News - Page 49

Gardening for wellbeing has become recognised more in recent years and there’s a reason why it’s so important for us all to appreciate. Gardening and working with plants has been used to help both physical and mental health illness since ancient times. We’ve listed some reasons why gardening is so good for you below, along with some things you can do in the garden for your own wellbeing.

With its gorgeous tangles of stems and fragrant flowers tumbling over sunny walls in summer, honeysuckle is the classic cottage garden plant. But there’s more to honeysuckle than you might imagine. There are scented and unscented honeysuckles, shrubby honeysuckles and even honeysuckles that flower in the depths of winter. One thing’s for certain, there’s honeysuckle for every garden.

Colour plays a hugely important part of making a garden. The right combination of colours can create a sense of tranquillity, or add excitement and vibrancy to a dull space. Using colour in your garden is easy to do once you know the principles, and it opens up a whole new way of putting plants together.

The first sighting of ladybirds in spring is a sign for gardeners everywhere to rejoice. These cute little beetles with their cheerful red and black spotted coats are actually voracious predators, and they like nothing better than hoovering up pests such as aphids and scale insects. With each ladybird capable of eating around 5000 aphids in its lifetime, it’s definitely worth getting to know them better.

There is nothing more frustrating than finding pests and diseases on your lovely plants after tending to them with love and attention. Fortunately, there are many ways to minimise the risk of plant pests and diseases, mainly ensuring they receive the care that they need. But even after all of your efforts, they can still sneak up on your plants and be a real pain. Plants that are thriving, indoors or outside will not show any signs of yellowing or brown leaves or dry, curly edges. Whilst many of these could also be a sign of not optimum conditions, which in itself can lead to pests and diseases but this is a sign your plants are in distress. Keep a check on watering levels, light levels and make sure you have the right plant for the right place which will help to minimise any problems. So, if you are concerned about pests and diseases on your plants, this guide will help you to identify them.

Companion planting lets your plants help each other to grow strong and healthy, with less need for chemicals and pesticides. Find out which plants work well together.