Many people get into organic gardening since they fear the toxic effects of commercial pesticides and fertilizers, both on the environment and their health. Also, organic horticulture can save you a lot of money. Read on to learn a few tips if you are thinking about growing your own organic garden.
Use slug-proof varieties of perennials wherever possible. It is alarming to see how quickly slugs, and their cousin snails, can annihilate a plant. These pests normally go after plants with thin little leaves and plants that have yet to fully mature. Perennials that have tough or hairy leaves are often times unappetizing to snails and slugs. Wonderful varieties of such perennials include euphorbia, campanula, helleborus, achillea, and heuchera.
Try using annuals and biennials to add color to your flower beds, and brighten them up. These flowers grow quickly and can be planted at any time during the year. If you want to maintain a flower garden all year or you want to add new flowers to reflect the changing seasons, annuals and biennials are for you. You can fill any spaces between shrubs and perennials when they are in the sun. Some examples include sunflowers, marigolds, petunias, hollyhocks, cosmos, and rudbeckia.
Baking Soda
If mildew is forming on your plants, you should not purchase an expensive chemical. Mix a bit of liquid soap and some baking soda into water. Then, spray this mixture onto all of your infected plants once each week till the mildew is gone. Baking soda will not damage your plants and treats the mildew gently but efficiently.
Before you begin to plant your garden you will need to check the 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. Many Cooperative Extension offices will provide this service, and it is well worth knowing exactly what the soil needs to avoid ruining a crop or two.
Bulbs are a great option for people who want to enjoy spring and summer flowers. 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.
Consider adding coffee grounds to your soil if it contains high levels of alkaline. This is an easy and inexpensive method to increase the acidity of your soil. Improving the pH of your soil will make your vegetables and greens taste even better!
Make sure to fertilize your garden. Composted manure is effective in raising healthy plants, and commercial fertilizer products are safer and more convenient. There are many fertilization methods out there; the type is not quite as important as actually using something.
Apply organic mulch generously around your vegetable plants. The mulch will help keep the dirt around the plants more moist. An added benefit is that it also inhibits weed growth. This will save you tons of time from pulling out tons of weeds.
You should be cognizant of the peak time for harvesting your vegetables. Each veggie has its own prime time for harvesting. Baby peas, for example have much better flavor if they are harvested early in the ripening process, as does zucchini. On the contrary, tomatoes shouldn’t be picked from the vine until they are ripe as can be. Take the time to learn when your produce will be at its best for harvesting.
When tending a vegetable garden, you might find that pest control is a bit difficult. You can’t use chemicals as they’re the last thing you want to be eating when you enjoy the fruits of your labor. Staying on top of the problem will ensure that pests don’t take over your garden. When you are vigilant, you can simply remove the pests from your plants manually as soon as you notice them. Early detection is the best solution to ridding your garden of pests.
To give them a boost, pour out any leftover water from steaming or boiling vegetables on the plants or soil around them. You can also use tea or coffee grounds to acidify soil for plants such as rhododendrons and gardenias. If you are having problems with fungus, you may find that sprinkling Chamomile tea on the plant is effective.
Don’t use pesticides that aren’t meant to kill specific types of garden pests. In addition, these pesticides destroy the good insects which eat pests. Bugs that are good for your garden tend to be more susceptible to these types of pesticides, and using them could mean an increase in the pests you are actually trying to get rid of. This can lead to needing even more pesticides to eliminate the problem insects.
Be sure to plant using the colors of Fall. That doesn’t have to be the case. The fall season is probably the most colorful of the year in terms of foliage. Maple, beech, and dogwood trees are many colors in the fall, from yellow to a deeper crimson. As you select your shrubbery, consider hydrangea, barberry or other similar plantings.
When gardening outdoors, you must always wear sunscreen and appropriate attire; this will help to protect you from sun damage. Wear hats and sunglasses, and make use of sunscreen. Protecting yourself from the sun is the best way to prevent sunburns and skin cancer.
An English garden mixes plants of various kinds and sizes close together, which helps to give it a more multi-dimensional feel. Having plants that grow to the same height will result in a common and flat looking bed.
Applying the knowledge you learned here to your garden will help ensure you have a thriving, toxin-free garden of your very own. When you are organic gardening and working with nature, you will also see a lot of wildlife coming to visit!