NATURE BOOSTERS

FOUR EASY WAYS TO GARDEN MORE SUSTAINABLY

SOW GREEN MANURE

Green manure, such as Phacelia tanacetifolia (right), is a crop you grow especially to cut down and dig in to your soil to enrich it.

GROW YOUR OWN PLANT FOOD

Grow nettles or comfrey, then harvest the leaves, add to a bucket of water and leave for a few weeks to turn into a (very smelly) but effective plant food. Alternatively, just cut the leaves and spread them around your plants.

FEED THE BIRDS

Grow sunflowers and thistles to encourage birds to spend time in your garden, and have some bird feeders to tempt them to visit all year round. There’s no better way to deal with aphids.

REUSE POTTING COMPOST

Tired compost lacking in nutrients can be revitalised (check it’s not infested with vine weevils first) by adding sieved homemade compost. Use it to top-dress pots or in the veg garden.