Growing your own fresh produce
must be one of the most rewarding ‘green’
activities. You can be sure of what and how any
chemicals have been applied; you will probably
believe that it tastes better and is more
nutritious; no ‘food miles’ will have been incurred;
you will probably save money and even have a surplus
to give or sell to others; and your health will
benefit from the physical work.
Garden Organic,
Organic UK or the
Wiggly Wigglers' web site will give you more
help on natural gardening.
GrowVeg.Com helps newcomers with planning their
garden.
 If you lack the garden space you
need, allotments may be the answer. Contact
your County Council
One
Stop Shop in the first instance to check
availability. You might support local
campaigns for greater provision.
Avoid or minimise
use of
inorganic fertilisers, insecticides and herbicides (click
here for more
information about pesticides); encourage natural
predators by avoiding these; weed by hand, before
they seed; adopt rotation planting to avoid last
year’s pests and diseases in the soil; look at
gardening books for tips like planting French
marigolds to ward off Cabbage White butterflies or
using grit or eggshells to deter slugs.
Leave some untidy areas
with nettles, rocks, logs, etc. for wildlife; plant
buddleia and sedum for butterflies, teasels and
sunflowers for seeds loved by finches; a pond with
gently sloping edges attracts frogs, toads and
newts; provide suitable nesting boxes for birds and
roosting boxes for bats (bat roosts are legally
protected)
Avoid peat, a threatened
bog habitat. Compost or manure do the same job and
contain nutrients, or there are products based on
bark or coconut shells. For more information
on composting click
here.
You will be more ‘in tune’ with
the local ecology if you choose
trees and shrubs
that are native to the area and attract
wildlife. Avoid Leylandii conifers because of their
rapid growth and difficulty in dealing with
clippings (conifer waste does not compost easily).
Don’t plant thirsty trees too near your house
foundations - seek advice if in any doubt.
Patio heaters are
particularly wasteful of energy.
Water economically, even if
no restrictions are (yet) in force. Collect rain
water in butts connected to downpipes, avoid
sprinklers, water early or late in the day. Remember
that overwatering causes shallow rooting and
therefore less resistance in dry weather when you go
away on holiday. Organic material, preferably your
own compost or manure, or top mulching, aids water
retention in the soil.
Gardening can produce a lot of
non-organic waste
- plastic bags, chemicals and their containers and
plastic pots. Biodegradable pots (of varying
sustainability) are slowly arriving, but some garden centres are offering to recycle
plastic pots. Public pressure could make this
general practice.
If you own a farm or a
smallholding, consider managing it more
sustainably. Organic farming is much kinder to
wildlife and the Government’s agri-environment
support schemes, notably Tir Gofal (to become part
of Glastir) in Wales,
encourage more sustainable methods. Locally, the
Gwent Wildlife Trust and the
Monmouthshire Meadows
Group may be able to advise you. The
Forestry Commission may be able to provide you with advice
and grants for better woodland.
Even keen gardeners deserve a
change of exercise:
Make use of your local
public
rights of way and other access areas like
Forestry Commission land or commons for healthy
exercise. Ordnance Survey maps show rights of way
(they may not be up to date – if in doubt check with
the County Council) and
www.ccw.gov.uk
(Wales) and
www.naturalengland.org.uk (England)
have maps of open access land. You may be able to
join volunteer groups that help keep rights of way
open for easy use.
Follow the Countryside Code:
be safe – plan ahead and follow any signs; leave
gates and property as you find them; protect plants
and animals, and take your litter home; keep dogs
under close control; consider other people.
Join the Gwent Wildlife Trust
and/or other local wildlife groups, several
of which are
GreenWeb members -
as are the County Council,
the Brecon Beacons National Park, the Wye Valley AONB
and Rural Community Action who may be able to tell you of a local
environmental improvement project that you can help.
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