As we get that bit older, most of us gain a little more independence.
Hopefully this is passed on to our children. My lads for example now have their
own modes of transport, one, a car and the other a rather lovely boat he moors
on the marina in Derry. It wasn’t long ago since I was pushing them around in
prams, now they are making my life more mobile driving me places in their
different modes of transport.
I’m finding that nurturing the garden over the last five
years has given it a certain amount of independence as well.
Diversity
I have tried to add as much plant diversity as possible and
without the aid of any sprays or chemicals I have managed to settle down most
invasive species so they aren’t really a problem anymore. My main weeds are now tomato plants growing
in large mats all over the tunnel floor, and annual nasturtiums which tend to
appear from nowhere every five minutes. Neither of these are difficult to
compost and if I do leave them too long I am rewarded with beautiful flowers, a
great place for greenfly to live so they keep off my edibles and bright red
cherry tomatoes. So it’s all good.
It generally takes a new garden at least 3 years to settle
itself into a pattern. In that time there might be a need to keep an eye on
anything that seems to be taking over.
On new ground it’ll be the plants such as creeping
buttercup. I even have a few of those around just to keep the diversity. They
are easy to pull up in small quantities and do help the local visiting wildlife
that are moved around because of urban sprawl.
Adapting
It’s interesting to hear that trees and plants in cities are
now producing seeds heavier that their country counterparts. This is their way
of adapting and surviving as a place to germinate in a city is far less than in
an open environment so the heavier seeds are just falling straight down onto
the floor where there’s a chance of survival as opposed to floating aimlessly
in the air and landing on a block of concrete.
With natural mulching of compost, other beneficial insects
and worms grow rapidly and when no chemicals are added to the healthy ground,
this diverse garden will be able to tolerate all wildlife having a nibble of
the greenery as the plants will be strong enough to cope.
This healthy diversity in the garden will help to keep the
plants happy as unhealthy plants attract pests. Healthy plants can withstand
infestation which will do away with having to use the word “pest” in the garden
again as everything will be welcome.
There’s a lot of negative news about the use of chemicals in
the garden. Products such as Roundup get a really bad press. The counterculture in this debate tends to go
for the ‘unregulated’ types of solutions when using pesticides or insecticides,
which in itself can cause huge problems to the environment. The overuse of
seemingly safe but unregulated chemicals like vinegar, salt and Epsom salts all
have negative effects on the microorganisms holding the soil together. A recent experiment in a US town showed
organic alternatives to glyphosate to be more dangerous to the environment,
expensive, toxic than their chemical counterparts.
All Inclusive
My suggestion this week though is for us to create our own
piece of gardening heaven without the need to use ANY chemicals on the garden
regardless of being seen as harmless picked onion vinegar to a chemical that
was used in warfare.
Changing Ideas
The arguments for and against any chemical use are totally
pointless if the methods of HOW we see and work with gardens are changed. Our mind-sets can easily alter to include
EVERYTHING in the garden and not treat things as detrimental enemies. It’s in
the interest of the chemical companies for us to stick with this artificial
method of caring for the land in much the same way that pharmaceutical
companies are happier when we are ill.
There are a few
Buddhist philosophies that spring to mind with this week’s ramblings.
There isn’t really any need to kill anything, but if in the
enthusiasm of weeding you happen to kill a few slugs, hope they have a rebirth
as a human and have a happy life and keep their suffering to a minimum.
Look at the beauty of everything. Everything is the garden is a wonder: Plants
being recycled back into the compost heap, falling leaves, insect infestation
of the salad vegetables, cabbage white butterflies leaving eggs under your
brassicas and even next doors cat. They are all delights and also give you a
purpose keeping the balance. There’s always
room for a spot of weeding and keeping a close eye on anything that might tip
the scales.
If we allow nature to do its job everything will find a
balance, which will leave me a bit more time for sunbathing on my lads boat.
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