Caring for the Environment
Environmentally Friendly Pest and Disease Control
Considering biological measures to control weeds such as using a mulch of bark/wood/stone chippings or other material, which could be applied with or without an interwoven mat (also known as landscape mat, terram or geo-textile). This will help to reduce the amount of weed growth. The use of a mulch will also conserve moisture in your soil, cutting down on the need for watering during dry spells.
Pests such as slugs could be controlled by applying a rough surface around susceptible plants using gravel or broken egg shells. Encouraging other animals into your garden such as hedgehogs will also keep the slug population down! Making a beer trap for the slugs is yet another eco-friendly method of pest control. The use of slug pellets could mean that wildbirds feeding on the slugs are also being poisoned.If you are growing edible crops there are a number of techniques that can be adopted that reduce the reliance on chemicals, essential for growing organic crops, these include crop rotation and growing certain species together, further advice is given on these techniques on the internet by searching for organic gardening.