Your back yard garden can be a plentiful source of luscious fruits and nutritious vegetables. You can make things like salads with freshly picked tomatoes right from your garden, or if you are advanced enough you can even make salads that are completely from your own garden. This article provides the information you need to know to make your garden flourish.
Brighten up your flower beds with annuals and biennials. These fast growing flowers let you change how your flower bed looks season to season. They are very helpful when trying to fill in gaps between shrubs and perennials in an area that is sunny. A variety of flowers that will thrive in your region are available.
Baking Soda
If powdery mildew appears on your plants, don’t purchase expensive chemical solutions. Instead, combine baking soda with water and liquid soap. Then, spray this mixture onto all of your infected plants once each week till the mildew is gone. Baking soda will effectively remove the mildew without damaging your plants.
In the cold winter months, you can salvage certain plants by bringing them into the house. Perhaps you can save your most expensive or resistant plants. Use caution when digging around the roots of your plant. You need to keep the root structure intact for it to thrive after being potted.
When gardening, be watchful of stink bugs, particularly in the fall. Stink bugs enjoy gardens, and are especially fond of fruit, tomatoes, beans and peppers. If left uncontrolled, they can cause substantial damage in your garden, so make plans for how to protect your plants from these pests.
If you want your garden full of flowers spring through summer, plant bulbs. Most bulbs are extremely hearty and grow easily. They also come back year after year. Various bulbs do not all bloom at the same time, and if you employ this knowledge wisely, your garden can provide freshly blooming flowers for half the year.
You can plant wheat grass or cat grass near the plants that the cat eats. Another option is to place offensively smelling objects on the topsoil near and around the plants you want to protect. Citrus peels or mothballs are a couple of examples.
Draw up a garden plan before you plant the first seed. Doing this makes it easier to keep track of where you planted what when you first start to see sprouts. You might end up losing small plants in a large area, because you did not water them.
If you want a strange, yet successful, green answer to getting rid of weeds, boil them to death. Water is cheaper than chemical herbicides, and less hazardous to humans and soil. Pour hot water right on the weeds, but do not get any on your plants. Boiling water can hurt the roots of weeds and can prevent them from growing.
An easy, inexpensive way to give them nutrients is to pour the leftover water from your steamed vegetables into the soil. You can also use tea or coffee grounds to acidify soil for plants such as rhododendrons and gardenias. If fungus is ravaging your potted plants, sprinkle a bit of Chamomile tea on them, and see if it helps.
Vegetables are softer in the heat of the hottest part of the day; even gently picking them at that time can damage them. Also ensure that you use a tool to cut the vegetables off at the vine. If you just yank or twist the whole plant, it may become damaged.
Do not be in a rush when you plant your seeds. Begin by adding moisture to the soil. Then, distribute the seeds evenly, and see to it that they have space to grow. The depth at which you bury them should be three times their size. Make sure you are not burying the seeds that need light to grow.
Seeds that have sprouted don’t require the extra warmth that was needed before they sprouted. Your seedlings should be moved away from any heat source. Take off any plastic that is on the containers to keep away from warmth and moisture. Watch your seeds carefully to know when you can take these steps.
You need to avoid chores in your organic garden stacking up. While you may not be able to spend time in the garden on a daily basis, there are still many things you can do to keep things from snowballing out of control. For example, if you are playing in the yard with your child, take a few moments to pull some weeds as well.
A great tip when running your own organic garden, is to lightly ruffle your seedlings with your hand or cardboard, around once or twice per day. This probably sounds like an odd recommendation, but research has shown that this technique encourages more plant growth, than no petting at all.
Grow some garlic that is organic. You should plant garlic cloves in either early spring or late fall. Your soils should be well-drained. Plant individual cloves pointed end up approximately two inches deep and four inches apart. You can cut the green shoots as they are growing and use them in your cooking. You will know when to harvest the garlic, because the tops will gradually turn brown. Dry the bulbs well in the sun for several days to harden the skin. Store the bulbs separately or tied in loose bunches in a cool place.
Horticulture can be a relaxing and very rewarding hobby, providing you with plenty of fresh produce grown with your own hands. Being able to make a meal from homegrown ingredients will leave you with a sense of satisfaction. If you apply the advice you have learned here, you can get the most from your garden.