Green Gardening

A green garden is not only healthy for you but also attracts wildlife as well.

Gardening is often mostly associated with the colour green but nowadays the word green does not just apply to colour but to the consequences of gardening.  A lot depends on the scale of the operation one is in.  When managing a small plot or just some pots it is easy to follow lofty ideals but on a larger scale it becomes more difficult.  One does not normally expect to make money from a hobby but the commercial operator has to in order to stay in business!

For the small operator a little organisation goes a long way.  Even commercial outfits make it easier nowadays as I have come across organic potato fertilizer in the pound shops!

Of course there was a time when chemical fertilizers and pesticides were a rarity but our ancestors did not give up in despair.  The old techniques made a difference.  In order to keep aphids in check and whitefly down growing plants which have sulphur in them deters colonies from exploding.  Even if one only has window box or two growing a few cloves of garlic can work wonders at keeping a lot of pests at bay.

A lot of insects are vulnerable to drowning so spraying plants with soapy water removes many of them.  Do be careful as there is a big difference between soap and detergent!  We may not notice the difference plants do!  Some plants will die off if sprayed with detergents!

A lot of garden waste can be re-used with a little care.  It can make an enormous difference if one does a little research beforehand.  Achieving a proper balance of ingredients in the compost pile can speed up the process enormously.  It can be a bit awkward reaching a recycling site for garden refuse but for those with a bit of space laying aside an area for composting should deal with 99% of the problems!  Many local authorities give away a composting bin and will deliver it to your home for free!  Find out to apply for one from your local library or do a search online.

In a cool climate it will take two summers for most green waste to rot down sufficiently for re-use and woody items even longer but the result is well worthwhile. It will act as fertilizer and improve the condition of most soils.   Do not make your compost piles so large that they become difficult to be managed by one person.  A commercial operator can use bulldozers, the hobbyist wants something easier!  Gardening is supposed to be a pleasure not a burden so take it easy.  With a little forethought (and practice) one can enjoy the colour from plants all the year round and if that does not suffice one can always fall back on a florist to supply something extra for those special occasions.  Online specialists open up the whole world to us and it seems a pity not to take advantage of what is available every now and again.

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Post written by Flowers24hours.co.uk online London florist know more about the florist on their About Us page.

About Kevin J Railsabck

Award-winning filmmaker Kevin J Railsback has traveled as far as Africa to test HD cameras for Panasonic.
His stunning nature and wildlife footage has appeared in productions on National Geographic, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel as well as in commercials for such corporate giants as AT&T.

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