Every day, more and more people are learning the benefits of organic gardens. The easy to follow advice in this article will show you how to get out there and start planting. Follow our tips and reap the rewards.
Coffee Grounds
If your soil has high alkaline amounts, mix some coffee grounds into it. Used coffee grounds will add acidity, helping to optimize the soil’s pH. This simple act can lead to vegetables that taste better and look more appealing.
Shelter your deciduous shrubs. If you’ve got tender shrubs which are potted, you need to protect them from cold weather. Tie the canes together, and drape a sheet or blanket over the top of the wigwam. This method works better than covering your bushes in plastic, allowing air to circulate and preventing rotting.
The best gardens from an environmental standpoint originate from seeds, instead of plants. As a green-friendly gardener, you always want to use seeds to start your new plot. Many nurseries use plastic growing pots that are very seldom recycled. Try buying from organic nurseries and farms so your garden is not using anti-environmental products.
If you are just getting into gardening, make sure you heed all of the directions on fertilizer and chemical labels. If you do not do this very simple step, you can end up causing skin irritation problems that are very painful. So make sure you take precautions, follow the simple directions and be safe.
Think about planting evergreen plants that will produce berries in the backyard. They offer terrific color during the dreariest times of the year when nothing else you have planted has any hue remaining. Some evergreens that will provide winter color are the American Holly, Common Snowberry, American Cranberrybush, and the Winterberry.
To deter meddlesome dogs from destroying your garden, you should use heavily scented substances around the perimeter. You can even use perfume! These scents overpower the garden’s scents, which causes your dog to lose interest.
Prior to working in the garden, make sure any cuts on your hands heal completely, or shield any cuts from contact with chemicals and dirt. A cut can become infected if dirt is allowed to enter the cut while gardening. Now, there are bandages available that will cover and seal the injured area completely, allowing you to continue your horticulture projects.
When growing indoor plants, the thermostat should be set between 65-75 degrees throughout the day. The temperature needs to remain warm so they may grow. If you do not want to keep your home that warm during the winter months, you can get a heat lamp for the organic plants instead.
Flower Bed
You should add a two to three inch layer of organic mulch to your flower bed. Mulch discourages weeds and helps retain moisture while adding nutrients to your flower bed. Mulch will also improve the general appearance of your flower beds.
Killing weeds the natural way? You can place newspaper in several layers, and it will help control your weeds. Weeds can only grow in sunlight. Newspapers placed atop weeds will starve them from light and they will eventually die. Newsprint also breaks down well, incorporating itself into the compost. Try adding some mulch on top of it to make appear more attractive.
Try using a beer trap to naturally eradicate slugs from your organic garden. Take a glass jar and bury it in your garden so that the top of it is level with the soil. After you have placed the jar in the soil, fill with beer to approximately one inch of the top. Slugs will be attracted to the beer and find themselves trapped.
Your authenticity as an organic grower is solidified when you obtain the organic horticulture certification. With this, you and your crops are credible and 100% legitimately organic. This is important for your business and to your customers. This will up your sales and prove to your loyal customers that what they have been getting is only the best that you possibly could get.
As mentioned earlier, it will take time and effort to achieve the goals you have for your organic garden. Patience will be required. Use the tips you found here, mixed with some of your own ideas, to have a productive, environmentally friendly garden. Just remember to apply these tips as you have read them and your garden should do just fine.