With the forecasted warm summer imminent and the increasing push from the Government for public sustainability, Ratedpeople.com the UK’s smarter way to find tradesmen, has provided some top tips for homeowners to make their gardens more eco-friendly.

After the spring clean up, many gardeners will feel inspired to create an environmentally friendly space, where plants and a variety of wildlife can flourish. Not only is it great for the environment to look after your garden, it can help your finances too. Especially if you grow your own vegetables and have space to keep chickens. It does take time and effort, but the results will be more than worth it for any gardenerand their family.

Gardeners are better off remembering that wildlife is good for the garden. Nesting boxes hung up to encourage breeding and hangers filled with seeds welcome birds into the garden, who feed on pests such as snails and slugs.

There are plenty of insects that help the gardener such as ground beetles and ladybirds. Having a compost heap will encourage harmless beasties to live in the garden and eat the pests you do not like. Last but by no means least, the honeybee needs helping along with plenty of flowers to pollinate.

Other helpful animals to eco friendly gardeners are worms. Composting is a crucial part of every eco-friendly gardener’s routine and go a long way to improving a garden’s eco system. Worms will break down vegetable peelings, pruned flower heads and other garden waste and turn it into compost. This can then be used as top dressing for container plants, or if it is a larger composting system, compost can be used to fertilise the whole garden. Composters are easy to use, but extremely effective and rule out any need for detrimental chemicals which could filter not only into home grown produce, but into the food chain of the creatures in your garden.

Andrew Skipwith, Founder and CEO of Ratedpeople.com, said: “It may take patience and dedication, but the satisfaction of owning a natural garden is enormous. If you lead a busy life and don’t have the time to put the work in that is needed, a recommended gardener can do the job for you. “

Ratedpeople.com helps home and garden improvers find recommended tradesmen quickly and easily. You can choose from 24 different trades and find tradesmen such as local builders, local stonemasons and garden designers.

Every month, Ratedpeople.com manages over £30m in home improvement projects and more than 1,000 tradesmen sign up, making it the UK’s largest match making service for home improvers and recommended tradesmen. There are more than 55,000 ratings on Ratedpeople.com to date and its system ensures that tradesmen are only rated by previous customers who find them through the site. This results in one of the fairest and most robust rating systems on the web.

For further information on how to source a recommended tradesman in your area, visit Ratedpeople.com.

Press Enquiries:

Ben Leuty, Philip Keightley,

Punch Communications

Tel: +44 (0) 1858 411600 Mob: +44 (0) 7974 141266

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Sources:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/22/v-print/1592240/a-green-thumbs-up-dedicated-gardeners.html

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/361666/go_green_with_these_ecofriendly_gardening.html?cat=32

Notes to Editors

With over £360 million in project value managed each year and 1000 new tradesmen added each month, Ratedpeople.com is the UK’s largest match making service for home improvers and recommended tradesmen.

Ratedpeople.com offers a nationwide network of tens of thousands of rated tradesmen, spanning over 25 trades, the site’s rating system comprises more than 55,000 unbiased ratings to date and ensures that tradesmen are only rated by actual customers.

The business, which is fully independent and privately owned, was founded in 2005 by CEO Andrew Skipwith and employs 27 from its base in central London.

Ratedpeople.com supports Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity, and is donating to Shelter every time a member rates a tradesman, so that the charity can continue its important work with people in housing need.