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 The
Pros and Cons of Organic Gardening
Maybe
you have friends who are keen to convert you to organic gardening
or perhaps you have been reading about it. What are the advantages
and disadvantages?
 Why
not subscribe to Organic
Gardening magazine and keep up to date with information on
the subject.
Ladybug
Anne Geddes
Buy This Matted Print At AllPosters.com
Advantages
- You can make your own compost
from garden and kitchen waste
- All home grown fruit and vegetables
are free of chemicals and safe to eat
- Chemical pesticides can kill
benefits insects like ladybugs that prey on aphids and bees
that pollinate garden plants, fruit and vegetables
- Using natural bulk compost
and manure keeps the physical structure of the soil in good
condition so ensuring on-going fertility
- Improvement in soil structure
encourages beneficial creatures like worms which again lead
to increased fertility
- Chemicals lead to a loss of
bio-diversity in the garden because they kill creatures never
intended to be affected by them. For example, slug pellets
can kill birds and toads if they eat a poisoned slug or snail
- There is an additional danger
from slug pellets to children and pets
Disadvantages
- Making your own compost
and then spreading it on your garden is more time consuming
and harder work than buying a bag of chemical fertiliser
and sprinkling it around
- Some organic fertilisers
like hoof and horn or blood fish and bone can work out
more expensive than chemicals
- Organic fertilisers can
work more slowly than chemical fertiliser although its
affects are likely to be more long lasting
- There will be some damage
and loss from pests and diseases but perhaps not on the
scale you might anticipate
- You will have to learn
more about beneficial insects and other creatures - the
gardener's friends - more time consuming than just killing
everything in sight
If you are interested
in environmentalism, which really only means safeguarding
the earth for future generations, find out how you can help
by visiting The
Green Challenge.
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