General organic gardening

Problems solved

If you need a ‘virtual’ helping hand with your organic garden, why not join Garden Organic? And for that last minute Christmas gift, why not join up a friend too. If you are already a Garden Organic member, then you can claim 20% discount on any gift membership bought in December. Click here to find out more.

Do you garden organically?

If you are not sure exactly what is meant by organic gardening, take the time in the slack of winter to update yourself. Garden Organic’s Organic gardening Guidelines cover every aspect of gardening, and can be viewed online.

• Sheds and fences may need repairing and painting to protect them over the coming year. Always choose a safe preservative. The Organic Gardening Catalogue sells Procol Fencecote, a non-toxic and non-flammable water-based wood protection
  Garden Organic members can check our factsheet, Using wood in the garden, for information on suitability and suppliers.
• Time to give those hard-working tools some care and attention. Scrub spades, forks and hoes with hot water, then dry thoroughly and wipe over with an oiled cloth to prevent rusting. Spade and hoe blades can be sharpened, but don’t overdo it!
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  Give your secateurs a good clean, oil and sharpening before embarking on winter pruning.
  Sharpening stones and steels are available from The Organic Gardening Catalogue
• Winter rains can wash many nutrients from the soil. Keep it covered with leafmould or fresh autumn leaves.
• Carry on weeding. Weeding done now will save time in the spring. Perennial weed roots thicken and can spread over the winter months, making them more of a problem if left until next spring. See our organic weed control page for more information.

Garden friends

• When the temperature drops to freezing, place a bowl of water out every day for the birds and other wildlife. Make sure that ponds and birdbaths are not frozen over.
• Check apples in store. Put those that are past their best out for the birds.
• Attract birds into your garden and areas where pests are known to be a problem by hanging fat balls or wild-bird seed nets.
• Don’t be too tidy, leave perennial plants until the spring to cut down as they provide habitat for over wintering creatures and lovely seed heads for the birds to feed on.







• Clear out bird boxes ready for spring. Put out food for birds - seed, nut and fat mixtures will provide the ideal diet; they will reward you by eating pests such as aphids, caterpillars, slugs and snails. And remember to provide a supply of clean water at all times; thaw it with warm water when necessary.

Recycle your Christmas tree after Christmas

Christmas trees can be shredded and the shreddings composted before use as a mulch. For more information, Garden Organic members can have a look at our factsheet 'What can I do with woody garden waste?'. ## add link to this factsheet please
If you don’t have a shredder you could

• Take the tree to your local recycling site
• Ask the council if they are having a Christmas tree collection/shredding event
• Chop it up then leave it in a heap in the garden to slowly decay

Use the branches as pea sticks.

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