Talkback: Summer berries
in Talkback
I am a kind of part-time gardener, having a busy 9 to 5 job and my hobby being long distance cycling. So I have organised a garden that doesn't require a lot of help to keep in good order. I am therefore quite annoyed that Gardeners World appears to take a relaxed view of using insecticides and pesticides in the small garden. If I don't need to use these abhorrent substances no-one does.
The fate of the bumble and honey bee is in our hands. I was able to buy only one jar and one honeycomb from my local apiarist this season due to the near-demise of his bees. You should be advising people how to totally avoid use of chemicals. For example I go out in the garden with a torch in the evening and pick up all the slugs by hand and put them out in the morning for the gulls and crows to eat. DDT was banned throughout Europe as a direct result of research into the alarming decline in peregrine falcon numbers. The same fate may await the potions we are using in our gardens if bee numbers decline further. I have also noted an even more alarming decrease of butterflies visiting my garden in the last two years
The fate of the bumble and honey bee is in our hands. I was able to buy only one jar and one honeycomb from my local apiarist this season due to the near-demise of his bees. You should be advising people how to totally avoid use of chemicals. For example I go out in the garden with a torch in the evening and pick up all the slugs by hand and put them out in the morning for the gulls and crows to eat. DDT was banned throughout Europe as a direct result of research into the alarming decline in peregrine falcon numbers. The same fate may await the potions we are using in our gardens if bee numbers decline further. I have also noted an even more alarming decrease of butterflies visiting my garden in the last two years
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You can find it in good health food shops and sometimes in supermarkets in the vegetarian section.
At least you have lots of exotic alternatives.
I planted red & black currant bushes for the first time this year & didn't know that I should have cut the stems back to 2 inches after planting. I know it's too late for flowers & fruit this year. Will they be ok if I cut them back now, at over two feet high or should I wait? What do you advise.
Don't worry about cutting them back now, lots of people cut them back at harvest time so that they can pick the berries more easily. It shouldn't be a problem. The main thing is to keep them very well watered - it's been a very dry summer.