Ask any flat or apartment dweller what they most miss about living several storeys up (no matter how luxurious the development) and they’re likely to answer, their own garden. No wonder. On hot summer’s days, enjoying your garden by taking in the view stretched out on a lounger or simply pottering around planting and pruning is an integral part of the British way of life. Cooped up in an apartment block in the so-called concrete jungle can seem quite sterile by comparison. However, starting a garden in a flat is a lot easier and more enjoyable than you might think. Here are a few top tips on letting Mother Nature transform your high-rise living space.Let’s start with the plants themselves....
A few years ago, the thought of buying compost online wouldn’t have entered most people’s heads. And that’s hardly surprising. Traditional compost is heavy which means you pay costly delivery charges. It’s messy too, should its plastic bag get ripped and the compost spill out, which often happens. Thanks to For Peat’s Sake, our peat-free eco-coir compost, the situation today couldn’t be more different. First, our compost is ridiculously light. The 11-litre block weighs a measly 600 grams. (The equivalent in traditional compost would be a whopping 3kgs.) And if you think 600 grams is light, our 3-litre ‘One-Pot Wonder’ block is a true featherweight, tipping the scales at only 140 grams. It fits neatly in the pocket of your...
One of the best small investments you can make is to fill your home with plants. As the years pass, they will repay your outlay many times over in the benefits they bring. Not only do houseplants inject vibrancy and life into a room, they improve the atmosphere of their surroundings, removing impurities from the air. In addition, keeping houseplants in pristine condition keeps you involved with nature in a caring and nurturing way. AT FOR PEAT’S SAKE, WE HAVE 4 TOP TIPS FOR CARING FOR INDOOR PLANTS: 1. Always repot your plants. Once you get them back from the garden centre, remove them from their plastic pot and repot in one a couple of inches larger so that they have...
Made from the husks of coconuts, coir compost is one of the most environmentally friendly composts you can buy. When it comes to this hairy fruit, nothing goes to waste. The white centre is used for food or cosmetics, the long fibres of the husk are turned into ropes, brushes or matting and the shorter fibres are used for compost. These fibres are collectively called coir. Coir compost performs so well due to its superb absorption properties, making it very efficient at retaining nutrients vital for a plant’s growth. Using coir instead of traditional peat compost has many advantages. First of all, peat bogs are an essential part of our natural ecosystem. Digging peat out of these bogs not only...
Traditionally the main component of compost has been peat. No surprise really. Peat forms in the ground when dead plants don’t completely decay. As it builds up over centuries, peat retains water and creates wetlands. When we dig up peat and leave it to dry, we create a nutrient-dense substrate that enriches any garden. Problem is, the very bogs that contain peat also contain vast quantities of carbon dioxide that is released when peat is extracted, contributing to global warming. Peatlands cover just 3% of land surface globally but they store 42% of our planet’s soil carbon - higher than any other vegetation type including forests. Additionally, peatlands are home to a diverse range of flora and fauna that depend...
