Homemade recipes for a natural garden

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Nature is full of resources. Hozelock Pure enables you to harness them to embellish your garden while conserving natural balances and biodiversity.

The various types of potions

Decoction

This involves soaking plants in water, then boiling them to create a concentrated liquid.

Infusion

This involves boiling plants in water and then leaving them to infuse for several hours.

Maceration

Also known as Liquid Manure, plants are soaked in water for several days to detach their soluble parts. Must be stored in the dark.

Solution

A solution is liquid mixture in which the ingredients are dissolved in water. Great for weeding.

Tips for optimising effectiveness

• Macerate in non-metallic containers, such as plastic, wood or glass.

• For all these tips, we recommend using water that is neither hard nor chlorinated – rainwater is ideal. If you only have tap water available, leave it standing for at least two days, and acidify it with a teaspoonful of spirit vinegar per litre of water.

• Use freshly picked plants.

• Never leave your preparations in the sprayer.

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Do not inhale any vapours. Protect skin & eyes by wearing protective clothing. Keep away from children.

Treatment

Phytostimulant

Ingredients:

  • Nettles which have not gone to seed, freshly picked on a slope or comfrey (leaves, stems and tops in flower) freshly picked in a garden.
  • Spring or rainwater.

How to prepare

For 10L of solution:

  • Coarsely chop 1kg of nettles or comfrey leaves and put them in a big wooden or plastic container (a barrel, a big bucket or a dustbin, for example) – but not in a sprayer.

  • Cover with 10 litres of spring or rainwater.

  • Cover the container with a non-hermetic lid (a jute sack, for example).

  • Every 2/3 days, stir the mixture with a stick.

  • Fermentation is finished when there are no more bubbles.

  • It can take 1-3 weeks depending on the outdoor temperature.

  • Filter carefully through a fine mesh strainer or an old stocking and store in bottles.

Nettles

How to use

Once you have made your solution, store it in a dark, cool space in plastic or opaque glass bottles. The solution will remain usable for several months if filtered perfectly.

Use the liquid nettle manure in a dilution of approximately 10% by spraying or watering every 1 to 2 weeks in springtime.

Use the liquid comfrey manure in springtime in a dilution of approximately 10%, by spraying on the foliage of vegetables or 20% by watering the ground every 1 to 2 weeks. Ensure you rinse the sprayer after each use.

Treatment

To prevent attacks by certain aphids (greenfly, etc.), mites and ticks on all types of plants.

Ingredients:

  • Liquid black soap (easier to dose). Available in supermarkets, garden-centres and DIY stores.
  • Spring or rainwater.

How to prepare

To prepare 1 litre of solution.

Add 3 tablespoons of black soap to 1 litre of warm water.

Allow to cool and then pour the preparation into a Hozelock Pure Sprayer.

How to use

This preparation is effective for several weeks; it is nevertheless preferable to make it whenever needed, this recipe being so easy to prepare.

Spray on foliage in the morning or evening when the first aphids (greenfly, etc.) appear. Repeat one week later if necessary.

Rinse the sprayer after each use.

Black soap

Photo credit: Naturitas.co.uk

Treatment

Use in the event of attacks of parasites (aphids, greenfly, etc.), carrot bugs, caterpillars on plants.

Ingredients:

  • Fresh-picked elder tree leaves.

  • Spring or rainwater.

How to prepare

To prepare 1 litre of solution.

Coarsely chop 100g of elder tree leaves and soak in 1 litre of water for 24 hours.

Cover and boil the solution in a big stew pan for 20 to 30 minutes.

Allow to cool and set aside for 24 hours.

Filter carefully through a fine mesh strainer or an old stocking and store in plastic or opaque bottles .

How to use

The solution does not stay effective for long; ensure you use in the days following preparation.

  • Spray undiluted every 2 to 3 days onto the colonies of plant lice (aphids, greenfly, etc.) and other parasites until the bugs disappear.
  • Rinse the sprayer after each use.
Elder Tree

Photo credit: WildFoodUK

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