Five Tips For Keeping Your Garden Healthy & Full of Life

This guest post was written by Ricky who works for Swallow Aquatics; suppliers of pond equipment and garden accessories. Ricky is a nature lover who enjoys spending time outdoors and enjoying his local wildlife.

There’s nothing so relaxing as enjoying an afternoon in a good old English country garden, whether you’re sitting back soaking up the sunshine or pottering around with your plants. One of the joys of having a garden is being able to watch it grow and develop, as well as meeting a variety of wildlife. So how can you make yours the best it can be, both for your flora and fauna?

 

Keep it disease free

Any gardener’s biggest bugbear is dealing with disease, which if left unchecked can lead to destruction not only of the plant in question, but of others in the garden too. The best way to avoid this problem is not to allow disease into your garden in the first place. Examine any new plants very closely when you buy them, and read up on common diseases so you know what to look out for.

Use the right soil

Think about how much better you feel when you eat nutritious foods – the same goes for your plants. However, different plants have different needs. For example, flowers benefit from adding compost to the soil, while herbs do not. Plan your garden accordingly, placing plants with similar needs together. Consider also the amount of sun / shade each plant needs.

Make a home

If you create a welcoming environment for wildlife, you’ll likely be rewarded with new families of birds, amphibians and insects setting up camp in your back yard each year. Lots of gardens have bird houses, but consider also the other creatures who need somewhere to hang their hat.

• The declining bee population is a serious problem, not only for our striped friends but for us, too – our crops may well fail without bees to pollinate them. Give them a helping hand with a bee house in your garden. There are bee houses available in the shops, but you could make one by drilling holes into pieces of  wood, where the bees can make a nest.
• Insects will thrive in a log shelter – and they are incredibly easy to construct. Just lay some logs in the corner of your yard and don’t bother clearing up fallen leaves. Mammals such as squirrels and hedgehogs may also use the leaf cover to hide their winter food. Another great home for insects and hibernating mammals is long grass, so consider leaving a section of your lawn to grow.
• Not only a haven for Kermit and his friends, ponds are a fantastic way to encourage a wide range of wildlife into your garden, including birds, dragonflies and beetle. Find a sunny spot for your pond, where one edge can have dense planting, with shelters nearby such as logs and hedges for the baby frogs.

Avoid chemicals

There are plenty of pesticides and other treatments available that claim to offer a quick solution to problems in your garden. Though the results may be quick, there could be longer term damage. It is possible to create an eco-system in your garden, with friendly wildlife like ladybirds killing off the pests for you. Make sure your garden is varied to encourage a range of wildlife to set up home.

Feed your garden

Consider using compost (with the plants that will benefit from it) to help your garden to thrive. However, if you are making your own compost, ensure that it is well rotted before introducing it to your plants – if you placed a diseased plant in there to rot down and it hasn’t gone through the whole rotting process, there may still be diseases lurking in there.

Also, make sure that you water your plants either first thing in the morning or when the sun has gone down. If plants are wet when the sun is at its full force, this could burn their leaves.

Enjoy your garden!

Enjoy your garden & Click Here!
 

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Healthy Garden