Walking past someone’s cubicle at work, it’s almost natural to slow down and look at a lovely flower in a vase on their desk. The vibrant color and gentle scent filling the air makes people smile.  And what could be more pleasant than an entire company filled with lovely flowers.  They brighten the work place, lightening the stress, are easy to grow from flower seeds or bulb, and they can even create employee bonding.

Employers in offices throughout the country are putting together groups of employees who are enjoying creating their own beautiful flower gardens at work.  And since they’re working together, they’re able to share the work and the responsibility of their little flower garden while not wasting their break time around the water cooler.

It’s an easy project to arrange for your employees to create their own little flower gardens, and there are numerous ways of doing so.  Employers are declaring a “gardening day”, and with a few bags of flower mulch, some packets of flower seeds or bulbs, and small flower boxes or individual pots, an inexpensive, beautiful employee project is started.  Just add water, some plant food and a little natural sunshine, and you’re on your way.  Your employees can easily spend a few minutes on their “gardening day” setting up and planting the seeds, and within a few days, the plants will have sprouted.  Then, within a few short weeks, the flowers will have grown and bloomed.  The gardens can easily be maintained during break times so work is not interrupted.

1. Perhaps the most difficult thing about your employees growing their own little flower garden is deciding which flowers to grow.  Here are some ideas that your employees might consider when growing their own flower gardens:
2. Start out with simple, fast and easy to grow flowers such as Dahlias, Poppies or Pansies.
3. Determine the best growing season for the flowers.  Pick varieties of flowers that can be staggered so you can enjoy them year round.
4. What is a good day for an employee “gardening day”?
5. What kind of container will your flowers be grown in? 

How many people will be working on the garden? 

Because growing flowers from seeds or bulbs is such an easy break time project, there are no excuses for employers and employees to miss the enjoyment that creating an office flower garden brings out.

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In addition to the positive effects of compost, the green gardener has a wide variety of other soil-enhancing products at his or her fingertips.Green manuresThese are plants that are grown to enrich and protect the soil. They reduce the harmful effects of wind and rain, reduce weeds and can provide nutrients when dug back into the soil. The idea is to grow them on bare soil in winter or between different crops of vegetables in the summer. The types of plant used produce a mass of weed-smothering foliage quickly. They include: alfalfa, mustard, buckwheat, clover, fenugreek, field beans, annual ryegrass and phacelia.

But you should note that seed germination may be inhibited by decaying green manure, so you should leave a gap of at least one month between digging the green manure in and sowing seed.

Leaf mould

This can be used as a mulch, but it is also valuable for digging into the soil or in a seed-sowing or potting compost. Since leaves need more light and less air to rot down than other compostable materials, it is best to compost them in their own container. You can make this using four wooden stakes at least 1 m (1 yd) high, driven into the ground with chicken wire stapled around the outside. Be warned: it can take up to three years before you get good compost from leaf mould, but it is well worth the wait. If you need more leaves, ask your local authority if they could donate some from their autumn sweepings - or collect them yourself.

Manure

Although manure is likely to contain hormones, pesticides and other nasty elements if it comes from a conventional rather than an organic farm, it is thought that if manure is stacked for at least a year these contaminants will not present a problem.

Spent mushroom compost

Again, this will need to be left for at least a year to make sure any chemicals used in mushroom-growing leach out. Don’t use it on acid-loving plants, but it is good for improving heavy clay soils.

Fertilizers

Occasionally, through a lack of readily available compost or severe deficiencies in your soil, you may need to resort to a fertilizer. But even then, there is no need to reach for the synthetic chemicals. There is a wide range of organic fertilizers on sale in both garden centres and by mail order, including: seaweed meal, fish bone and blood, gypsum for heavy clay soils, and hoof and horn. Animal-free products are also available if this is an issue.

Liquid fertilizers or feeds are often used in container gardening and for the green gardener there is a choice of fish emulsion, liquid manure and comfrey liquid (which is highly recommended for tomatoes and peppers). Seaweed extract is also sold as a soil and plant tonic. You can make your own comfrey liquid by growing the plant, soaking the cut leaves in a container with a tight-fitting lid for four to six weeks, and then straining off the liquid.

Mulches

A mulch is a layer of material spread around plants on the soil surface to protect the soil from erosion, reduce water loss and smother weed growth. Some mulches are also biodegradable and therefore able to improve soil structure as they decompose. These organic mulches, which include grass clippings, compost, leaves, bark chippings, straw and manure, are preferable to inorganic mulches like black polythene, carpet or woven plastic. There are also purpose-made mulching fabrics available, including flax or hemp (burlap) fibre matting.

If you use grass clippings, it is best to dry them out in the sun first before applying a layer 5-7 cm (2-3 in) deep, as otherwise they can be too slimy and may suffocate plant roots. Sheets of newspaper can be placed on the ground, covered lightly with grass clippings or another mulch to anchor them, but take care on a windy day! It is best to shred autumn leaves with a lawnmower or shredder first and then compost them over winter before using them as a mulch.

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