For illustrated talks on natural history and history see www.peterlovetttalks.co.uk

For illustrated talks on natural history and history click here for www.peterlovetttalks.co.uk

Wednesday 11 August 2010

Ecological benefits of a no chemicals regime.

My cabbages are covered in white flies and eaten by slugs, despite my nighttime patrols with torch and guillotine (scissors).
However, every (white fly) cloud has a red lining, it seems.  Just as we are enjoying a burst of hover flies, whose larvae also eat aphids, there is a massive bloom of 7-spot Ladybirds.  Look how many are in the above picture.  They and their larvae just munch through plant parasitic aphids and flies.
White flies... jummie!
I'm happy to leave the ladybirds to enjoy the feast on my miserable looking cabbages.  Spis bladene kale is faring better elsewhere in the garden.
Click on any picture to expand it.
Seven spots.
Fruit trees need a weed free area around the trunk to thrive.  
Commercial orchards spray herbicide.  In my domestic garden, I simply pile up grass clippings and hedge clippings around the trunks, which smothers the weeds and grass.  No need to weed.  And with some addition of recycled beer, it mulches down wonderfully.  The badgers do grub it up for worms, but that just aids the rotting process.

No waste, no weeds, no work.  Perfect solution to weed control.

No comments:

Blog Archive