Simple gardening adjustments to make your plot extra natural in September

Shaun Fellows / ShinePix Ltd / PA.

Organic September is the month that encourages us all to make positive decisions for the planet – and luckily, there are some simple steps gardeners can take to help.

Fiona Taylor, CEO of Garden Organic (gardenorganic.org), the horticultural charity, says, “In September at Organic, we’re asking gardeners to commit to some small barter deals that will have a big impact.

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“We cannot afford to continue to deplete natural resources or use polluting sprays while maintaining our gardens. Many of us don’t know that our sheds are full of harmful chemicals – or that our store-bought compost contains peat. “

Fiona Taylor, General Manager of Garden Organic.

Taylor adds, “The theme for September Organic is ‘Nature Has the Answer’ which underpins our ethos at Garden Organic.

“The use of peat-free compost and green manure nourishes the soil. Growing as wide a variety of plants as possible benefits birds, small mammals and insects, including predators of snails and aphids. Converting our food waste into compost will reduce our carbon footprint. “

The charity suggests these simple swaps:

1. Avoid using biological pest control chemicals

If slugs and slugs are a problem, don’t throw away slug pellets that contain metaldehyde as these beneficial wildlife can be harmed.

Go a more natural route and make your garden a welcoming habitat for hedgehogs, frogs, and birds, helping you keep snails at bay. If you need extra measures, a layer of gravel to cover the soil in your pots will protect your plants.

When fighting aphids, swap chemical bug sprays for a strong jet of cold water to remove them. Birds and ladybugs feed their young on aphids. If you kill the pest, you endanger other species.

2. Switching to natural plant food

Instead of using store-bought liquid plant feed that is packaged in plastic bottles and shipped to warehouse, grow comfrey – the organic gardener’s best friend – and make it your own. Comfrey leaves are full of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, all of the nutrients needed by growing plants.

Comfrey food is loved by particularly hungry plants such as tomatoes and eggplants and is very easy to make yourself from a small piece. The charity recommends the comfrey variety ‘Bocking 14’ because it doesn’t spread like some others.

Making your own compost is free and easy at home, so you don’t have to buy expensive chemical fertilizers or packaged potting soil for your garden. In addition, composting your own food and garden waste at home will reduce your carbon footprint.

Garden Organic recommends organically certified seeds. Look out for a trusted certification from the Soil Association (soilassociation.org) or Organic Farmers and Growers (ofgorganic.org).

Alternatively, start by storing seeds, which is easy. French beans and peas are a great place to start; Just leave some healthy pods on the plants to mature and dry. Then peel them off, throw away any that look sick or damaged, and store them in a cool and dry place. Tomatoes are easy too – just scoop up the seeds of a ripe tomato, wash off the gelatinous coating, dry the seeds, and store them for the next year.

5. Change your design to a mixture of flowers and vegetables

Think about how to make your grow space as inviting as possible to all beneficial insects by mixing flowers with vegetables to create a diverse ecosystem, leaving seed heads on plants as a source of food, and leaving areas of the garden wild and undisturbed in the colder months Habitat.

When buying bagged compost and potted plants, choose an organic and peat-free option. Peat bogs are rare ecosystems – wild areas that are home to an abundance of plants, birds, and insects. They also store three times more carbon than a forest. Digging up peat for horticulture is harmful to the environment. If your garden center doesn’t have a peat-free warehouse, ask them why not.

“Horticultural methods can create or destroy ecosystems – we have to look for the answer in nature,” says Taylor. “When enough of us make the transition to organic horticulture, the collective impact on the environment will be enormous.

“Organic September is a great time to start new habits by switching to organic methods as we prepare to sow seeds for the winter and into early spring.”

For more tips and information, visit gardenorganic.org.uk