How To Easily Turn Your Garden Organic

TIP! The correct soil can make a big difference in how your garden grows. Depending on the type of plants you desire in your garden, your natural soil may or may not be appropriate.

Although organic horticulture holds great appeal to most people, many never really try it out for themselves. This is because people often feel too discouraged or incompetent to try something that sounds as complicated and unusual as organic gardening. This article can help you get the tips you need to make the leap into the fun and beneficial world of organic gardening.

TIP! You can plant wheat grass or cat grass near the plants that the cat eats. You can put something over the soil which surrounds the plants which has a bad smell to cats to deter them.

Using a shovel in clay soil is a lot of work, not only is the clay hard, but it will stick to the shovel and make it twice as hard to handle. Get better results in clay by rubbing car wax or floor wax onto the shovel, then buff off and dig. The wax will help keep dirt from sticking to the shovel, and will also keep the metal from rusting.

TIP! If a test indicates that your soil is very alkaline, you can mix the dirt with used coffee grounds. Using coffee grounds is a less expensive way to make your soil more acidic than trying to replace your topsoil.

Choose perennials that slugs are not attracted to. These mollusks are capable of consuming an entire garden full of flowers in a single night. Certain perennials that don’t have tough leaves are especially tasty to snails and slugs. Some varieties of perennials are not preferred by snails and slugs, particularly perennials that have hairy, tough leaves or a taste that isn’t appetizing. Some of the best varieties of these include achillea, campanula, euphorbia, and heuchera.

TIP! Prior to planting a garden, think through what you want to do. It will be easy to remember where each plant is when sprouts start to shoot up the following spring.

Prior to planting anything in your garden, check your soil. Have a soil report done. It is cost effective and you can make necessary adjustments, based on the report, to your soil so it is correctly enriched to encourage plant growth. It is worth having this information so that crops do not get ruined. Most Cooperative Extension offices provide this service.

Stink Bugs

TIP! Give them a boost by watering them with the cooled water that is left after steaming vegetables. Add coffee grounds or tea leaves to the soil of acid-loving plants like rhododendron and gardenia.

Make sure to be weary of stink bugs whenever you garden, particularly during the fall months. Stink bugs like to eat beans, peppers, tomatoes, and all sorts of fruit. If left uncontrolled, they can cause substantial damage in your garden, so make plans for how to protect your plants from these pests.

TIP! Gardening is an incredible method of relaxing. A plethora of paths to individual relaxation and inner peace exist.

Vegetable plants should be planted where they can benefit from a minimum of six hours of sunlight every day. Most vegetables need at least that much sun for optimal growth speed. Some flowers also require direct sunlight for a portion of each day.

TIP! Water your garden carefully. You can water efficiently by using a soaker hose which will eliminate the necessity of watering each plant one by one with a nozzle, or having to use a water can that you have to refill over and over.

Are fresh mint leaves something you love but cannot stand how quickly they grow all over your garden? Try to keep your mint in a container in your garden to stop their rampage. Then, you can plant the container into the ground. However, the container walls will keep the roots held, and prevent the plant from consuming too much of your garden space.

TIP! Spray fragrances such as old perfume or aftershave on grass around your garden to help keep your dog away from the plants. This helps mask the attractive scents and can make your garden unappealing to them.

Know when to harvest your vegetables at precisely the right time. Each type of vegetables has its own ideal time for picking for the best flavor. For instance, zucchini and baby peas have the best taste when you pick them early. Let your tomatoes, however, linger on the vine until they are fully ripe. It’s best to learn when the harvest time is for your vegetables.

TIP! Any time that you are gardening in direct sunlight, dress appropriately to prevent skin damage. Wear wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen.

Grow heather so that you can attract useful insects. Heather is desirable to bees; when heather emerges in early spring, it can be a source of nectar. It is common to find all types of insects inside of an undisturbed heather bed. Keep this in mind and remember to always wear appropriate gardening gloves.

Pine Needles

TIP! Pay attention to how much light your indoor plants are getting. If your windows are small or receive little light due to their positioning, a plant that requires little sunlight will be more comfortable and healthy.

Pine mulch can be highly effective under the right conditions. Some plants are more acidic, and prefer soil that contains higher acidic levels. If you are growing these types of plants, simply gather up fallen pine needles for use in your garden. Cover the plots with pine needles. As the pine needles decay, they’ll raise the soil’s acidity.

TIP! Perennial gardens should be prepared easily and quickly in the ground. Only a garden spade and woods chips are necessary.

Space is very important when you plant an organic garden. It is easy to underestimate the amount of space that the plants will take up once they start to grow. You need to take into account the plant’s size when it is fully grown, as well as allowing space for air circulation between each plant. Therefore, ensure that you allow for ample spaces between your seedlings.

TIP! For your flower beds, organic material should be used as mulch. Two or three inches should be enough.

Include both green and dry plant refuse in your compost. Green plant material can include old flowers, fruit waste, grass clippings, vegetable waste, and leaves. Your dried material can be things such as sawdust, paper shreds, wood shavings, straw and cardboard. Avoid meat, ashes, charcoal, plants with diseases and manure from carnivores.

Treated Wood

TIP! Get added value from your property. Of all the home improvement options that you might consider, landscaping is the most cost effective.

Create a raised bed for your garden out of stone, bricks or untreated wood. Be sure to use wood that is naturally resistant to rotting and that has not been treated. Excellent choices are cedar, locust and cypress. In a veggie garden, don’t use treated wood since its chemicals can leech into the food crops and soil. If you have some space treated wood, you can still use it, however, be sure to line it with some type of barrier like plastic sheeting.

TIP! If you need to prove to customers that your produce is legitimately organic, you can become certified as an organic grower. This should improve sales and attract customers who are environmentally conscious.

When you remember these suggestions from this article, you will not be as afraid to go about organic horticulture. Apply these tips and you will quickly be eating luscious and wholesome foods, that you grew yourself!