Tag Archives: snails

Companion Planting Cosmos

With their bright, open, daisy like flowers and fern like leaves, cosmos are a welcome sight in any garden. They also work well in the vegetable garden. By companion planting cosmos with your vegetables you will grow healthier food and have a pretty display. Unlike some flowers that have many beneficial effects on their neighbours, the main claim to fame for cosmos is they attract aphids. The knock on effect of this is they also attract hoverflies and more importantly hoverfly larvae. Hoverflies are great pollinators, and their larvae are voracious consumers of aphids. Companion Planting Cosmos Any plant that… → Read More

The Benefits Of Companion Planting

As anyone who follows my blog will know, I am a big fan of companion planting. I have, over a number of years witnessed the benefits of companion planting both environmentally and financially. So this post is dedicated to sharing some of these benefits with you. What’s The Idea Behind Companion Planting? It’s a really simple concept, by growing certain plants close to other types of plants you will encourage increased yields and much more vigorous growth. In a nutshell, healthier plants and more produce without the need for harmful chemicals. Companion planting is by no means a new concept,… → Read More

Why It’s Important To Encourage Predators Into Your Garden

Why It’s Important To Encourage Predators Into Your Garden Anyone who has spent any time watching nature will know just how brutal it is. From the jungles of South America, to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean all life depends on the demise of some other form of life. So the short answer to why it’s important to encourage predators into your garden, is to control pest numbers naturally. Pests And Predators I am based in Essex and there aren’t generally too many seriously invasive pests to worry about. That said without proper control, Aphids can get to biblical proportions…. → Read More

Companion Planting Comfrey

Comfrey is nature’s wonder plant. It’s uses in the garden are legendary, so welcome to companion planting comfrey. Companion Planting Comfrey What is Comfrey? Comfrey (Symphytum) is a herb with a deep tap root that can break through the deep soil and uptake minerals that other plants cannot reach. Why Grow Comfrey? As stated above comfrey reaches minerals in the soil that other plants can’t, so it is a good source of minerals to feed your plants. Comfrey is a particularly valuable source of fertility to the organic gardener. It is very deep rooted and acts as a dynamic accumulator,[6]… → Read More

Using Scents To Keep Pests Away

As with humans, so with the animal kingdom. Using scents to keep pests away is a pleasant way of deterring those unwanted pests from your plants. If you wish to use only organic, humane ways to deter pests from your garden then this post is for you. Using Scents To Keep Pests Away By following this list pests can be deterred from either entering your garden or, at least they can be kept away from your vegetables. Ants Ants dislike, cinnamon, Cloves, Cayenne pepper, Curry powder, Lavender and mint. Sprinkle Cinnamon powder, Curry powder or a handful of Cloves around… → Read More

Gardeners friends

Whilst weeding the onion beds the other morning I noticed I was being shadowed by a robin, it’s a marvellous feeling to me, to be at one with nature. The robin knew that I was no threat to him and even if I was he wasn’t that close, but as I was turning the soil with a fork he was following on pecking any grubs that I exposed. That’s just fine by me as I grow organically so any help I can get to keep the pest population down is always welcome. Any way it got me thinking about othergardeners… → Read More