In The Garden
| NORTH YORKSHIRE |  | | | CLEVELAND | | | | COUNTY DURHAM | | |
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‘Tis the season to go green and help the environment
THE average family bill for
Christmas Day is £975, and
most ends up as waste, undoing
a year's worth of
green living in under 24 hours, according
to the Ethical Christmas
Guide, by eco-expert and author
Lucy Siegle.
The publication advises putting a
post-Christmas recycling strategy
into place. The website www.recycle-
now.com will tell you what
collections are available for different
materials.
Helping the environment is not
just about adding leftover vegetables
and peelings to the compost
heap. Buying fruit and vegetables
without plastic wrapping reduces
the amount you put in the bin,
meaning you contribute less to
landfill.
Don't send Christmas waste to
landfill. The leading organic growing
charity Garden Organic advises
people to recycle wine bottles,
cans, paper, plastics and even
Christmas trees.
Details of local recycling centres
and arrangements should be
available through your local authority.
Fairy lights should be switched off
when nobody's around. Just turning
off the Christmas lights
overnight can save enough carbon
emission to inflate 25 balloons.
About 15 per cent of household
electricity is lost by leaving electrical
items plugged in or on standby.
People in Britain throw away
enough paper each Christmas to
wrap the island of Guernsey. Remember
that paper without a
plastic glossy finish can be put on
the compost heap, while other
type can be reused at a later date.
According to Garden Organic, organic
farming uses 27 per cent
less energy than non-organic agriculture,
so a New Year resolution
might be to buy local produce,
which lessens a product's food
miles and is better for the environment.
Eating home-grown
produce is also both satisfying
and delicious, so gardeners can
start planning what to plant for
next year's dinner.
As for Christmas cards, you can
deposit them in Woodland Trust
(www.woodland-trust.org.uk) bins
at major stores until January 31,
allowing the charity to collect recycling
credits (and therefore
money).
At this time of the year, holly
comes into its own and gardeners
may be thinking of what to plant
for a good show next Christmas.
To produce berries, you generally
need to plant male and female
plants close together, though
there are self-fertile types such as I
altaclarensis JC van Tol or the tall I
aquifolium Pyramidalis.
There are some wonderful variegated
types which produce a
splash of leaf colour which will
enhance any decoration, including
I altaclarensis Golden King, while if you fancy a change from
the traditional red berry, grow I
aquifolium Bacciflava for yellow
berries or I crenata Mariesii, a
dwarf variety with tiny round
leaves and black berries.
Holly is not fussy about site or soil
and will grow in sun or shade. It
can be drastically cut back if necessary
without damage.
Jobs this week
❃ Take winter baskets under cover,
either into the greenhouse or
porch, before severe weather arrives.
❃ Planning what you are going to
grow in the coming season and
look through seed and bulb catalogues,
making a list.
❃ Continue winter pruning of apples
and pears.
1:05pm Friday 28th December 2007
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