Environmental issues and sustainability remains at the top of the nation’s agenda. Every gardener wants to create a beautiful outdoor space, but it is important to achieve this whilst consuming less and aiming to be as self-sufficient in the garden as possible. Follow our top tips to garden sustainably.
Save water
Extreme weather is becoming a more common occurrence with flooding over winter and drought over summer causing challenges in the garden. Implementing Hozelock’s Watering Wisdom tips will not only help the environment, but it will stop you from over-watering helping your garden to flourish. Giving you stronger, healthier plants and you can even save money on your water bills!
Install as many water butts as possible to harvest rain water – which is better for your plants than tap water. Use a Hozelock Water Butt pump to easily access and distribute this saved water around your garden. Consider installing an Automatic Watering system using a network of Micro Irrigation around your garden. This ensures you get the right amount of water to the right place, preventing water wastage.
Self-sufficient planting
Rather than buying new plants frequently, try to grow from seed to reduce transport emissions and single use plastic required for pots. Reuse plastic pots from previous years to grow from seeds and cuttings. Or raid your recycling to find suitable pots for your seedlings before they are moved to the ground. Try a seed exchange with friends, family or fellow allotmenteers to bring new plants and crops to your garden. You can still buy some new plants and splash out at your local garden centre – but maybe not quite so many!
Composting
Go peat-free and create your own home-made compost! You already have all the materials to get started. Prunings and lawn cuttings from your garden, brown waste like card and paper packaging from your home recycling and kitchen waste such as peelings and leftovers. This results in the perfect mixture to produce a highly nutritious soil activator. You can mix it with shop-bought peat-free compost to make it go even further around your garden. Ultimately saving you money, reducing plastic waste from compost bags and further waste going to landfill by recycling.
Check out our Guide to Composting to find out more about the process and to choose the composting bin most suited to you and your garden. The result is closed loop cycle of recycling your waste to make something useful. Our products EasyMix tumbling composter and the Bokashi kitchen composter also have a 2-in-1 function, resulting in a liquid byproduct that can be used to feed your plants!
Make your own natural plant solutions
Nature is full of resources. Hozelock Pure enables you to harness them to embellish your garden while conserving natural balances and biodiversity rather than using chemicals. As mentioned the liquid byproduct of composting can be used as a natural fertiliser to feed your plants. Disperse in your garden with a Pure sprayer specially adapted for durability with seals resistant against acidic solutions.
Have you heard of comfrey tea? The leaves of a comfrey plant are traditionally stewed in a bucket to create a high-potassium plant fertiliser. However the smell can be pungent. Use the Hozelock Biomix to easily make a natural insecticide or fertliser for your plants using natural resources from your garden. It’s easy with the Biomix, which has a lid to ensure that the comfrey leaves decompose quickly whilst the smell is contained within the mixer. Check out our recipe book for inspiration!
Reuse and repair!
You can repair your product when tired or damaged, saving you money and providing a long-lasting, eco-friendly solution. Our Spare Parts Website, includes an array of spares and accessories for our current and obsolete products.
Try to reuse as much as you can in the garden. Reuse plastic pots for your seedlings or use compost bags as liner! Got an old pallet lying around? Make a planter, or even a bug hotel!
