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Flowers Shoots and Leaves - Garden Design
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Organics

GARDENING ORGANICALLY

Flowers, Shoots and Leaves endeavours to work with nature, rather than against it, but accepts the need to use some chemicals in dire circumstances.

Here are a few ideas on how you can assist the natural world

Collect all your leaves in the autumn and compost them, in bags, or simple wire netting squares.

Compost as much as you can. Have three compost bins, one for adding to, one for using and one for rotting down.

Leave the seed heads on the plants for the winter months, they will feed the hungry birds.

Make a discreet log pile, for mammals and amphibians to hide in.

Buy a wormery. Apple cores can be put in here rather than the compost together with the vegetable peelings from the kitchen. Wormeries make lots of free liquid manure.

Be vigilant in the spring. When the green fly descend on the roses rub them off with your gardening gloves. If things get out of hand you can always spray with a soapy solution which will not hurt the ladybirds and ants.

Do not be too tidy, let leaves rot down under the hedges

Remove the bottoms of used plastic bottles and then ‘plant’ them beside your new shrubs and trees. If you fill up the bottles with water in the hot summer months the water will get directly to the plant root system.

Put in as many water butts you can. Flowers Shoots and Leaves can supply information on distributors.

Mulch as much as you are able during the early spring months, but only when the soil is still wet.

Buy a shredder, to cut back on bonfires.