Frustrated by weeds and pests?

Aren’t weeds and pests just the bane of all gardeners?
Well what if you could begin to let nature take care of them for you?
Sounds too good to be true?

Let’s start with weeds.
What are the things that weeds love best? Bare soil, disturbed soil and soils with low fertility.
You see weeds are simply pioneer plants that have adapted to quickly colonise, boost fertility and protect bare soil while more permanent (and desirable) plants can establish.
So how do we create conditions that discourage weeds and encourage the plants we want in our gardens?
We cover bare soil (with thick mulch and protection from densely planted vegetation).
We stop tilling, hoeing and otherwise disturbing the soil (which only encourages dormant weeds seeds to germinate).
We out-compete weeds by densely planting plants that have a similar root depth and growth rate to the specific weeds we are tackling.
And we build soil fertility (thick mulches, cover crops, nutrient accumulating plants, water harvesting and biodiversity).

 Building biodiversity in our gardens cannot be underestimated.
Encouraging a wide range of habitat for birds, animals and soil organisms not only crowds out weeds but also keeps pests in check.
Pests are simply species that have grown out of balance with the rest of the environment.
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By creating gardens that provide habitat for these pests natural predators (predatory insects, birds and lizards for example) we can bring balance back into our gardens.