Save some ‘green’!
Want great green savings for yourself and the environment? Eco-friendly gardening is fun, less work and really does put the pounds back in your pocket. Great news for recession-hit gardens! Here’s help from Matt James, gardener, designer and columnist, who rose to fame with Channel 4’s The City Gardener and has recently joined the expert team on ITV’s new gardening show, Love Your Garden with Alan Titchmarsh.
1. Water Wise
The cost of water is on the up, so collect the free stuff and install a butt (or two!) on every downpipe. In a drought use bath-water pumped out with a cheap Water Green garden siphon (£19.99, greenessentials.co.uk). Big savings! Thrifty gardeners have long used rinse-water from the kitchen too - when you’ve washed your veggies, just pour it over your thirsty plants.
2. Compost Crunch
To up your eco-credentials ten-fold make your own compost and get free soil conditioner from stuff you might otherwise throw away. If space is tight, a wormery or Bokashi bin will do the job and won’t take up much room (try wigglywigglers.co.uk). If you have a large garden save more money still and build a bin from recycled wooden pallets. For a quick two-month turnaround, site the heap in a sunny spot, aim for a 50:50 mix of ‘greens’ (spent stems, veggie peelings, grass clippings) to ‘browns’ (pet bedding, newspaper, egg cartons) and turn it regularly to get the heap really hot. As little as a dustbin full will save you about £15 pounds.
3. Re-use and recycle
Bedding trays, compost sacks and plastic pots can all be used again. Yogurt pots, loo rolls and juice cartons make good seedling pots. Fruit punnets are ideal for cuttings. Cola bottles with the bottoms chopped off make perfect mini greenhouses for young salad crops. Even old tights are useful; cut them into thin strips for soft plant ties. For hardscape, recycled materials not only look better but they’re often cheaper. Reclamation yards can be pricey especially those in cities, so trawl junk yards and charity shops. Check on ebay.co.uk, freecycle.co.uk and supermarket classifieds too. And don’t forget to look closely around your own garden– who knows what gems you might unearth!
4. Nature’s Way
Pesticides are expensive so don’t buy them if natural methods work just as well. Knock greenfly off with a strong jet of water. Pick young caterpillars off brassicas by hand – or better still cover plants with garden fleece or fine Environmesh netting (from garden centers). Our ancestors used garlic, elder and rhubarb leaf sprays to control unwanted visitors. Try to encourage Mother Nature’s own pest control, too. Leave messy corners untouched for slug eating hedgehogs and slow worms. Erect boxes to attract nesting birds which will help with caterpillar control. Or better still build a small wildlife pond – you’ll attract all sorts! Companion planting works for organic gardeners. Onions and chives grown around roses combat black spot. Carrots and leeks together repel each other’s pests. Pungent French marigolds keep aphids off tomatoes. Grow dill and fennel to entice green-fly munching hover-flies.
5. Mulch more
Mulch more and wage war on weeds to cut back on costly chemicals. Regular mulching also feeds the soil and stops waterlogging. Spread a 2” mulch of home-made compost, shredded bark, even grass clippings around plants after watering.
6. Grow Your Own
Grow your own but only pricey crops that taste better picked fresh like asparagus, broad beans, runner beans, salad potatoes, lettuce, rocket, spinach, courgettes and – if you have a greenhouse – tomatoes and chillies. Main crop potatoes, pumpkins, carrots, cauliflower, onions and mushrooms are usually cheaper at your local greengrocer.
7. Sow your own!
Sow seed or strike your own cuttings instead of buying plants in pots from your local garden centre – it’s so rewarding! If you fancy doing more than the odd tray get a simple heated propagator (try twowests.co.uk) – it’ll pay for itself in no time!
8. Swap online
Join Freecycle (ukfreecycle.org) for free plastic tubs, greenhouse glass, old planks for raised beds or unwanted plants and seedlings – it’s a must. Local gardening clubs and charities are worth checking out, especially those operating a swap and share scheme. Also try seedysunday.org or gardenswapshop.co.uk.
9. Share and share alike!
Gardening clobber can be expensive. Share costs with friends and neighbours, and hire in costly kit you might only use once a year. Cut back on gadgets too; a spade, fork, trowel, garden rake, pair of secateurs, bucket or wheelbarrow, and perhaps a Dutch hoe, are all you ever really need.
Matt James will be at The National Home Improvement Show, London’s Earls Court, 30 September – 2 October 2011, where he will be available for individual consultations which will be free of charge and can be booked at the show. You can also stopover at the Real Homes Live Theatre! where he will be presenting seminars on designing the green room and creating a beautiful garden on a budget on 30 September 2011 at 13.00 and 15.15.
For more information and tickets, visit improveyourhome.co.uk. Tickets are £8 in advance or £12 on the door (children under 16 go free).
