Baddow & Galleywood

June 2022

We were pleased to welcome George Lockwood, a fulltime, totally organic passionate gardener who learnt his trade at Capel Manor College and has been a consultant gardener at Highgrove and other large gardens over many years.

Initially George explained what soil is needed to produce good plants and flowers, the soil needs to be rich in humus which is produced by dead leaves and twigs which have been composted. This humus is good for black beetles who will feed on slugs and snails so pesticides and insecticides should not be used as they damage the soil and plant growth. If a good remedy is needed, George has a recipe for Garlic Water which he uses regularly.

Watering should be done in the morning, only on the roots, not the leaves even if the sun is on some of the plants as this encourages the bees, hover flies and ladybirds to visit the plants and lay their eggs in the ground during the day. When these eggs hatch the they each eat up to 100 aphids a day to cleanse the soil.

George then showed us many photos of Agapanthus, Aquilegia, Buddleia, Campanula, Dahlia, Delphinium, Geranium, Hellebore, Hosta and Iris.

He also gave us hints on looking after late flowering flowers, which should be left until the Spring before cutting back. Different plants need different ways of cutting out dead flowers also. Fennel attracts pollinating insects as do many of the other plants which he mentioned.