Help save the planet ... with your garden

AS gardeners we cannot but be aware of that the human race is heating up our planet, causing ice caps to melt and seas to rise.

However, gardeners can also make small decisions which will help alleviate some of the damage. We can take steps to encourage wildlife and change our gardening philosophy in ways which will reduce our use of chemicals and precious natural resources.

Our gardens collectively are the biggest nature reserves in the country, covering a bigger land mass than all our nature reserves put together. In our quest for low-maintenance Edens, we have decked over lawns, cut down trees and removed herbaceous borders, and in doing so have made our gardens less attractive to wildlife.

It’s time to introduce some wildlifepractices into our gardens. By working in harmony with nature, we can have our plots buzzing with bees, butterflies and birds.

Here are some ways to go greener this year:

Swap chemicals for home remedies:

Recycle a kitchen spray and get mixing. For example, a spray of one part cow’s 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 baking soda mixed with vegetable 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.

Attract natural predators:

Natural predators, such as the ladybird will hoover up aphids. They like herbs such as mint, chives, coriander, fennel and dill, and flat-topped flowers such as yarrow. Include calendula, statice, alyssum and cosmos in your flower beds. Ladybirds need places to hibernate in winter. You can create your own ladybird house by using a simple wooden box and adding bits of bark and leaf litter.

Weeding:

Keep weeds under control by hoeing annual weeds and digging up perennials. A good, thick mulch - several inches, ideally - will also suppress weed growth as well as retaining moisture in the soil. Plant ground covers such as pachysandra, ajuga or alchemilla in larger areas. Use boiling water on weeds in gravelled or paved areas.

Relax!

Adopt a more relaxed approach to what you might otherwise think of as weeds. For example, nettles are a wonderful breeding ground for the larvae of butterflies, as are thistles. So why not leave a little patch of your garden uncultivated.

Good cultivation practices:

Good cultivation habits such as crop rotation, companion planting, choosing the right species that will thrive in your particular microclimate, and maintaining plant health with correct planting, nutrition and watering will all reduce the requirement for chemical intervention.

Barriers:

Slugs and snails are the bane of every gardener’s life but use up your leftover coffee beans and crushed eggshells to create rough barriers around precious plants. Copper bands are also effective around pots, giving snails a mild electric shock if they try to cross.