Thursday, June 7, 2007

Waterwise gardener training.


Yesterday I did the professional Waterwise training at the Water Corporation building in Leederville.
I am pleased to say I actually did learn a few things, some of which were really reminders of why I prefer organic gardening in the first place.

One piece of news that I was glad to hear is that soluble chemical fertilisers are being taken off the market in coming years. These are the sort of products that quickly leach through our degraded sands and get into the river or the aquifer.
A rather shocking thing to learn though, is that in some areas around Perth, there is enough fertiliser in the bore water to feed everything, and in some areas there is even a toxic amount of nitrogen. All these excess nutrients leach quickly through the sand into the water table.

While there is more and more bore use the aquifer is getting less fresh water recharge from rain fall. What rain does fall is often diverted from roads and paving into the sea, instead of soaking into the ground.

Having the correct (chunky) mulch and groundcover plants will allow rain to soak into the ground, where it can sustain your garden between showers and help recharge the aquifer.

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