Fill a Christmas (or Winter Solstice) Stocking With WEEDS: An Organic, Earth-friendly Guide to Their Identification, Use and Control. Get a Signed Copy Direct From the Author – With FREE P&P!*

Weeding in the garden or allotment never stops, even in winter.

But at this time of year we can ease back a bit, take stock, and run our fingers over the pages of some favourite gardening books, rather than over frozen soil. I like the sound of that.

weeds-FC-large-1Understanding more about how our gardens tick is the best way of cultivating them in more organic, more eco- and earth-friendly ways. Knowing how the weeds on your patch tick is key to deciding on the best ways of gently reducing their numbers, without the use of polluting weedkillers. Some weeds – think dandelions – offer boundless benefits to all sorts of garden wildlife, and can safely be left to bloom their socks off (just nip off the seedheads if you don’t want too many).

Identifying those weeds worth hugging, as well as those to be wary of, is all part and parcel of gaining an intimate knowledge of how your own unique garden or allotment works.

And this is where my book Weeds: An Organic, Earth-friendly Guide to Their Identification, Use & Control comes in rather handy for some enlightening winter reading.

To find out more, check the main page for Weeds here.

There are three ways to buy a copy of Weeds:

1 Direct from the author, on this page.

This benefits the author (that’s me) the most. I’ll send you a signed copy of Weeds for £15* (£30* for two books), with FREE P&P, wherever possible using reused/recyclable/compostable packaging.

*To receive a copy of Weeds in time to slip into a Winter Solstice or Christmas stocking, please order here by Tuesday 18th December 2018.*

Order your signed copy here.

Secure payment is via PayPal (you can pay this way without a PayPal account).

2 From your local bricks-and-mortar bookshop.

You’ll need to order a copy, quoting the title of the book, and/or its ISBN number: 978-0993268342.

Please note that copies of Weeds ordered from bookshops will cost £18, due to distribution costs (the same average cost of ordering Weeds at various online booksellers once P&P charges are added).

3 From online booksellers.

Book cost and P&P charges/last order dates will vary.

*Applies to books sent Royal Mail Second Class to UK addresses only.

“This is a great book. We are just starting an organic vegetable plot this year and the book has been a revelation – it’s wonderful to see what weeds are helpful in encouraging insects and wildlife and can be safely encouraged, and which should be watched carefully! It’s clear, well-written and with very helpful photographs. I’d give it more than 5 stars if I could. Highly recommended.”

Amazon 5* review

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How to Make Seed-filled Bombs That Bloom Into Flowers for Bees, Insects and Other Wildlife

Dropping bombs is the sweetest, most gentle kind of revenge we can take for the savage treatment of our flora-rich roadside verges. Our gardens are brimming with ripe seeds, so it’s time to get vengeful – with flowers.

By John Walker. Originally published by Hartley Botanic magazine as ‘Bombs that bloom’, 10th August 2015
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My low-traffic lane had a thriving miscellany of wild flowers until it was pointlessly shredded. It made me pretty mad…

Revenge, the saying goes, is a dish best served cold. I’m not the only gardener to have looked on aghast at the treatment that’s been meted out to the wild flowers (not to mention the wildlife) along our roadside verges, embankments and other strips and scraps of ‘public’ land over the summer months. Yes, there are signs that those responsible for the ‘safety’ of our highways are finally ‘getting’ that our roadsides (however increasingly litter-strewn they’re becoming) are one of the last refuges for wild plants which have been purged from intensively-farmed monocultures all across our landscape. But in many areas wild flowers – and all of the life that goes with them – exist precariously in narrow strips, just beyond the reach of the polluting weedkillers that rain down on the fields from which we extract much of our food.

“Although it will be delivered by bombs, my revenge will be peaceful, sweet and enduring”

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Along with the wild flowers, I added a handful of single-flowered pot marigold (calendula) seeds to my bomb-making mix.

The scene is similar along our roads, where ruthless land management squeezes bees, butterflies and much other wild life into a hazardous strip between monoculture and hot rubber (yes, insects do get hit by vehicles). Here our hearts-on-four-wheels soar when cow parsley froths into bloom, or when foxgloves tower triumphantly in purple – but one pass of a flail cutter or a whining strimmer and everything, our hearts included, is flattened. This happens everywhere, from beside our busy main roads to the narrowest, sleepiest lanes like mine that see two or three vehicles a day. And don’t get me started on those dead, yellowing ribbons along verges sprayed with polluting glyphosate weedkiller…

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Foxgloves are prolific right now – you can collect thousands of tiny seeds from just a single fading spike.

I’ve frothed and fumed aplenty this spring and summer, but rather than vent any more frustration on automaton-like local authorities, I’ve decided it’s time to get vengeful. If those who look after our roadsides insist on chopping down our wild flowers, often unnecessarily, in their prime and in the name of tidiness, it’s payback time. Although it will be delivered by bombs, my revenge will be peaceful, sweet and enduring. It calls for lots of seeds – which are abundant right now – and will result in a quiet revolution led by beautiful flowers.

“You don’t need anyone’s permission, and it’s dead easy”

My beautiful bombing campaign will bring new life to dull, strimmed and sprayed-to-death strips of earth, barren car parks, footpaths, overlooked building plots, the weedkiller-poisoned edges of school playing fields, boring traffic roundabouts, abandoned gardens… choose your most needy targets and start planning your own. You don’t need anyone’s permission, and it’s dead easy. What you will need is some wild/garden flower seeds, some mature, crumbly leaf mould, fungicide-free wallpaper paste (or the preservative-free cellulose adhesive used in making papier mache) and an old bucket.

How to make bombs that bloom

IMG_3728Gather a rich mixture of flower seeds. The lane gave me cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), red campion (Silene dioica), primrose (Primula vulgaris), foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), sheep’s-bit scabious (Jasione montana), hedge garlic (Alliaria petiolata) and meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria). The garden yielded pot marigold (Calendula vulgaris), Welsh poppy (Meconopsis cambrica), ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) and bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta). I gathered some alexanders (Smyrnium olustratrum) from the roadside a few miles away.


IMG_3732Compost and soil are too precious to use for flower bombs, so I use well-rotted leaf mould, which I have lashings of. After passing it through a 6mm (1/4in) sieve, I add a teaspoonful of wallpaper paste to roughly half a bucket of leaf mould, and mix thoroughly. The leaf mould should be moist enough so it just exudes water when squeezed. If it’s dry, moisten it first. The paste helps bind the bombs together.

 


IMG_3733Mix your gathered seeds together and scatter them over the leaf mould, then work them in well so they’ll be distributed throughout each bomb. For a belt and braces blending, tip the ingredients into an empty compost bag and turn it upside down half a dozen times. Smaller seeds, such as those of Welsh poppy, will disappear into the mix, but you’ll still spot the larger ones, like smooth and shiny bluebell seeds, when you mould your bombs.

 


IMG_3747Now comes the therapeutic part of bomb-making: take a fistful of the mix, squeeze it together (this is where the cellulose paste does its stuff) and shape it into a ball. Use both hands to knead the mix, then roll it between them for the final finish. Aim for somewhere between golf- and tennis-ball size; bigger bombs will travel/bounce further. Some seeds will be embedded in the bomb’s outer casing.

 


IMG_3753Freshly made bombs are good to drop right away. Or, while you plan your campaign, you can stand them in the greenhouse to dry out; once they’re dry the seeds won’t start to grow until the bombs have been deployed and become moist again. Dry bombs are also lighter in weight, should you want to take a pocketful on your next walk, or have them ready to drop in a corner of the next lifeless car park you visit.

 


IMG_3776Now your’e ready to go flower-bombing. How you do it is up to you: drop them along roadsides and footpaths, or in bare corners of car parks, or fling them onto derelict bits of land to scatter seeds where they might never otherwise reach. You could even flip the odd one out of the car window (verge-side only, and with care). If the bombs ‘explode’ on impact, their contents are spread even more widely.

 


You won’t get an instant uprising of blooms with an autumn bombing blitz. Some seeds, such as calendula, foxglove and red campion, will germinate and produce young seedlings straight away. These will then grow slowly and produce flowers next spring and summer. Others, such as cow parsley, won’t come up until next spring. Some might not thrive at all, depending on where the bomb lands, but getting a broad variety of flowers into your mix will ensure that at least some will succeed. I chose my mix because I know that they all provide valuable sources of pollen and nectar for insects over many months, starting in spring.

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Seed bombs can explode into life before you’ve even dropped them…

Doesn’t this sound like the sweetest, most gentle kind of revenge? Better still, it’s something we can all have a go at. It’s time not to get mad, but to get even – with flowers.

Did you enjoy this post? Please consider making a donation to earth-friendly gardener. Even a modest amount (£3-£5) helps to meet the ongoing costs of running the site and allows new content to be added for all gardeners to benefit from. You can donate, safely and securely, here. Thank you.
Posted in bees & other insects, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, earth-friendly books, eco gardening, environment, glyphosate, green gardening, leaf mould, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, peat & peat-free compost, published articles, renewable gardening, wildlife gardening | 2 Comments

Surprise Sale of Ryton Organic Gardens: A Revealing Email Sent to Garden Organic Volunteers on 1 February 2018

The organic gardening charity Garden Organic/GO (formerly the Henry Doubleday Research Association/HDRA) recently put the entire Garden Organic site, including its long-established public demonstration gardens, at Ryton-on-Dunsmore in Warwickshire, up for sale.

This move has come as a shock to many of its members and to other long-time supporters and advocates. In September 2017 GO sent a letter to its members stating

‘…our Board of Trustees has asked Garden Organic’s management team to look at the options for the Ryton site that are in the best interest of the long-term future of the charity… We will be exploring all possible options for the site, but we need to release the financial pressure that comes with owning and managing the land and buildings… Whatever happens in the future, we will keep you informed every step of the way.’

The full text of the letter can be found here.

Since the sale of Ryton Organic Gardens was ‘discovered’ on an estate agent’s website a few weeks ago, there has been a growing call from a wide spectrum of people for GO’s management and board of trustees to explain exactly what they are up to. The promise of keeping people informed has clearly not been honoured. I have not heard or seen any evidence that the 20K members of GO have been asked this direct question: ‘Do you agree that we should sell the GO site, including Ryton Organic Gardens? Yes or no?’

The closing date for offers by ‘Informal Tender’ is 15 February 2018.

The first many GO members heard about this profound ‘decision’ was via social media, not from GO itself. ‘Exploring all possible options’ and then quietly moving to sell off the physical and spiritual home of the UK’s leading organic gardening charity are poles apart. It displays an apparent lack of foresight, vision or any sign of an ability to manage or engage with a move that was bound to attract controversy.

At the time of writing, GO’s management and trustees are still refusing to engage directly or adequately with the considerable number of people who are questioning this action. It’s hard to know whether this is sheer incompetence in knowing how to respond (GO recently declined to take part in a BBC local radio discussion) or whether ‘radio silence’ is part of a deliberate, albeit misguided strategy.

This email sent to GO volunteers last week appears to point to the latter:

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[‘Julie’ – Julie Court, Finance Director, Garden Organic; ‘Steve’ – Steve Thomson, Operations Director, Garden Organic]

Three words came to mind when I was passed this: patronising, disdainful and disingenuous. Is outrage, upset and concern really ‘negative talk’? ‘… comments are from only a small number of people, many of whom are familiar faces.’ Really? Is that how the management and trustees of this once respected organisation view the deep and legitimate concerns – the ‘moans and groans’ – of a growing number of people, whether they’re ‘familiar’ or not? Is it wise for GO to try and spin any opposition as the niggles of a few troublemakers with nothing better to do with their time?

This topic is being discussed on Facebook here, and it can be followed on Twitter here (you don’t need to join Twitter to see what’s being said). The Twitter hashtag is #SaveRyton.

john [at] earthfriendlygardener [dot] net


 

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It’s Time For Gardeners to Break Their Silence on Climate Breakdown. What we Do in Our Gardens and Allotments Does Affect the World Around us

‘Keep quiet and grow on’ simply isn’t tenable any longer. What we do in our gardens does make a difference to the chaos of climate change – for better or for worse.

By John Walker. Originally published on the Hartley Botanic website as ‘Silence of the gardeners’, 28th September 2015

It needs a snappier name for sure, but Gardening and Climate Change Day might be just what we need to snap us out of the comatose state we’re in. We could try setting it ablaze on social media using the hashtag #ClimateChangeGardeningDay; in any event it’s time to turn up the heat. I have penned the odd ditty about what we can do, in our gardens and on our allotments, to ease the growing threat of climate chaos, for longer than I dare remember. There was a time when I believed that gardeners – us folk who are up close and personal with nature on a regular if not daily basis – would rise to the challenge of doing what we could to help slow our human-driven lurch to a more topsy-turvy world. Please elbow me when the uprising finally begins.

“Gardening and Climate Change Day might be just what we need to snap us out of the comatose state we’re in.”

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More time spent gardening means less flying through the air on high-carbon gardening holidays…

As gardeners, we develop an instinctive ‘feel’ for what’s going on outdoors. A ‘bad summer’ means more than bemoaning the lack of days when it’s warm enough to sit outdoors swigging on lager or sipping Prosecco while chomping on charred food. For us, detail matters; lack of sun, cold, wet soil, sudden heatwaves, muddled-up non-seasons and mini monsoons are the stuff of our nightmares, and yet all are promised in a warmer, reshaped future. The hitch with the future is that it’s here today: 2015 has experienced record-breaking warmth in every month so far, putting it on track to be the hottest year globally since records began (2014 currently holds that dubious honour). This August was the warmest globally since 1880, and according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the US, the only way is up: ‘Long-term climate change is like climbing a flight of stairs: over time you get higher and higher.’

“A warming world doesn’t necessarily lead to milk-and-honey growing seasons.”

Here in North Wales it was cold in May, hot in June, then OK to dismal during July and August. In mid-July the garden flirted with disaster one night when it fell to 3C. I picked my first paltry runner beans and sweet peas not so many weeks ago; the pumpkins are goners, and I’ve scratched around to find barely enough ‘Golden Sweet’ mangetout pods for one decent meal a week. It was mid-August before the greenhouse tomatoes deigned to begin ripening. In an average ‘normal’ year – like the last one – these are all capable of being ‘bumper’ crops (or maybe bumper-ish in the case of the pumpkins). This year, there might be half a dozen carrots somewhere. The cosmos grew with leafy exuberance, but took weeks to pop open the first flower bud. All proof, if it were needed, that a warming world doesn’t necessarily lead to milk-and-honey growing seasons. Anyone with dirt under their fingernails knows that things are a-changing.

gardening-climate-change-ripening-tomatoes

A topsy-turvy growing season meant my greenhouse tomatoes only began to ripen in mid-August.

And yet gardening – by which I mean gardeners and the multi-billion-pound industry that serves them – seems content to carry on as if climatic turmoil has nothing at all to do with it. Yes, an odd climate-related article appears here or there, or a nervous celebrity might allude to altering weather patterns, but that’s about it. Most of the climate coverage in gardening magazines plays safe by focusing on how we’ll cope with inevitable future change, with the odd squeak from sceptical gardeners who clearly don’t spend enough time outdoors – but it is silent on how gardening might play its part in putting the brakes on it. Ditto our green-fingered broadcasters, who (apart from a few honourable exceptions) sign up to collective group amnesia on the subject. When will ‘Gardeners’ World’ or ‘Gardeners’ Question Time’ run slots on cultivating to calm climate chaos?

“Most of the climate coverage in gardening magazines … is silent on how it might play its part in putting the brakes on it.”

To maintain the status quo, to keep big business such as peat miners and pesticide makers happy, to keep gardeners relentlessly buying stuff, it’s vital that gardening garners only the flimsiest of environmental credentials. To do otherwise would court curiosity and risk sparking inquisitive concern in gardeners, who would then see that their treasured activity can send positive ripples out way beyond their garden gate.

Suggest reducing energy use, using renewable sunshine to warm a greenhouse, choosing modern peat-free composts (because mining peat unlocks fossil carbon stores which add to climate turmoil), not using oil- and energy-intensive pesticides and weedkillers, cutting back on garden visits and holidays (locally and overseas), asking for improved public transport links to gardens, scrutinising the ethical credentials of gardening businesses, or simply buying less of the avalanche of often pointless tat that’s foisted on gardeners, and mud’s your name. ‘Don’t think, just buy!’ is the mantra that’s relentlessly hammered home. I did say that gardening is worth billions.

gardening-climate-change-renewable-sunshine

Using free and renewable sunshine warms your greenhouse without adding to climate chaos.

“To maintain the status quo it’s vital that gardening garners only the flimsiest of environmental credentials.”

But we all have to start doing what we can: gardeners, organisations, businesses and the gardening media. Just sitting on our dibbers and musing about what we might/might not be able to grow as our weather jerks and stutters won’t cut it any more – and it won’t cut the carbon emissions that are reshaping our biosphere. At a time when any suggestion that goes against ‘growing the economy’ is disparaged, and when our gardening industry is increasingly rapacious, this will be a toughie. The frankest climate scientists warn us that our chances of limiting more dangerous change are shrinking fast. And let’s not forget that this is about far more than bum summers and a pathetic crop of runners; environmental change brought on by a shifting climate is part of a mix of factors disrupting entire ecosystems and forcing people in more vulnerable parts of the world to seek safer, better lives elsewhere.

“This is about far more than bum summers and a pathetic crop of runners.”

So will my Gardening and Climate Change Day rouse those dibbers to give us a prod where we need it? My idea for this national day of action is simple: on a summer’s day, one with a clear blue sky, go into your greenhouse first thing, shut the door and all the vents, and do nothing else except settle in a comfy deckchair, with a glass of chilled water to hand. Don’t do any other watering, even if something needs it. Just sit, watch and feel the climate in your own greenhouse change. Feel the temperature rise as more heat energy becomes trapped, and watch your beloved plants dry out and wilt (you’re allowed to rescue vulnerable seedlings). Stick it out until you’re forced to migrate to a cooler place (open the vents again first). As you gulp down a cold drink, reflect on how all of us live in a global greenhouse where the ‘vents’ are gradually closing.

“Just sit, watch and feel the climate in your greenhouse change.”

The beauty of #ClimateChangeGardeningDay is that everyone can join in. While you’re heating up at home, the staff at your local nursery can gather in a big greenhouse and cook along too (they can invite folk from the local garden centre to join them). Even gardening celebrities, pondering whether to say yes to the next cruise, could give it a whirl.

It could be a long overdue garden-changer, the prod with the dibber we all need. We are, after all, all in this greenhouse together.

Did you enjoy this post? Please consider making a donation to earth-friendly gardener. Even a modest amount (£3-£5) helps to meet the ongoing costs of running the site and allows new content to be added for all gardeners to benefit from. You can donate, safely and securely, here. Thank you.
Posted in allotments, carbon emissions, climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, earth-friendly books, energy use, environment, ethics, garden centres & gardening industry, green gardening, greenwash, media, organic gardening, overconsumption, published articles, renewable gardening, tv gardening & celebrities | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Add Water, Add Life: How to Make a Simple DIY Wildlife-attracting Pond in Your Garden, Allotment, Greenhouse or Polytunnel Using Free and Found Materials

Outdoors in a garden or allotment, or under cover in a greenhouse or polytunnel, adding even a small pond is the surest way to bring myriad wild life – and all its year-round benefits – into your growing space, whatever its size.

By John Walker. Originally published on the Hartley Botanic website as ‘Just add water’, 12th May 2017
large-red-damselfly

Large red damselflies are frequent fliers over my garden. I’m hoping my new pond will tempt them to touch down more often.

Ponds add life to gardens – it’s as simple as that. Not only can they look good, but even a small pond will dramatically increase the range and kind of wildlife your garden first attracts, and then keeps around. Adding a pond is akin to parachuting in a dynamic, self-contained aquatic ecosystem as the beating heart of your garden or allotment, helping keep the broader ecosystem across your patch in healthy balance.

Don’t assume ponds are just for gardens; they can work their biological magic inside larger greenhouses and polytunnels, too. Some of the most innovative and earth-friendly greenhouse growers I know have life-filled ponds quietly nestled in among their plants.

A pond is one of nature’s busiest interchanges, where life simply teems. Some wildlife will spend its whole existence submerged, while other species, such as frogs and toads, use ponds to cavort and breed before returning to drier land. Many head-turning insects find ponds irresistible: adult dragonflies and damselflies feed on smaller insects breeding in a pond, and will lay their own eggs there, too. Alderflies, beetles, water boatmen, pond skaters, caddis and mayfly larvae, leeches and water snails are other obvious-to-the-eye water dwellers.

Less than three months after building my pond, several frogs have taken up permanent residence.

Less than three months after building my pond, several frogs have taken up permanent residence.

Birds, mammals and insects such as bees visit ponds to drink or take a dip. More insects whose larvae live in water means more airborne food for spiders, for adult damselflies and dragonflies, and for insect-catching bats and birds such as flycatchers and swallows. Adding even a modest-sized pond (or three) to your garden, allotment, greenhouse or polytunnel will boost the myriad wild lives that constantly unfold there.

After much procrastination, I’ve finally begun adding ponds to my garden. Perhaps the dragonflies that swoop down from the disused reservoir will stop off a while longer. My garden is terraced, so I’m aiming for one small pond per level. I want ponds that look good, which complement my garden-defining slate walls, which will encourage wildlife and – crucially – will not cost me a penny. This is how I made my first one…

Add life…

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Set your pond liner in place and check it’s level.

This 60cm-wide, 33cm-deep plastic ‘sheep lick’ tub was blowing around a field (along with countless others) here in Snowdonia. It’s a perfect repurposed pond-maker, which I checked for leaks first (the red will be subdued by algae once pond life gets going). I dug a hole to position the tub in the centre of this new 110cm-wide bed, levelled and firmed the base, then checked that the tub was sitting level with the surrounding soil. Standing in the tub to anchor it, I backfilled and firmed soil well in around the sides.


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Add an emergency exit for wildlife.

2 To help any wildlife – from hedgehogs to ground beetles – that accidentally falls into the pond to easily get out again, I used reclaimed slate to build a flight of submerged ‘escape steps’ on one side of the tub (bricks, flat stones or broken paving slabs will work equally well). These underwater steps not only help wildlife to clamber out, they also create multiple nooks and crannies which pond-dwellers can inhabit – and retreat to if the local heron calls by. Make sure your escape route is sturdy and won’t collapse.


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Disguise the plastic lip of the liner.

3 The stone at the top of the ‘steps’ will sit above the water and has sloping sides where birds and insects can land to drink. I then used lichen-adorned pieces of slate to surround the edge of the tub, hiding it under a 2.5–5cm-wide overhang. It’s worth playing around with the materials you have at this stage, to get a finish where everything fits together snugly. You can use whatever you have; roof tiles, old bricks or even logs can be used to create an attractive eco-edging.


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Create as many nooks and crannies as possible.

4 To achieve habitat-max, I layered the slate to create crevices and hollows all around the pond. Those slates next to the tub’s lip will be constantly moist and shaded (water will overflow during rain), and will be a hang-out favoured by toads and newts. In spring and summer the slate will heat up in the sun, hopefully tempting the common lizards and slow worms that abound here to do some sunbathing. The wildlife that’s drawn to the pond will – with any luck – ripple out across and benefit the entire garden.


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Just add the magic ingredient – water.

5 Next comes the fun, splashy bit: filling the pond and injecting it with new life. I used rainwater from my water butt, but tap water is fine – it’ll just take a little longer to purify itself. The last bucketful – which I ‘borrowed’ from my neighbour’s small and lively pond – was used to give my own aquatic ecosystem a kick-start. Don’t fret if you’ve no neighbouring ponds to dip into; wildlife will find yours in less time than you might imagine. Gnats circled above mine an hour after I’d finished it.


A new ecosystem, all set and raring to go...

A new ecosystem, all set and raring to go…

6 I resisted planting around the edge of my pond, as it could soon be swamped. I’ve added hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) as a submerged oxygenator that’ll provide shelter and egg-laying habitat for pond-dwellers, and help keep the water clear. Don’t add fish; they’ll eat all of the wildlife you were hoping to attract. If the water level runs low, top it up with rainwater from a butt (don’t use tap water once a pond is established). Not bad for a found plastic tub, some chunks of reclaimed slate, and an ecosystem-making afternoon’s work.


IMG_75107 Less than three months after building my pond, and after starting to plant up the bed it sits in, wild life, from the smallest to the largest, is booming. Aquatic life was the first to flourish; water boatmen and beetles arrived within weeks. Dragonflies and damselflies are sussing out potential new territory as they pass overhead, and frogs are already in permanent residence.

Did you enjoy this post? Please consider making a donation to earth-friendly gardener. Even a modest amount (£3-£5) helps to meet the ongoing costs of running the site and allows new content to be added for all gardeners to benefit from. You can donate, safely and securely, here. Thank you.
Posted in allotments, earth-friendly books, eco gardening, environment, green gardening, nature & the natural world, published articles, water & 'water footprints', wildlife gardening, wildlife pond | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Wonderful Weeds: TEASEL – A Striking and Spiky Wild Plant That Benefits Bees and Butterflies in Summer, then Seed-eating Birds During Autumn and Winter

Teasel Dipsacus fullonum

Other names: brushes and combs; Venus’ basin.

Life cycle: Biennial

how-to-control-weeds-organically-garden-allotment

The prickly dome-shaped heads are a mass of smaller flowers.

Only treat teasel as a ‘weed’ if it interferes with your gardening as it has many positive benefits. In late summer plants reach 1.2-1.5m (4-5ft) tall and are topped with conical heads that are magnets for bees and butterflies, insects drink rainwater collected in the leaf bases, while in autumn and winter goldfinches visit the brown heads for their seeds. Loosen the soil around plants you don’t want and remove as much root as possible. Try to tolerate a few of these weeds at the back of borders – although it is an aggressive self-seeder.

Solutions: Fork/dig out; mulch.

Moderately easy to control.

Check out some other wonderful weeds:

Borage Borago officinalis

Chickweed Stellaria media

Dandelion Taraxacum officinale

Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium


how-to-control-garden-allotment-weeds-organicallyThis is an edited extract from my book Weeds: An Organic, Earth-friendly Guide to Their Identification, Use and Control.

Learn how to identify 60 common garden and allotment weeds. Find out how to enjoy, utilise and gently get rid of weeds, without the use of polluting chemical weedkillers…

Find out more about Weeds and buy the book direct from the author here.

Did you enjoy this post? Please consider making a donation to earth-friendly gardener. Even a modest amount (£3-£5) helps to meet the ongoing costs of running the site and allows new content to be added for all gardeners to benefit from. You can donate, safely and securely, here. Thank you.
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Wonderful Weeds: CHICKWEED – A Sign of a Rich and Fertile Garden Soil, This Prolific and Edible Wild Plant Can be Added to Your Salads All Year Round

Chickweed Stellaria media

Other names: chickwittle, cluckenweed, mischievous Jack.

Life cycle: Annual/ephemeral

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The tiny white flowers can appear in virtually every season.

Dense green clumps of chickweed, up to 30cm (1ft) tall indicate rich, fertile soil, but it will grow virtually anywhere in the garden, including the cracks in paving. The sprawling stems root as they touch the soil, so large clumps can quickly form, although this is an easy weed to simply pull up in great handfuls. These prolific seeders can produce up to 15,000 seeds per plant. Fresh leafy shoots can be added to salads and are rich in vitamins and minerals.

Earth-friendly solutions: Hoe; pull up; mulch.

Moderately easy to control.

Check out some other wonderful weeds:

Borage Borago officinalis

Dandelion Taraxacum officinale

Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium

Teasel Dipsacus fullonum


how-to-control-garden-allotment-weeds-organicallyThis is an edited extract from my book Weeds: An Organic, Earth-friendly Guide to Their Identification, Use and Control.

Learn how to identify 60 common garden and allotment weeds. Find out how to enjoy, utilise and gently get rid of weeds, without the use of polluting chemical weedkillers…

Find out more about Weeds and buy the book direct from the author here.

Did you enjoy this post? Please consider making a donation to earth-friendly gardener. Even a modest amount (£3-£5) helps to meet the ongoing costs of running the site and allows new content to be added for all gardeners to benefit from. You can donate, safely and securely, here. Thank you.
Posted in blog, earth-friendly books, green gardening, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, soil, weeds | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wonderful Weeds: BORAGE – A Prolific Self-seeding Plant Which Can Swamp its Neighbours, But is a Big Hit With Bees and Other Insects

Borage Borago officinalis

Life cycle: annual/biennial

weeds-borage-borago-officinalis

Use the pretty blue flowers to decorate salads or freeze them in ice cubes, or add flowers/young leaves to drinks.

Grown as a herb, this prolific self-seeder has escaped in many gardens and should be treated as a weed, except for any plants which you want to allow to develop and flower throughout the summer. Beware though – a fully grown plant can reach 90cm (3ft) tall and wide and soon swamps its neighbours. The bristly-hairy, cucumber-flavoured leaves can irritate skin. An exceptional plant for attracting bees and other insects. Overwintering rosettes produce the earliest flowers.

Earth-friendly solutions: Hoe; pull up; mulch.

Moderately easy to control.

Check out some other wonderful weeds:

Chickweed Stellaria media

Dandelion Taraxacum officinale

Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium

Teasel Dipsacus fullonum


how-to-control-garden-allotment-weeds-organicallyThis is an edited extract from my book Weeds: An Organic, Earth-friendly Guide to Their Identification, Use and Control.

Learn how to identify 60 common garden and allotment weeds. Find out how to enjoy, utilise and gently get rid of weeds, without the use of polluting chemical weedkillers…

Find out more about Weeds and buy the book direct from the author here.

Did you enjoy this post? Please consider making a donation to earth-friendly gardener. Even a modest amount (£3-£5) helps to meet the ongoing costs of running the site and allows new content to be added for all gardeners to benefit from. You can donate, safely and securely, here. Thank you.
Posted in bees & other insects, blog, earth-friendly books, green gardening, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, weeds | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wonderful Weeds: DANDELION – Let Some Wet-a-Beds Bloom to Provide Vital Food for Bees and Insects in Early Spring

Dandelion Taraxacum officinale

Other names: pee-a-bed, wet-a-bed, blow balls

Life cycle: perennial

weeds-dandelion-taraxacum-officinale

Add the wilted, nutrient-rich taproots and flat rosettes to your compost bin or weed bags.

Dandelion’s deep taproot must be dug or forked out and older plants, with very deep roots, may need several attempts. However, dandelion doesn’t spread sideways, so I let a few plants produce their bright yellow flowers, on stalks up to 30cm (1ft) tall, as a useful food source for insects in early spring, but I nip the green seedheads off before they turn into ‘clocks’ and release their airborne seeds. Dandelion quickly colonises bare soil. Use the flowers for wine, the young leaves (rich in vitamins A and C) for salads.

Earth-friendly solutions: Hoe seedlings; dig/fork out; long-term sheet mulch; mulch.

Moderately easy to control.

Check out some other wonderful weeds:

Borage Borago officinalis

Chickweed Stellaria media

Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium

Teasel Dipsacus fullonum


how-to-control-garden-allotment-weeds-organicallyThis is an edited extract from my book Weeds: An Organic, Earth-friendly Guide to Their Identification, Use and Control.

Learn how to identify 60 common garden and allotment weeds. Find out how to enjoy, utilise and gently get rid of weeds, without the use of polluting chemical weedkillers…

Find out more about Weeds and buy the book direct from the author here.

Did you enjoy this post? Please consider making a donation to earth-friendly gardener. Even a modest amount (£3-£5) helps to meet the ongoing costs of running the site and allows new content to be added for all gardeners to benefit from. You can donate, safely and securely, here. Thank you.
Posted in bees & other insects, blog, earth-friendly books, green gardening, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, weeds | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wonderful Weeds: HOGWEED or COW PARSNIP – A Big, Tall Weed Whose Flowers Are a Magnet for Bees, Hoverflies and Other Beneficial Garden Insects

Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium

Other names: cow parsnip, keck, limberscrimps

Life cycle: biennial/perennial

how-to-control-weeds-organically-garden-allotment

The 20cm (8in) wide umbrella-like flowerheads are a magnet for beneficial hoverflies and appear from late spring.

Often seen on roadsides, this tough, taprooted weed can be difficult to remove if it gets a foothold in beds or borders. Leafy rosettes of deeply lobed leaves grow first, which then overwinter before producing flowering shoots up to 3m (10ft) tall. Hogweed is ideal for a ‘bug bank’ because insects flock to the flat ‘landing pad’ flowerheads and you can easily cut off the unripe seeds. Don’t get the sap on your skin – like giant hogweed, it can cause severe blistering.

Earth-friendly solutions: Hoe; fork/dig out; mulch.

Moderately easy to control.

Check out some other wonderful weeds:

Borage Borago officinalis

Chickweed Stellaria media

Dandelion Taraxacum officinale

Teasel Dipsacus fullonum


how-to-control-garden-allotment-weeds-organicallyThis is an edited extract from my book Weeds: An Organic, Earth-friendly Guide to Their Identification, Use and Control.

Learn how to identify 60 common garden and allotment weeds. Find out how to enjoy, utilise and gently get rid of weeds, without the use of polluting chemical weedkillers…

Find out more about Weeds and buy the book direct from the author here.

 

Did you enjoy this post? Please consider making a donation to earth-friendly gardener. Even a modest amount (£3-£5) helps to meet the ongoing costs of running the site and allows new content to be added for all gardeners to benefit from. You can donate, safely and securely, here. Thank you.
Posted in allotments, bees & other insects, blog, earth-friendly books, green gardening, nature & the natural world, weeds | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment