Beneficial garden insects

Attracting beneficial garden insects to your garden should be one of your new years resolutions especially if your keen on starting a fruit or vegetable garden this year. There are many insect "houses" out there available for purchase which are great at providing habitats for hibernating insects in winter but there is a great deal you can do during the growing season to attract beneficial garden insects into your garden, provide nectar rich plants and leave small piles of logs, debris at the back of the border, out of view.

Insects that are beneficial in eating those pests include:

• Ground beetles (leave them all apart from vine weevil)
• Ladybirds (excellent at eating large quantities of aphids)
• Lacewings (eat aphids and other pests)
• Hoverflies (eat aphids)
• Ichneumon flies (lay their eggs into the larvae that will turn into the cabbage white butterfly)
• Spiders 
• Velvet mites (look like money spiders, eat other small insects)

By attracting beneficial insects into your garden you will help maintain a good balance thus reducing the need for nasty chemical controls (in my opinion should never be used around food crops, ever)

I will add more information on this topic as we go throughout the year.

Vegetables to sow this month (March)

Below is some of the vegetable seed you will want to be starting off this month. Always check with your seed supplier the sowing conditions favoured for each variety.

• Beets
• Broad beans
• Brussels
• Chillies
• Leeks
• Onions
• Parsnips
• Peas
• Rocket
• Salads
• Tomatoes (cherry varietys)
• Turip

Herb gardens

After reading an article in  December in a popular garden magazine titled "50 ways to recycle and save money " I feel compelled to post that in those 50 it did not mention to grow your own herbs or divide herbaceous plants. I must of bought 40 to 50 plastic wrapped, silly bunches of herbs  last year from supermarkets all costing £1.50 + a time (I have a completely shady garden or I would grow my own).

If you enjoy a sunny garden then growing your own herbs is child's play. Either in window sill troughs (kitchen window best) or by creating a little patch somewhere in the garden. The majority of herbslove sunny, well drained areas as most originate from the Mediterranean,  so if your soil is not too free draining mix in some grit or sharp sand to help drainage. I would suggest planting 3 each of your favorite most used herbs then you will have a ready supply. MINT! plant this in a pot in the ground, it spreads like wild flower.

For an excellent supplier of herbs go to http://www.jekkasherbfarm.com/

If you would like an area designed in your garden for herbs please send an email to scott@scottlawrence.co.uk or contact me on 07792 185130.

Vegetables to sow now.

Spring is just around the corner and you can start to sow these vegetables now (depending on the variety you choose).

• Broad beans
• Chillies
• Parsnips
• Shallot sets
• Summer cabbage
• Sweet peppers
• Tomotoes (mid sized vaieties)

At last ... Organic Slug Pellets

Stock up now as when these were introduced last year they sold out very quickly. I managed to buy some albeit a bit too late in the season, the slugs'n'snails had already devastated my borders - but after just one sprinkling I was finding the blighters laying on their backs staring up at the sky. Highly  recommended.

Guide to composting

Composting is easy to do and can reduce your waste-to-landfill by approx 30 - 45%. If you dont already have a bin I recommend a square wooden type as they are more attractive (especially if you can't hide it in the garden) and easier to work with. The plastic "tardis" type are too awkward in my opinion to keep turned (secret of good compost).

Things not to compost:

• Cooked food of any description
• Glossy magazines and glossy cardboard
• Dairy
• Meat
• Woody material, branches etc
• Nappies (yes I have seen them in a heap)

Things you can compost:

• Vegetable and fruit peelings
• Soft plant material
• Tea and coffee grounds
• Grass clippings
• Scrunched up newspaper (and shredded bills, envelopes etc.)
• Old cut flowers

Remember to keep a heap turned and watered if too dry. Always try and put any different matter type in equal quantities.

Subsidised wormeries from Richmond Borough Council

It's a little known offer but Richmond Borough Council offer residents the chance to purchase wormeries at a hugely subsidised price. Wormeries are a great way to compost your kitchen waste and provide nutrient rich compost for your garden. If your a RBC resident buy one today.

Organic Gardening

In the years I have been in the horticulture field I recall using in-organic products ie pesticides and fertilizers in the garden about a total of 4 individual times and each time I have felt guilty so in 2008 and subsequent years I will not be using any. Instead I will be trialling the different organic methods and products out there and publishing my results.