Pests, diseases and biodiversity
A balanced garden will give healthier plants, says Ruth
ABALANCED garden is a healthy garden, and if your plants are in good shape they are more able to withstand attacks from pests and diseases.
Lay the foundations by nurturing your soil, feeding it with lots of well-rotted leafmould, compost and manure to create rich, open-textured material that’s full of worms and packed with beneficial micro-organisms.
Do it now, in autumn, so that winter weather breaks down the mulch and the worms take it into the burrows, further aerating and feeding the soil.
When you plant and sow, follow instructions and read labels, and give plants the room they need and the right conditions to thrive. Good ventilation and regular feeding and watering will help stave off fungal problems and nutritional deficiencies.
Make your garden a welcoming place for wildlife by leaving an area to grow wild, with wildflowers, longer grass and a habitat pile of logs or twigs. Pollinator-friendly plants bring in the insects which, in turn, attract birds, amphibians and hedgehogs.
Many of these will feast on your pests, so welcome in the beetles, wasps, spiders and ladybirds. Such healthy and multi-layered diversity can take time to evolve, so in the meantime protect plants with a barrier of netting or fleece and use beer traps or upturned orange skins to trap slugs and snails.
Alternatively, grow ‘sacrificial’ plants such as nasturtiums or deterrents such as French marigolds to lure pests away
from crops. Nematodes – microscopic parasites that target specific pests – are a fantastic organic way of keeping plants safe. They can be ordered from garden centres or online
(see greengardener.co.uk or nematodesdirect.co.uk for more information).
If you grow your own fruit and veg, practise crop rotation so the soil isn’t overused and doesn’t collect a build up of problems associated with one particular group of plants. Group your crops into the five categories of brassicas (leafy crops), legumes (beans and peas), onions (and shallots and garlic), the potato family (including tomatoes, aubergines and peppers) and roots (beetroot, carrots, celery/celeriac, parsnips and fennel). If you have room, plan your plot so that the different groupings ‘follow’ each other, year after year, helping keep soil healthy. If you are growing in containers, simply refresh the compost each year.