From our partner, Seasol International

Influence and action: gardens as part of a healthy environment

Sue Edwards, Assistant Marketing Manager, Home Garden, Seasol International Pty Ltd

Our home gardens, whether small or large, are places to regenerate both physically and mentally, by yourself or with family and friends. A garden is also a place to enjoy healthy home-grown produce, provide a habitat for wildlife, and breath in clean air.

A home garden is a small version of a botanic garden with a diversity of plants, areas of lawn, shady trees and places to explore. To keep your home garden in tip top condition, it needs to be nurtured and maintained, just like a botanic garden.

As all gardeners know, good plant maintenance starts below the ground. A healthy fertile soil that’s full of beneficial microbes and worms ensures water and nutrients are available to plants to fuel their above-ground growth.

You may not be a horticulturist or trained gardener, but you have all the tools needed to make your garden flourish. Maintaining healthy soil is achievable by adding homemade compost, organic manure and/or Seasol Super Compost, regularly throughout the seasons.

Above the ground, plants need sun, water and nutrients to keep them looking good, blooming or producing tasty edible produce. They also require regular maintenance, such as pruning, pest and disease control, feeding and watering.

Knowing a few tips and tricks helps to make this maintenance easier. For example, did you know that watering for longer periods, less often, is more beneficial to most gardens than shorter, more frequent watering?

This watering regime encourages root systems to delve down into the soil searching for moisture and nutrients.

Feeding plants with a liquid fertiliser such as PowerFeed All Purpose including Natives or a granular one such as PowerFeed with Troforte All Purpose including Natives provides balanced nutrients and trace elements for strong, healthy plant growth, flowering and fruiting. A seaweed plant tonic such as Seasol also helps to increase a plant’s tolerance to environmental stresses such as drought, heat, cold and frost.

Keeping plants healthy, strong and happy also helps to increase their tolerance to natural enemies such as pests and diseases. While many insects are pests, some are beneficial as they help to reduce the infestation of other pests. Ladybirds for example feed on aphids. When a predator pest isn’t available to bring things under control and the pest is harmful to the plant, then a natural pesticide such as EarthCare White Oil Insect spray can help to reduce pest numbers and restore the plant’s health.

Caring for your garden ensures its healthy and strong and, like your local botanic garden, park or bushland, adds to the green space that helps keep our planet a little healthier and a happier place to be.