Protect your guests, don't use electronic gear. (General Garden)

Member Name: Bryn Pearson

Product:	General Garden
Date:	25/07/01 (60 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: support wildlife in your garden, get more exersize, make less noise

Disadvantages: requires significantly more time and energy.

I realise that there is something of a trend in my reviews - I spend most of my time advocating doig things the old fashioned way.... well, here we go again.

Reason number one for not using electronic gadgets in the garden is that they use electricity and you can be more green by doing it manually.

Reason two - doing it all manually makes for better exersize.

Reason three - electric gadgets can do a great deal of harm to critters in your garden. Slower moving manpowered tools take longer to get around and give frogs time to get off the lawn (And believe me, frogs that have been shredded by a lawnmower are not a nice lawn feature.) Strimmers are lethal for hedgehogs who are prone to lurking in hedges and long grass - you won't know your hedgehog is there until you have strimmed him. Sometimes they can survive, but the injuries can be horrible. Hedgehogs are a good thing to have in the garden because they live mostly on slugs and snails. (As well as being very sweet and endearing little creatures.)Be kind to a hedgehog and use a shears - you have to get closer to the plants beign cut and you'll be going slowly enough that any hedgehogs around can leave long before you get to them.

Reason 4 - noise pollution. Electric gadgets in the garden make a lot of noise, they cut through the peace of any afternoon and make being outside far less pleasant for everyone else in the area.

Reason 5 - why are you gardening anyway? If you just want something to look at through the window and don't like gardening for any longer than you have to, consider planting things that need less work (tubs and patios are good for having colour but little maintainance.) If you like working outside, tending your plants and the like, why not use non electric tools? being outside for a little longer will be no great hardship.

Realistically though, unless you are fit and have time, mowing a large lawn by hand is not an option, and cutting
hedges by hand is far too much work. Not everyone has the time or the energy. However, there's still a lot you can do to protect the residents of your garden. Check over the lawn before you mow it and move any frogs on (use gloves if handling them - human skin is too hot for them.) check long grass before you strim and evict anything living there rather than just hacking it up. A few moments of care can protect the wildlife in your garden, and you might be surprised by what you find living in your hedge! The presence of wildlife can be very satisfying - there's something very wonderful about seeing a hedgehog on your lawn or a mouse in your hedge. Most of these residents aren't harmful, and will be keeping down other pests in the garden. Bird netting will keep most little visitors off anything that needs protecting, and if you don't want them eating what you have planted, leave out something more appealing - a bit of fruit, seed, bread etc. You can get a lot of pleasure out of this and I can personally recomend it.

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