ORGANIC GARDENING

Healthy ecosystems

• A healthy garden ecosystem means natural checks and balances are in place to limit pests and diseases. Growing a range of flowering plants will lure in beneficial insects like ladybirds and hoverflies that keep on top of aphids. I grow masses of edible flowers like nasturtiums, French marigolds, violas and calendula, as well as letting a range of herbs flower to support this approach.

• The pollinators will love this too. Grow flowers and herbs at the ends of your beds or dot them between your vegetables. If you have space consider a pond, bird bath and wood piles to attract frogs, toads, birds and beetles that will eat slugs and other troublesome pests.

Healthy Soil

• If you have space, the best thing you can do is build or buy a compost bin. In small spaces, composting with worms in wormeries is a great alternative (see theurbanworm.co.uk for more information). In the absence of home-made compost source well-rotted manure, mushroom compost or green waste compost to add to your beds. Or use ‘green manures’ that are plants grown to be reincorporated into the soil to add nutrients (check out cotswoldsseeds.com organic range).

• If your soil is challenging, building raised beds are a quick fix. Fill them with topsoil blended with well-rotted manure or other composts listed above. A 10-12” depth bed gives instant results as roots can easily penetrate soil. I use wooden sides – a native, untreated hardwood like oak is ideal, but expensive. New or recycled scaffolding planks work well as long as there are no nasty spills on them. Or tantalised timber from a builder’s merchant can be used, but line the sides (not the bottom) with black polythene sheeting or landscaping fabric to limit any chemicals leaching into soil.

• If you are growing in pots, fill them with organic, peat-free multipurpose potting compost and remember to feed container plants with an organic liquid feed. I use home-made nettle and comfrey feeds or buy liquid seaweed feed.

Healthy Ecosystems

• A healthy garden ecosystem means natural checks and balances are in place to limit pests and diseases. Growing a range of flowering plants will lure in beneficial insects like ladybirds and hoverflies that keep on top of aphids. I grow masses of edible flowers like nasturtiums, French marigolds, violas and calendula, as well as letting a range of herbs flower to support this approach.

• The pollinators will love this too. Grow flowers and herbs at the ends of your beds or dot them between your vegetables. If you have space consider a pond, bird bath and wood piles to attract frogs, toads, birds and beetles that will eat slugs and other troublesome pests.