How To Grow A Garden In Window Boxes

TIP! Climbing plants and vines are great for covering fences and wall structures. Climbing plants are extremely versatile, helping to hide an ugly fence or wall, often within one growing season.

Many people are discovering just how wonderful having an organic garden can be. With these tips, you can learn fast about how to start your own organic garden. Coming up are a collection of organic horticulture oriented tips, tricks and ideas to grow and harvest nontoxic, free, healthy, fresh, produce for your whole family.

TIP! When winter arrives, transfer some plants into the house to save them. It’s a good idea to save any expensive plants or those that will thrive in indoor heat.

Start your plants in containers, and then transplant the seedlings into the garden later on. Doing this betters your odds of your plants making it to adulthood. This also helps tighten time between plantings. When you remove your mature plants, the next batch of seedlings should be ready.

TIP! Plants need ample amounts of CO2 to reach their maximum growth. Plants tend to grow better when the CO2 levels are higher.

Use slug-proof varieties of perennials wherever possible. Slugs or snails can kill a plant very quickly. These pests prefer plants with thin smooth leaves. Plant some helleborus or euphorbias along with your other perennials. Some perennials, however, leave a bad taste in slugs’ mouths or are difficult to chew through because their leaves aren’t tender. A few great choices are achillea, campanula, and heuchera. Other options from which you can choose are hellebourus and euphorbia.

Baking Soda

TIP! Don’t cut your grass too short! If you leave a bit more height, the grass roots will get deeper, making your lawn stronger. The shorter the grass is, the shorter the roots are, which leads to a dry lawn.

You don’t need expensive chemicals to treat powdery mildew on plants. Try mixing a little liquid soap with some baking soda in water. Spray this on the plants once per week until that mildew goes away. Your plants will not be harmed by the baking soda, but the mildew will definitely not like it!

TIP! A good tip to help your plants stay healthy and fight diseases is to use aspirin water. Dissolve one and one-half aspirins into two gallons of cold water, and use it to fortify your plants.

Plant vines like ivy to cover fences and dividing walls. You can hide an unsightly wall or fence, in as little as one growing season, with the right selection of climbing plant. You can also train climbers to cover arbors and other things that you want covered, and they will even grow right through trees and shrubs. Some require a support, while other climbers attach to surfaces using twining stems or tendrils. Excellent varieties include honeysuckle, wisteria, jasmine, climbing roses and clematis.

TIP! Before planting any perennials, you have to make the ground ready. Simple slice into the soil with a spade, flip the turf, and mulch the area with 3 to 4 inches of wood chips.

Think about using evergreens in your yard that produce berries during the year. These types of trees can offer your garden a splash of color, especially during the winter when all other plants and trees have lost their hues. These plants can help you get some color during the winter months: Winterberry, Common Snowberry, American Holly, and American Cranberrybush.

TIP! To be as efficient as possible in the garden, always have your tools handy. Carry a large bucket with you or wear pants with a lot of pockets.

Before you start working in your garden, purchase a wheelbarrow and a good kneeling stool. Spending time on the ground is rough on the knees, a portable and light stool can help make gardening easier. Also having a garden usually requires moving heavy dirt and objects, so investing in a wheelbarrow is a very sound investment.

TIP! Add used coffee grounds to your garden soil. Coffee grounds have nitrogen that plants will utilize.

Use several inches of organic materials for mulch in your flower beds. This will prevent weeds from growing, retain humidity, and feed your plants with the nutrients they need. It also adds a uniform and cohesive look to the garden.

TIP! Get the most out of what you have, and your property. When you landscape, you can get one of the highest returns.

Be efficient when working in your garden. It’s frustrating to search for a tool for a half hour. Before you start work in the garden, make sure you have the necessary tools, and always remember to put them away when you are finished. You can keep your garden tools in a tool belt, or in your pockets. Another good idea is to keep them all in a bucket that you carry around with you.

TIP! An old laundry basket works great for gathering produce from your garden. This type of basket can double as a large colander for the fruits and vegetables you pick.

Pine makes a much better mulch than you might think. Some plants have a naturally high acidic level, and therefore like acidic soil. If that’s the case, the easiest thing to do is use pine needles for beds. Go ahead and cover the beds you have with needles a couple of inches and while they decompose, they actually disperse some acid into the soil.

TIP! If you’d like to create a raised bed, use materials like brick, stone, or untreated wood. For best results, you should only use wood that has not been treated with chemicals or protective coating.

When planting seeds in containers, remember that the planting depth should be around three times bigger than the seed size. It is important to note though, that not all seeds are covered to this depth, as some need direct sunlight to grow properly. This is true of popular flowers like petunias and zinnias. When in doubt about whether a seed requires direct sun exposure, you can find lots of information online or on the seed packaging itself.

TIP! Though organic farming can present challenges that traditional farming with the use of chemicals does not, harvesting the crops is reward itself for the hard work. Harsh chemicals may be easier to use, but they can affect the nutrition and taste of your vegetables.

You can make a raised bed with untreated wood, brick, or stone. Be sure to use wood that is naturally resistant to rotting and that has not been treated. Several species of trees yield suitable wood. Locust, cypress, and cedar are among the more commonly used rot resitent woods. Avoid using treated wood since they contain chemicals that could disperse into the soil or the crops. If the ground cover you’ve used already contained treated lumber, line it with a barrier of some form.

TIP! Too much water may hurt plants since extra water can keep roots from getting the nutrients they need from the soil. Before watering your plants outdoors, check to see if there is rain in the forecast.

As was mentioned earlier, perfecting your organic garden just takes some patience, and investment of time. The above tips will help you make a wonderful garden. It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to grow, the tips you learned can help you be successful.