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Gardening
Galore
On my travels,
I have seen people establishing new lawns. This usually involves
digging over the whole area and then leveling and replanting grass
runners, usually
Buffalo
or
Richmond.
When digging the ground over, all the stones are brought to the
surface; the white ants move in and the indigenous couch grass or
Kapinga is dug out. Experience has shown that nature does not like
bare earth and will try to cover it up with fast growing plants,
either broad-leaved weeds or grasses. Some of the broad-leaved weeds
are noxious or have thorns etc, but are good at doing their job of
covering the soil. These plants you do not want in your lawn. The
Kapinga on the other hand is an indigenous grass that does well
under local conditions; it covers quickly and looks good with little
care and maintenance.
True turf
consists of up to six different grass species, all sown together to
give the turf a strong healthy growth and look all year round.
Plenty of
man-hours are wasted weeding lawns. Slashing, or even better the
lawn mower, is quick and chops up weeds to a mulch which will feed
worms and other beneficial insects.
Many gardens
are manicured to the point of being sterile. Constantly dug, raked,
brushed and cleaned. The health of the soil and therefore, the
plants ,is governed by the amount of nutrients being put back into
the soil. Mulching with all your prunings, sweepings, rakings etc,
will benefit the health of the soil. It shades and cools the soil
and as the lower layers break down or are eaten and buried by earth
worms. The health of the soil will improve and everything will look
healthier. Bird life will come back and grub through the litter
which should improve your enjoyment of the garden.
Attracting
birds is not difficult. Water is important, nectar plants for nectar
eaters and insects and nesting materials i.e. grasses and palms;
fruiting bushes for the fruit eaters and insects. If space allows a
thorn tree for nesting in if you want to attract weavers. Bird
feeders with seed attract small birds. Seed scattered on the
driveway will attract doves and bigger seed eaters. Water as
mentioned before, be it a pond or a bird bath under a dripping tap
or the sprinklers when watering shrubs and lawns all attract birds.
The use of chemicals, insecticides and fertilizers can destroy
nature’s balance. Compost and manure are far better for natural
gardens and mulching all leaves and prunings.
Winter
flowers and vegetables should be planted now so check the shops for
autumn and winter flowering seeds.
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April 2005