If you want to keep your garden free of pests, start with healthy soil! The hearty plants that will grow in a garden with rich soil can resist the bugs and diseases that weak plants can’t withstand. For the most vigorous and healthy plants, start with high-quality soil, and stay away from chemicals. These can accumulate salts over time.
Organic horticulture is a hobby that anybody can do in order to relax. Yet for someone who is just a novice, gardening can be a really intimidating thing to think about. So, what should a novice do to learn how to grow plants? Well, a great place to start is with the following helpful article!
A garden needs the right type of soil to grow properly. You can actually get an analysis of soil for a little fee, and with the report you get back you can figure out how to create a vibrant garden by enriching it properly. Many offices of Cooperative Extension will do a soil analysis, and it is important to know how to improve soil so that all crops can grow in it.
Laying Sod
Irises should be divided. You can divide those overgrown clumps and increase the amount of irises you have. Pick up bulbous irises after the foliage dies. The bulbs, when harvested, should easily split by hand – allowing you to replant them for even more blooms next spring. Make use of a knife to split up rhizomes. Cut out new pieces from outside the bulb and throw away the old center. Every piece needs to have a minimum of one good offshoot. All that is left to do is immediately replant the pieces you have created and let the cycle begin anew.
Take the proper approach to laying sod. Before laying sod, you have to make sure the soil is accurately prepared. Pull any weeds that you see, and work to break up the soil so that it is a fine tilth. The next step is compacting your soil and carefully leveling it. Thoroughly moisten the soil. Staggered rows with offset joints is the best way for the sod to be laid out. You want the sod to end up as a flat and even surface. If there are any gaps in between the sod pieces, then you can fill these in with some soil. According to your climate, you will likely need to water the new sod daily over a period of a couple of weeks. This will insure proper root formation and establishment.
Broad-spectrum pesticides should be avoided in your garden. While broad-spectrum pesticides will kill most pests, they will also kill helpful insects. In fact, beneficial insects are more likely to die than pests if you spray these types of pesticides. As the population of “good” bugs dwindles, your garden may become overrun with pests. If you respond to the growing pest problem with more broad-spectrum pesticide, you only continue the harmful cycle.
Choose perennials that won’t be taken out by slugs. A plant can be completely demolished overnight by slugs and snails. They gravitate towards perennials with smooth thin leaves, particularly on younger plants. Some perennials are not preferred meals for snails and slugs, especially if their foliage is hairy and tough, or tastes bad. Achillea, euphorbia, helleborus, heuchera and campanula are good choices that slugs don’t like.
Water your garden carefully. Use a hose with a soaker attachment to save you time, so the garden can get watered while you are doing other tasks. Use low water pressure for your hose so that you do not cause harm to the tender members of your garden. You can take care of other tasks or just relax while your plants are automatically watered for an hour or so.
Biennials and annuals are great if you would like to better your flower bed. The annuals and biennials are usually fast growing because they only last one season, and this will let you change the garden every season for a nice change of pace. These kinds of flowers are also excellent for filling in gaps between shrubs and perennials in sunny areas. Notable varieties include cosmos, rudbeckia, petunia, hollyhock, marigold and sunflower.
If you want your children to enjoy your organic garden, plant some tasty strawberries. Children find it fun to pick strawberries and love to assist with the harvest if they get some yummy treats as they work.
Bulbs planted in the spring can flower all the way into summer. Not only are bulbs hearty and easy to grow, but they’ll continue to grow as time goes on. Find out which flowers will bloom when and then plant a variety, so that you can have fresh blooms all the way through the spring and summer!
If you choose to use organic methods to care for your houseplants, you should bear in mind that certain plants require more sunlight than others. If your apartment or home does not receive a huge amount of sunlight, you might want to grow plants that adapt to medium and low light environments instead. Otherwise, you could simply use your own lights.
Coffee Grounds
If slugs are disrupting the balance of your garden, you can diminish their population by using a beer trap. Bury a glass jar in your garden so that its open mouth is level with the top of the soil. Fill the jar with beer within one inch of the top. The slugs will be drawn to the beer and then drown in the jar.
If your soil is highly alkaline, try mixing used coffee grounds into the soil. Coffee grounds are an affordable means of adding acid to the soil so that it is pH-balanced. By amending your soils, you will help your plants grow and flourish.
Grow organic garlic. Plant single garlic cloves during the spring or fall seasons in soil that is moist and well drained. Plant them an inch or two below the soil line with the pointed end facing the sky. Each clove should be around 4 inches from the one beside it. Garlic stalks can be used as they grow for chives or scallions in any recipe. You know your bulbs are ready when they turn brown on their tops. Leave the bulbs out to dry and exposed to the sun for a few days so that the skin hardens a bit. Finally, store the garlic in an area with low temperatures like a pantry, either by themselves or tied into bunches.
Before you plant a garden you should plan it out. Doing this makes it easier to keep track of where you planted what when you first start to see sprouts. Another benefit is that you won’t lose the little plants in a big garden patch.
Humidity may be necessary for some houseplants to grow. Put several types of plants into one large pot to generate humidity. You can also put one plant in a large pot. Just pack the pot with stones so that the plant has little room to move and retains water. Misting houseplants with water is another way to increase the humidity, simply spray them one or two times per day.
A great garden starts from the seeds and not from the plants. When opening a garden, the most green method of beginning is from seed. Most nurseries use plastic containers to grow seedling. This plastic is seldom recycled, so most is dumped in landfills. Be kind to the environment and start your garden with seeds or purchase young plants from nurseries that use organic packaging materials.
When you garden, be sure that you do not give your plants too much or too little water. This is important, because your plants can develop root rot and die if they receive too much water, and if they receive too little water, they can dry out. Frequently check the moisture levels of the soil, and make adjustments accordingly.
If you are a first time gardener, it is important that you follow all of the instructions on all of your tools and chemicals. If you don’t pay good attention, you could wind up with skin irritations or other issues. Prevent issues, and use your garden chemicals safely.
Any time you use fresh vegetables in your cooking, take a moment after your meal preparation to finely chop any excess pieces and place them in your garden. The veggies will decay quickly and put back important nutrients into your new plants that you plan on growing. Of course, if you have a large amount of vegetable scraps, you should compost them in a compost heap, but small amounts of scraps can go directly to the soil.
Pest Control
Mixing garlic, chives, and onions with the water to make an organic spray can really help discourage unwanted pests in your beautiful garden. To make the spray, just chop peeled garlic, onions or chives very fine and mix half a cup of water with it, and then strain it into the spray bottle.
Pest control is very difficult if you are dealing with your veggie garden. You want to avoid spraying harsh chemicals since the vegetables are meant for consumption. Persistence and care is a much better solution for pest control, but many avoid it because it actually requires some work on their behalf. Natural pest control depends on the type of soil in your garden and the variety of plants growing there.
By now you probably are beginning to understand why so many people enjoy working in their gardens. Working in your organic garden is a hobby that’s both relaxing and fun. These tips are your key to becoming a top-flight organic gardener.