Page 10 - Oundle Life August 2022

Certain flowers can also be used to repel unwanted pests, acting as a natural alternative to pesticides:
• Calendula or ‘Pot Marigold’ is good at
repelling white flies.
• Other Marigolds (French, African or
Mexican) have such a strong aroma that put aphids and other pests off even the juiciest leaf! At the end of the season, rake into the soil and continue to see the benefit of their repellent properties.
Bug habitats
• Create a DIY bug hotel – Use a drill to make holes of varying sizes in a chunk of log or piece of untreated wood. Hang it from a tree limb or prop it in a sheltered corner of your garden to draw all kinds of creepy-crawlies!
• Make a maternity ward for mason bees – Mason bees lay their eggs in hollow twigs rather than in a hive. Fill an old can (wear gloves for this bit) with segments of bamboo cane to create a honeycomb affect. Pop it somewhere out of the way.
Fight pests and with pollinator friendly crops
• Herbs – Basil, Bay leaf and Chive are delicious and keep unwanted visitors away. Basil repels houseflies and mosquitos.
Bay leaves also repel flies and will deter cockroaches, and ants where you don’t want them. Chives are great for stopping Japanese beetles, carrot flies, aphids, and mites from making a nuisance on your plot.
• Garlic – This pungent plant is a bug repellent for carrot flies, cabbage worms, slugs and aphids.
Jobs to do now
• Plant out the remainder of spring brassicas and draw up a little soil around the stem of sprouts and kale to prevent damage from winter winds.
• Clear any spent crops as soon as the last harvest is made, compost all clean and disease-free material.
• Lightly cultivate the vacant soil and either mulch with garden compost, leaf mould or well-rotted manure to prevent weed growth.
• Begin to lift onions for winter storage. Keep harvesting all crops as they mature. Beetroot, kohlrabi and turnips can get woody and tasteless if allowed to get too large.
Fancy an allotment?
With 51% of local authorities reporting between 100-400 people on the waiting list for an allotment at the end of last year, many sites have split larger plots into half or quarters.
Smaller plots suit families or those
with busy lives and can act as a brilliant gateway to allotment life. Drop your local council or allotment association an email to let them know you are happy to take on a smaller plot just in case there is a little corner of greens space going spare!
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