In today’s more enlightened society we know that each and everyone of us can personally contribute towards creating a safer, less poisonous environment by many different methods, and gardeners are successfully leading the way by adopting responsible gardening practices.
Some practices are so obvious today but a couple of decades ago many of these were not so commonly carried out. Take the popular activity of composting. In the past garden refuse was often thrown on a bonfire, releasing harmful gases into the atmosphere. Today, more and more people make their own compost either in a pre-fab composting unit (which you can purchase from a garden centre or acquire from your local municipality) or by piling layers of brown and green garden prunings into a heap and adding Green Earth compost accelorator in every two layers of raw material. If this is not possible you can leave your prunings and leaves at the curbside for collection and transportation to a municipality composting facility.
Where composting is concerned, we have gained twice over, reducing pollution and providing a wonderful product that will improve and amend the quality of the soil in your garden. If you have been composting for years, you likely can’t understand what all the fuss is about, doing what comes naturally. And, you are right, this is the way we should think – it’s a natural process – what comes from the soil, is returned to the soil naturally. I am an ardent believer in composting – wonderful stuff, I love it!
It’s here, that ‘green-up’ time again and if you delight in having a lawn, whether to complement your flowerbeds and borders, provide a place for your kids to play and kick around a ball, or simply somewhere to sit and relax, you want to see green, green grass. The best method of obtaining a healthy, weed-free lawn is to produce thick, healthy grass that will shade out weeds and crab grass, eliminating the necessity for herbicides.
I recommend that the first activity in your garden this spring is to overseed the lawn area with fresh grass seed. However, wait until the ground has dried and is firm enough to walk on.
With a spring-tined rake remove any debris, dead grass, leaves etc. and add them to your compost. If your soil is clay based or your lawn receives high foot traffic I recommend that you aerate the lawn using a power aereator to reduce compaction as well as decrease thatch. You can readily hire an aerator for an hour or so to quickly get the job done (Check the Yellow Pages under Rental Equipment). Spread 2-4cm of triple mix over the area, concentrating on the depressions and thin areas. Sow a good quality grass seed, such as CIL Golf Green, which incidentally exceeds the standards for Canada #1 grass seed, at the rate of 1 kilogram for every 80 sq.metres (1lb per 400 sq.ft.).
If your lawn is in pretty good shape, simply repair any bare spots and fertilize your lawn using a quality spring fertilizer with slow release nitrogen like Golfgreen. The slow release nitrogen will last for up to 10 weeks - no need to repeat applications until late spring or early summer!
There are several natural lawn food products available and one I would thoroughly recommend is from the Green Earth line of products from Nu-Gro. The slow-release nitrogen in each bag ensures continuous, even, no-burn feeding throughout the spring.
Many years of research have successfully resulted in a line of organic fertilizers, insect and fungal treatments. These have all been selected for their low toxicity and minimal environmental impact. They are botanically derived or mineral based, i.e. from plants, minerals and extinct marine creatures such as coral. What could be more natural for your lawn and garden?
If you are like me you long to get into the garden at this time of the year and inspect your plants, I would like to issue one word of warning, or rather two. Don’t panic! We have experienced a harsh spring and many plants are a little later developing new growth than normal. Don't be discour
