Organic Gardening

The move to organic gardening during the last 10 years has been substantial, for various reasons. These include concern for the environment and concern about the chemicals in our environment, as well as the withdrawal from the market of many chemical based products. Organic gardening also encourages and helps wildlife to flourish, and is all round a GOOD THING!

Gardening organically does come with its own challenges however. These mostly relate to the control of pests, weeds and disease in the garden, which can be more difficult in an organic garden. However, when nature is encouraged in this way and reaches a natural balance in your garden, pests are to some degree self-controlling.

Perhaps the first step in establishing an organic garden is to designate an area for preparing compost. Compost is made from decomposed leaves, grass cuttings, fruit peel, vegetable scraps, dead flowers, and even the occasional newspaper, and you can't have too much of it!

Never put animal remains in a compost heap, and try to maintain a mix of all the items above. Thicker branches should be shredded before being added to your compost, to speed up decomposition, and the roots of some of the more difficult weeds  e.g. bindweed should not be added  - they should be burned.

Numerous types and shapes of compost bin are available that attempt to speed up the process, encourage worm growth, etc It is of course possible simply to fence off a small area of your garden and use that. Ideally the compost heap should be kept reasonably moist, especially to start the process, and turned occasionally. It can also be covered e.g. with an old blanket, which also speeds the composting process.

Along with compost, other organic additions that can help your garden include phosphates and bonemeal - which to use and when depend on the specific soil type and plants in your garden.

It is difficult to avoid the temptation to rush out and buy chemical pesticides when you see your prize plants being eaten by insects. The healthier your plants and garden are, and the better maintained, the less this should happen. Your main 'line-of-attack' is to encourage the animals that feed on the insects. These will include lizards, fogs, hedgehogs, ladybirds and birds. The good news is, these will be naturally attracted by your organic garden. You can further encourage them - for example keep a water source in the garden; an old pile of logs will encourage hedgehogs; flowers will attract bees and butterflies which aren't harmful to your garden and so on.

A secondary approach is to use physical barriers - physical collars on plants, sand that slugs don't like to cross, wasp traps etc and to use natural pest deterrents such as garlic, hot pepper and natural insecticidal soaps.

Some plants are also naturally more pest resistant - even different types of the same plant can vary a lot in terms of their natural pest resistance. In time you will come to know which these are for your garden.

Weeds are the other main challenge. There are two main approaches to weed control - the first is to use an organic mulch on your garden, such as bark clippings or coconut fibre, which restrain the growth of weeds. Ideally you should put a layer of newspaper or cardboard under the mulch to further inhibit weed growth.

The second option needs to be considered at the planning stage - you can place a barrier on the soil - thick black polythene sheeting is usually used - and then plant through holes cut in this polythene. This provides a very effective barrier. This method is commonly used for planting a new hedge, keeping weeds at bay until the hedge has become established.

The third option is to have well maintained soil, and to hoe the surface regularly. This works! But it does need to be done regularly since it is ineffective against deep-rooted weeds, well-established clover etc. Above all try and avoid the weeds from reaching the seeding stage.

Both pest control and weed control become easier in the organic garden as time goes by, and after a few years most gardens are much easier to keep free of these pests.