Page 13 - ALG Issue 3 2024

CREATE HABITATS
If you struggle to keep your plot tidy, the good news is that some ‘relaxed’ areas are ideal for wildlife. A mix of habitats: leaves, old wood piles and weeds will feed and shelter beneficial insects such as hoverflies and ladybirds, as well as frogs, newts, hedgehogs and birds.
A wall basket can be added to your shed and stuffed with stems, cones and plant material for insects to overwinter. A shallow dish of water will attract bees and, if your allotment association allows it, a small pond can be a magnet for wildlife. Even a trug or bucket will do, as long as it’s around 60cm deep at one point and has steps or a ramp for wildlife to get in and out. Late summer/early autumn is a good time to create one.
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and wait for it to rot down.To speed up the process, chop into smaller bits and turn regularly to aerate. Compost heaps are also a great habitat for all kinds of insects and microorganisms.
Sow a green manure and you can help reduce run off, improve moisture retention (particularly important in summer) and suppress unwanted wild plants. August is a great time to sow green manures as crops finish and spaces open up on the plot.
Our research paper shows cover crops like these also reduce the density of pests and protect crops from
more extensive damage much more successfully than using toxic pesticides.
Leave some to flower and they
will also attract beneficial insects and other predators. Phacelia blooms are irresistible to bees and white clover is
a magnet for common blue butterflies. Find out how to plant at gardenorganic. org.uk/green-manures.
DITCH THE CHEMICALS
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Slugs and snails can easily get out of control on the veg plot but create
a biodiverse ecosystem and natural predators will mop them up. Frogs and ground beetles eat slugs, and a family of blue tits can consume around 100,000 aphids a year!
Instead of reaching for the toxic sprays, look more closely at how you’re tending your allotment.Transplant seedlings in early summer, when they are strong enough to resist attack from aphids, which are at their peak in high summer. Create physical barriers with fine eco-netting to cover crops, and
install them immediately after planting out young seedlings, before butterflies can lay eggs and aphids have hatched in mid-summer.This also prevents trapping caterpillars and pests inside the netting.
Weeds will occupy an area of soil where nothing else is growing so try light-excluding materials between plants or rows, such as biodegradable plastic, straw, well-rotted compost or low-growing clovers.
Remember that most wild plants benefit our gardens: they protect soil from erosion, add organic matter, attract beneficial insects and, in some cases, can accumulate nutrients while loosening soil.
The key to biodiversity is to plant
lots of different types of vegetables and flowers to prevent the build-up of soil diseases, while at the same time offering an abundant variety of food sources and shelter for nature.
Find out more about Garden Organic’s ‘Every Garden Matters’ report at gardenorganic.org.uk, where you can also support the charity by becoming a member and get organic advice at your fingertips.
or can be sterile.While insects are attracted to these plants, due to their scent and colour, pollinators waste valuable energy trying to access pollen that’s unavailable.
It’s also important to recognise that ‘weeds’ (in the right location) can also bring something positive to your plot.
A patch of nettles will attract a variety of butterflies such as the small copper and painted lady. And don’t forget, you can harvest some of the leaves in spring to make a liquid plant food.Weigh down the leaves with a brick in a lidded container and cover with water.Wait two weeks then dilute into a watering can.You want the feed to be the colour of weak tea.
Allotment and Leisure Gardener | Issue 3 2024 | 13