Climate change and sustainability were the buzzwords at this year's Chelsea Flower Show. But what can you do to be greener in your garden?
Surprisingly, just by being there, your garden can provide a habitat as rich for wildlife as the countryside. But what can you do to enhance your eco credentials and make your garden even greener? Here are six ideas that will help you garden with a clearer conscience. Start with one or two of the easier ones and you can progress to the others in time.
Water
Even if it's raining outside as you read this, it'll soon be dry again and we should all be collecting water and not using expensively-cleaned drinking water on our plants. Nowadays, there's a size, shape and style of water butt to suit everyone. You could also consider using 'grey' water from washing up or the bath. Use a bucket or buy a siphon at www.droughtbuster.co.uk
How and when you water is important. A good soak once every few days is much more beneficial than frequent sprinklings. Water in the cool of the morning or evening and make sure it gets to the plants' roots (plant in a slight dip or sink an empty pot in the ground beside the plant and water into this).
For moisture retention, the condition of your soil is important. Improve it by adding plenty of organic matter (mushroom compost, well-rotted farm manure, your own compost which will also feed your plants. When planting, dig to twice the depth of your spade to encourage the plant's roots to go deeper into cooler soil.
Mulch
Once you've got that precious moisture in your garden, keep it there by applying a mulch (a layer of material laid on the surface of the soil). This will stop water evaporation by wind or by sun and, as a bonus helps prevent weeds and improve the condition of the soil.
Mulch plants in pots and containers with gravel or pebbles. It looks good and keeps the plants' roots cool. In borders and beds, use a good depth (5-10cm) of composted or chipped bark. Less attractive but just as effective are grass cuttings, straw or even plastic sheeting for vegetables (planted through slits). One point, though: don't mulch if the ground is dry. It's always best to mulch after a decent spell of rain.
Encourage wildlife
In return for the home you provide, good wildlife will help you combat many of the worst pests such as snails, slugs and aphids (greenfly and blackfly). Hedgehogs, slowworms, frogs, toads, birds and insects (ladybirds, lacewings, hoverflies, bumblebees) are all your friends.
How to attract them? Don't be too tidy in the garden, feed birds, try to find space for a small pond or water feature, and grow a wide range of plants in your garden. You can even buy ladybird houses, feeds and the actual ladybirds as well as bumblebee nest boxes and lacewing chambers. And the rewards are great for the gardener too. Birdsong, butterflies and the buzz of bees in the garden at the end of the day are an ideal way to de-stress.
The lawn
If you only have a small lawn, use a hand mower rather than a petrol-powered or electric one. Don't waste water on the lawn. It may go brown in the summer but will soon go green again in autumn. If you have a small town garden, do you need a lawn at all? A gravel garden planted with drought-resistant plants could be a more attractive (and certainly a 'greener') alternative.
Go organic
Learn to live with a few pests and diseases and a little untidiness. To reduce pests, try biological controls. These reduce pests by using their natural enemies (nematodes that you water into the soil that destroy slugs). Try companion planting to deter pests. For example, French marigolds against greenfly, and attract beneficial insects.
For more help, Garden Organic, the organic charity, is a mine of information on gardening organically and the RHS is also fantastically useful. Biological controls are available from the Organic Gardening Catalogue
Use sustainable or recycled materials
Try to find local or recycled materials for your hard landscaping. Use stone rubble-filled gabions to create retaining walls and local stone for paving rather than sandstone imported from India. Find out whether your furniture is made from a sustainable source of wood. Use solar lights or a few romantic candles and a brazier rather than a patio heater (recently labelled the 'eco enemy') to keep you warm.
Avoid using peat-based compost. Do your bit to help preserve the increasingly endangered peat bogs by using soil-based John Innes mixes or peat-free composts, or even your own homemade compost.
Other ways to get greener in the garden:
- Reduce the amount of rubbish you send to landfill by making your own compost
- Reduce the amount of packaging and food miles you use by growing some of your own food