aspire to the catalogue model by improving both gritty and clay soil. Add compost and other organic material. This suits a larger range of plants and the increasingly varied climate conditions we’re experiencing.
Nothing offers us total protection against all these extreme conditions, but some techniques are good for dealing with many situations.
One method is mulching. Mulching, one of my favourites, deals with wet and dry conditions. It acts like an overcoat, reducing the impact of heavy rain, while also retaining any moisture already in the ground. I need to water soil beneath a mulch much less frequently and even in very dry weather, the surface remains friable.
Excessive rain also runs off
WITH holidays on hold, 2020 is turning out to be the year of the great garden getaway, with people’s appreciation of their own patch of outdoor space blossoming as they have not been able to venture far from home.
Some 85 per cent of people across the UK have been carrying out some form of home improvements during lockdown, according to a survey by Aviva – and while decluttering is the most popular activity, gardening came a close second, with more than half (52%) of people testing out their green fingers.
Like all things though, gardening costs can easily add up, so what if you’re watching your budget? Here are some tips for saving money.
GROW YOUR OWN VEGETABLES
Growing your own veg can be a great way to save some cash and help you trim your regular supermarket bill. Even if you haven’t got a patch of soil to dig into, you could grow herbs in pots on windowsills or growing vegetables in larger pots or troughs, provided they are deep enough.
You could also experiment using seeds from vegetables that are already in your kitchen and seeing if they’ll grow. it won’t be an expensive mistake if it doesn’t work out.
GROW YOUR SAVINGS BY STARTING SMALL WITH YOUR PLANTS
Large, mature plants may look great in the shop, but you could save a fortune by sowing from seed or buying smaller plants that will grow bigger in time.
MULTIPLY YOUR EXISTING PLANTS TO MAKE SAVINGS
If you’ve got empty spaces in your garden to fill, try creating more plants from those you already have. Try taking cuttings to create new plants.
You may want to use a rooting hormone to help them along. Or divide up clumps of leafy plants such as irises to create more.
RE-USE OLD CONTAINERS
Use what you’ve already got to hand, whether you’re growing seedlings in empty yoghurt pots or cans, or making a mini watering can out of an old plastic milk bottle.
MAKE YOUR OWN COMPOST
Turn your waste from your garden and kitchen into something useful. There are plenty of tips available online for making your own compost. The Royal Horticultural Society website (rhs.org. uk), for example, suggests that to get the balance right, you could aim for between one-quarter and a half soft green materials, such as grass clippings and vegetable kitchen waste, and the remainder as woody material such as wood chippings, cardboard or old leaves.
SWAP IDEAS
Learning from other keen gardeners is a great way to make some savings. Join online discussion forums to find out how others keep their costs down.
RESEARCH THE PRICES OF GARDEN ACCESSORIES
If you’re buying items for the garden, you could consider using websites to help you find a cheaper deal. Product comparison website Pricerunner.com, for example, says it’s recently seen a surge in people looking for gardenrelated products such as robotic lawnmowers, pressure washers and outdoor accessories. As well as comparing prices, cashback and voucher code websites could also help you save.