Tags

I must admit that it has taken me a long while to be convinced of the benefits of soil testing. When I started out, most of the established gardens were resisting the obsessive wave of soil analysis which swept across the agricultural and commercial horticultural landscape. There were scientists and graduates from the universities wanting to help farmers and growers by analysing the chemical and physical properties of their soils. Several times each year, technical representatives from the emerging chemical and agricultural corporations would visit major farms, sporting grounds, and established gardens throughout the country. Around this time, I lived and worked on a private estate and was on one occasion harassed by a foreign gentleman seeking...

Growing in containers provides a great deal of flexibility and solves problems that might otherwise limit the creativity and enjoyment of organic gardening. Containers provide the essential platform in garden locations without soil such as patios, paved courtyards, and roof areas. They may offer the only means of gardening for individuals living in flats or apartments with limited space. Many urban dwellers have enriched their lives by growing collections of herbs in pots and containers on a windowsill. Most importantly, containers can sustain a range of plants that will struggle or fail in local soil and conditions. For example, in climates where the winter would normally kill a lime or tangelo, these can be grown successfully in containers,...

The propagation of fruit trees, bushes, and vines is a technical field containing considerable traps and difficulty for the inexperienced gardener. For a variety of reasons most commercial growers no longer propagate their own stock. Among these, time constraints, and barriers restricting convenient access to biological materials are believed to deter many growers away from the task. At the same time, the commercial success of large scale nurseries specialising in propagation have enabled these professional breeders to provide large quantities of plants at highly competitive prices. Despite these inducements to abandon their interest in the field, there is a small percentage of fruit growers who remain devoted to the task of propagating their...

Making compost from organic waste is an effective and environmentally sustainable means of improving your garden’s soil structure and fertility. Composting is a practical skill. However, achieving proficiency can prove challenging for novice gardeners. One helpful approach is to initially acquire some understanding of the role played by bacterial micro-organisms. A healthy population of these and other organisms will sustain the decomposition process by generating heat and chemical enzymes as by products of their metabolism. Under appropriate conditions the micro-organisms will reproduce in sufficient numbers to transform organic waste into a dark, finely crumbled, and sweet smelling substance. The compost bacteria require a blend of proteins...