Clay soil makes working with a shovel difficult. The clay is hard and sticks to the shovel. Rub a thin layer of floor or car wax over the surface of the shovel, and then buff the surface using a clean cloth. This will make shoveling in clay soil easier. The wax will prevent any rusting, and the shovel will cut through the soil with great ease.
Organic horticulture is a great way to grow your own food at home and relax at the same time. However, for someone who does not have any experience with gardening, the thought of starting, or maintaining, a garden can be intimidating. How should a novice gardener get started? Read this article, and follow the helpful advice.
Tempt your cat away from the plants he has been bothering by planting catnip or wheat grass near them. You could also place mothballs and citrus peels around your plants to keep your cat away.
When selecting among several varieties of a plant, choose the ones that will produce the largest yield. There are genetically modified plants that resist cold and/or disease. These often give higher yields due to higher survival rates.
Think about putting some berry-producing evergreens into your landscape. This will keep your garden colorful, even during those months when other plants are not growing. There is quite a variety of plants that will give your garden a splash of color during winter, including the American Cranberrybush, American Holly, Common Snowberry or Winterberry.
Use climbers for covering fences and walls. Climbers have many different uses and spread quickly. They can cover an arbor, or grow through trees and shrubs. Some of these plants must have support, and some can attach themselves to something using their stems and tendrils. Reliable varieties include wisteria, honeysuckle, climbing roses, clematis, and jasmine.
Plant for fall color. Fall, though, can still be an interesting time for trees. Foliage never looks as colorful and vibrant as it does in the fall. Fall hues of orange, yellow and red can be seen falling from maple trees, and dogwoods and beech trees offer comparable spectacles. Shrubs such as cotoneaster, hydrangea, and barberry will also provide a splash of color in the fall.
Transfer your favorite plants inside so they survive the winter. You may be able to save your most resistant or expensive plants. Dig carefully around the roots, then transfer the plant into a pot.
When you are working in your garden, you will want to have all of your tools in a convenient location. Don’t waste thirty minutes looking around for a tool. Prepare them all ahead of time and have them handy before you need to garden, and then put them back in their place when done. Get yourself a tool belt, or wear pants with many pockets.
Coffee Grounds
Use an aged laundry basket when you want to collect your produce. The laundry basket can be used as a colander for your produce. Doing this allows you to both rinse and drain your fresh produce.
A simple way to lower the alkaline content of your soil is to dilute it with coffee grounds. The coffee grounds are an inexpensive way to give some acid back to the dirt. This will allow your vegetables and greenery to really thrive.
Try growing some organic garlic. Take single garlic gloves and plant them in moist but drained soil at the start of spring or fall. Plant each bulb at least four inches from each other. Bury them about two inches in the soil with their pointed end facing up. You can cut the sprouts as they grow and use them to replace scallions and chives. The bulbs of the garlic are ready for harvesting when the very tops of them begin to brown. The bulbs should be dried well by the sun for a few days before storing. You can go ahead and store them in a cooler area, and you can either keep them loose or tie them up.
Make sure that your deciduous shrubs are protected. Tender shrubs are very sensitive to cold weather, especially those that are planted in pots. Connect the tops, and then place a sheet over the top of the wigwam. In contrast to wrapping the plant with plastic, this method promotes air circulation, which stops the plant from rotting.
You have probably heard that compost is an effective fertilizer for organic gardens, but are you aware of what goes into compost? Compost is actually a mixture of grass clippings, wood-chips, leaves, produce scraps, twigs, and straw which all breaks down to “psuedo-soil”. This nutrient-rich mixture is preferable to commercial fertilizer.
Knee Pads
Using a good amount of mulch is a wonderful method to conserve water in your garden at home. Using mulch will keep the soil around your plants moist so you will not have to water them as much. Mulch can consist of commercial products or even wood and twigs from your trees and old plants. The most important thing is to have an adequate supply of it.
If you have many low-growing plants in your garden, get yourself a pair of horticulture knee pads. When you spend a lot of time kneeling while gardening, your knees can be very achy by the end of the day A pair of good gardening knee pads can cushion your knees for more comfort.
Some houseplants might need humidity. It is possible to obtain the proper humid environment when you cluster plants together in a single pot. The humidity for your houseplants can be increased by a daily mist of water.
Irises can be easily divided. To increase the number that you have, you need to take all your overgrown clumps and split them up. When foliage is dead, lift bulbous irises. The bulbs will split up naturally in your hand, and when replanted, will often flower the next year. If you have a rhizome you will need to split it with a knife. Throw out the center and cut pieces on the outside that are new. Each piece needs one strong offshoot. All that is left to do is immediately replant the pieces you have created and let the cycle begin anew.
Create a planting calendar for your garden. Using a calendar to schedule planting makes picking out varieties easier. Scheduling like this leads to preparation, so you know what and when you need different plants. Your planting calendar could be written on paper, or you can also have a computer program to make one.
If you have a vegetable garden, one of your main enemies is garden pests. One major benefit of growing your own produce is knowing that they haven’t been treated with pesticides and other harsh chemicals. Remain alert in order to control garden pests. Natural pest control depends on the type of soil in your garden and the variety of plants growing there.
The buddy system can even help your garden. Planting bean vines at the base of corn, for example, provides a natural structure for the bean vine to grown on. These plants make the soil richer, and make pesticides and fertilizers unnecessary. For example, any plant that has a heavy smell will help repel pests.
You need to be smart when it comes to watering your garden. A soaker hose is a great way to water all of the plants at once, and will save you a lot of time. Lower your water pressure on the soaker hose to avoid harming tender plants. Set the soaker hose to water your all your plants over a couple hours, and then you will be free to get other things done.
A good spray to use on your organic garden is chives, onion, and garlic in water. This concoction is easily mixed. Just peel some onion, garlic and chives. Chop it very finely and mix in a half a cup of water. Allow the mixture to sit for a time then strain. Place the water in a spray bottle.
If you want your garden to be off-limits to your dog, spray a scented perimeter around it using things like old perfumes or aftershave. This will mask any scents that might attract your dog and make your garden less interesting to him.
Reading this article has hopefully given you some great ideas to begin your experiences in organic gardening. Watching your garden grow can be a source of great pleasure and joy. Use these tips to see your garden flourish!