Huw Richards

My main priority has to be the health of the soil, and I do that by ensuring I add organic matter in the form of compost on a yearly basis. A healthy soil full of life is the most important factor for a resilient garden, thus increasing the sustainability of the garden. Healthy soil can better deal with droughts for example, by reducing the need to water.

Another aspect of prioritizing sustainability is choosing high-quality gardening tools and accessories that are built to last. I would much rather have one fork that lasts 30 years, than having to buy a new fork every 3 years.

A core priority for me in ensuring my gardening practices are as sustainable as possible is utilizing as many free local resources as possible. In my area, this includes seaweed, woodchips, coffee grounds, and food waste from businesses that I can turn into compost to then grow incredible vegetables.

My 3 tips for creating a sustainable garden are as follows:
1 - Create as much water storage as possible so if droughts occur, you have an emergency supply
2 - Become an expert in understanding what local resources are available to you to use in the garden
3 - Swap seeds and plants with other local gardeners to increase local resilience and build a strong community. Community is key to sustainability.

As a keen advocate of high-quality gardening items, choosing to use Vego Garden raised beds was an easy decision. Their build quality is fantastic, with 100% non-toxic materials, and the fact that an entire raised bed fits in a cardboard box means it is very easy to transport. Another factor for choosing Vego Garden raised beds is their aesthetic. They are very smart, and have multiple color options (pearl white is my favorite), and bring a modern style to the garden.

Although I am in the UK, my USDA hardiness zone translates to zone 8. My top recommendation however for any gardener is to find your local average first and last frost date, as this dictates the length of growing season you have for tender crops. For Zone 8, my top tips would be to have some kind of undercover seed starting area to allow you to get a head start on tender crops like tomatoes, chilies, and eggplants, well before the last frost, otherwise, it’ll be too late! Another tip is due to the winters not being incredibly cold, allocate a greater proportion of your garden to growing winter crops like leeks, parsnip, rutabaga, kale, cabbage, and sunchokes. This is because these crops can stay outdoors all winter and you can harvest them as and when needed - saving you time having to preserve as much for winter!

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The most important pest control method I use is prioritizing diversity in my garden. By this, I mean diversity not just in the type of plants I grow, but attracting as much diversity in terms of the insects I can attract. My goal as an organic gardener is to make my garden a home for beneficial insects, and I use a wide variety of flowers to recruit these to become my natural pest control battalion.

It is vital that your garden has a little pest damage here and there, this ensures you maintain healthy populations of predator insects, as well as encourage a balanced but thriving ecosystem. Lacewing and hoverfly larvae are all consumers of pests such as aphids, caterpillars, and thrips. Ladybug larvae and parasitic wasps do an excellent job of targeting numerous pests too. The best flowers I can recommend growing for attracting a range of beneficial insects to your garden include dill, cilantro, borage, calendula, chives, angelica, fennel, and lavender.

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