Many of us working in the Horticultural and Agricultural sector may carry out our work like it is second nature and come to rely on instincts and experience to carry out our tasks. This can come after years of study, training, hours and hours of trial and error and practical ‘hands-on’ work in the garden and on the land.

We might create a simple compost, knowing that we need carbon content to balance and speed up the composting process or the importance of mulching to retain moisture and nutrients in the soil and suppress weeds. We are not born with this information though, it needs to be taught and learned.

Sometimes when you have been doing something for a long time, it’s easy to forget, that for the novice, the one who has just discovered that when you plant a seed in the right conditions, water it and tend to it, it grows. Those little light bulb moments that spark a passion, an interest, and a love of all things growing, can be the beginning of a lifelong journey but like all journeys, there is always something or someone to guide us.

There is a wonderful quote that comes to mind. “Teaching is more than imparting knowledge; it is inspiring change. Learning is more than absorbing facts; it is acquiring understanding.” William Arthur Ward.

I am very privileged to work in an amenity garden, where I have the opportunity to teach the general public about sustainable, organic gardening methods. About how to grow and harvest their produce, feed their families, create healthy compost, care for their soil and garden passively. Where anyone, from any walk of life, at any time, can come and ask for advice. It has become somewhat of a passion of mine, to share my knowledge most simply and effectively as possible….by showing them.

Lesson 1 - Go Organic.
The first lesson is to emphasise the importance of organic gardening in edible areas. This might seem like an unspoken rule but many people may use synthetic herbicides or pesticides in their ornamental garden or on their lawn and dispose of their clippings in the compost without considering the implications. This can impact biological diversity and leave chemical residues that have the potential to be taken up by certain crops.

Lesson 2 - Take the passive approach.
Passive gardening is exactly how it sounds. Expend less energy to achieve the same end goal. Keep a closed system, which means keeping all waste on-site and using it to your advantage in the garden. Create a Hugelkultur, Eco stack, or in situ compost piles with your pruning and organic waste. These are super easy to make, and excellent for improving soil fertility and water retention. Just by stacking your branches and layering them with green waste, time will transform the decaying matter into rich humic matter. Chop and drop your herbaceous material to create a natural mulch that releases nitrogen as it breaks down. One doesn’t need to lug everything off-site or to another area, this can be done directly where you stand, much easier on the back and the carbon footprint.

Lesson 3 - Don’t let anything go to waste
Weeds, prunings, seasonal herbaceous material, literally any organic material can go back into the nutrient cycling system. Even what we deem ‘bad weeds’, such as buttercup, couch, Tradescantia and Convolvulus can be put into a drum of water, stirred once a week until the cells break down, and used as liquid fertiliser in the garden. Using black plastic to heat up and solarise weeds is another excellent method to break down weeds in the right conditions, which can be used as compost in as little as 3 months. If it is necessary to burn diseased material the ash can be utilised as beneficial potassium for growing plants.

Lesson 4 - Pass on your knowledge.
It is only as we learn through our experiences, that we come to realise how much more there is to learn. What an amazing gift the garden provides us. A living canvas of seasonal change, every year something new to learn and to reflect on and something new to pass on to the ones thirsty for knowledge and understanding, for those who want to grow, just like the garden.

By Shannon Boden, Head gardener Hollard Gardens