Organic Gardening

By maintaining an organic garden, you can benefit from your own organic produce, and reduce the amount of pesticides and chemicals that are released into the environment. 

Composting
Your local council may still accept garden waste as part of your weekly rubbish collection– if it is not sorted as part of a ‘green’ waste scheme.  Then although it can be composted and decompose, it will be in a  landfill site surrounded by other rubbish, which will mean it is not able to decompose. 

Many councils offer discounted compost bins – this has the added advantage of you producing nutrients for your garden and reducing the waste you landfill.

You can improve your soils condition by using home or municipal compost; these can either be dub in or spread on the surface.  This will improve the drainage of heavy soils and help dry soils to hold on to moisture and nutrients.

Weed control
keep bare soil covered by compost or mulch to minimise the spread of weeds.  Also remember not all weeds are bad – if you are trying to encourage wildlife butterflies breed in flowering grasses, and nettles support aphids for ladybirds.  Organic gardeners want their plants to grow well but not at any cost, buy plants that suit your site and soil.  Seed catalogues offer a huge range of plants that have natural resistance to all sorts of problems.

Encourage Wildlife
organic gardens are havens for wildlife.  To encourage this, grow a range of plants providing food and shelter.

Pest Management
the best results come from using a range of techniques.  Best to deal with problems early, to avoid the need for chemical  treatments.  Crop rotation, traps and barriers are good options.

Directory Links:

Useful Links:

www.gardenorganic.org.uk

www.soilassociation.org/web/sa/saweb.nsf?Open
We are the UK's leading environmental charity promoting sustainable, organic farming and championing human health.