GREEN MANURE

Ian
What is green manure and when is the best time to incorporate it into the garden? Y. N by e-mail


Reply
Adding fast growing plants into the soil to improve fertility between crops in vegetable gardens, or around fruit trees and bushes, is called green manuring. It is also a weed suppresser and soil-improving preparation for borders. After green manuring soils are easier to work, even though young soft growth contributes little organic matter. Green manuring supplements rather than replaces manures and fertilisers. The most common types of green manure are clover, beans, ryegrass, fenugreek and lupins. The seeds can be bought from most of the well-known seed catalogues and specialist shops.

When to sow
Green manures, especially autumn sown ones, are effective in mopping up nutrients remaining after crops, preventing them being washed away by rain. Italian ryegrass, and rye sown in September are very hardy, growing all winter before being dug in during spring to release nutrients as they rot. Fast growing fodder radish or mustard sown before mid-September can be incorporated in October, or leave their frosted remains left as a mulch. Summer grown green manures, buckwheat and fenugreek for example, consume useful space and leave soil very dry. However, they can form dense foliage that is ideal for smothering weeds, much in the same way that spud plants do. Nitrogen fixing plants such as legumes (a pod, such as that of a pea or bean, that splits into two valves with the seeds attached to one edge) accumulate nitrogen into themselves with help from bacteria in their root nodules. These function best in summer, and although field beans and vetches can be sown in autumn for incorporation in spring, summer crops of lupins, clovers and peas fix more nitrogen. Other benefits of green manures include winter protection of the soil from compaction by rain and shelter for beneficial insects such as ground beetles, although slug control may be needed after green manuring.

Sowing and digging in

Green manure seeds are sown broadcast and raked into the soil. They are dug in when lush and leafy, before flowering. Flowering green manures such as clovers benefit helpful insects. But after flowering plants become woody and can temporarily use up soil nitrogen when dug in, so add extra organic nutrients before sowing or planting if you leave the plant too long before digging in. Decaying green manures can suppress plant growth; allow at least two weeks between incorporation and planting or sowing.

Horticultural.

TOP TIPS

I was using public transport recently and I got into a conversation with a fellow traveller about Top Tips in the home (like you do). It culminated in a group of people brainstorming and coming up with these gems (again try them at your peril!!)

String: Don’t get into a tangle with a ball of string. Simply put it in a dry teapot and pull the end out of the spout.

Eggs: If you spill an egg on the floor cover it with salt and leave for a while. The egg becomes hard and is easier to clean up.

Plants: Hang wet clothes over your plants to water them.

CD’s: Use old CD’s as drinks mats (I think they would be too slippery) Maybe a better use would be to hang them outside to scare off the birds from the veggie patch.

Cakes: When you put a cake into the cake tin, put it on the lid. This will make it far easier to get out when you want a slice.

Remote control: This is the daftest one yet. If you are worried about spilling a drink on your remote control, cover it in cling film, you can still press the buttons but it won’t get wet. (Why don’t you cover the furniture in plastic too whilst you are at it!)

Household.

THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE AIR

I have a bit of an aversion to a couple of words used in song lyrics. The words “monkey” and “telephone” always make me cringe when they are used in a song. The word telephone irritates me mostly because of the hand gestures with the thumb and little finger that the singer does whilst looking into the camera. Maybe the word telephone is overused and many would say that phones in general are overused too. There are now officially more cell phones than people in Ireland and there are over 1 billion of them being used worldwide. America manages to increase this total by 65,000 a day alone. Sound waves are used in so many appliances. There is the radio, radio controlled devices. pagers, televisions, satellites radios, walkie-talkies, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth not to mention all the natural frequencies that are used in nature and from space. The electromagnetic spectrum that is used is a finite resource; the number and variety of gadgets emitting electromagnetic energy continue to grow. As the airwaves become more crowded, signals from devices operating in neighbouring frequencies spill into one another's bands. When spectrum allocation frays at the edges, devices go haywire: radio stations merge in and out of each others signals and the emergency services frequencies get squeezed out. Phone conversations come through over baby monitors and you can hear taxis talking to one another through the telly. Some observers fear that interference is becoming so severe that people will get very sensitive to the constant bombardment of sound and soon there won't be enough spectrum to go around. They obviously haven’t been to Inishowen. I drive around the peninsula often and there are days when I can neither pick up a radio station of get a signal on my phone…...bliss. There is a place in West Virginia America that beats this though. This haven has been designated a National Radio Quiet Zone and covers an area of 13,000 square miles which is nearly free of electromagnetic interference.

The Quiet Zone is a generous margin of mountainous terrain and rustic communities surrounding the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, a 485-foot, €25 million structure that emerges from this remote valley. Astronomers there observe the universe by studying faint radio waves emitted by stars, evaporating comets, and distant galaxies. These signals inhabit many areas of the electromagnetic spectrum - often the same areas prized by broadcasters, cellular providers, and other communications companies. In the past few years, however, the job of keeping out interference in this area has become overwhelming. The wireless revolution has swept the world. So now in the Quiet Zone there is a group of dedicated boffins working out exactly how we can operate our technological society in a world where all of the sound wave frequencies have been used up. A friend of mine thinks that the same thing will happen with wave and wind power. His theory is that we will harness so much of it that eventually the seas will be still and the winds will be no more (I ought to mix with happier people!) I think we are safe for a while in Inishowen though. At the moment I’m more interested in why the word “Monkey” sounds so irritating in songs.

Environmental.

COMPANION PLANTING

Ian
What are the best flowers to plant in between rows of vegetables to stop them being attacked by insects? GN by e-mail

Reply.
When considering companion planting, think about the benefits the companion plant is going to be to your chosen crop. There are two main areas of defence. The first is via beneficial insects feeding on the non-beneficial insects. The second is via growing plants that will provide support for non-beneficial insects. The best plants to grow to attract beneficial insects are some of the traditional cottage garden plants like Achillea, Anaphalis, asters, Calendula, Eschscholzia, Helianthus, Limnanthes and Solidago. These may be grown as annuals crops, or the herbaceous specimens may be grown in permanent planting pockets. Plants for supporting non-beneficial insects may sound a little odd but it is essential to provide a food reserve for non-beneficial insects to attract the predatory beneficial insects like ladybirds and lacewings. The most suitable plant for this is the common nettle, which is best cultivated as mint (in a container to prevent unwanted spreading of the plant). This supports nettle aphid, which does not attack any other plant but does provide food for the ladybird and lacewing.

Horticultural.

TREE STUMP REMOVAL

STUMPED

Ian
We are struggling with the removal of a 60cm (2ft) circumference tree stump. My husband cut the tree down over two years ago and the thing is still there staring at us. Have you any suggestions? D.N. Bridgend

Reply.
There are a few products available on the market for rotting down a tree stump. Some of them involve drilling holes in the stump of the tree and pouring in nasty liquids. Others involve simply pouring a granulated powder on the top of the tree stump, covering with a weighed-down plastic bag and leaving. They will take a while, especially as your particular stump is of a 60cm (2ft) circumference. Some people prefer to plant rambling climbers such as an old rose or honeysuckle and make a feature of the decaying wood. The Convent in Buncrana has made very attractive features of their stumps by planting fuchsia shrubs in them. If all that you want is to get rid then get your hands on a grinding machine to reduce it to ground level.

Horticultural.

SEED BOMBS

I have been making seed bombs this week. Environmentalist will throw their arms up in the air at the though of strange seed being thrown into the wild so I am being responsible and only throwing them in the garden. If you are not familiar with the idea, the bombs consist of any seeds that I have bought or collected over the last few years. The ones that have gone past there best before date were first soaked in water for a night. These were then mixed with a clay soil and compost mix to make a ball that can withstand being thrown but will brake up on impact with the ground. The soil will help the seeds fall to the ground and hopefully germinate. Slugs and birds will eat most but some will survive and colonise an area.

Horticultural.