Environmentally-conscious horticulture requires dedication to following best practices at all times. Sound organic gardening techniques can help you do just that. The tastiest and healthiest of produce can be produced from your own organic garden. Use the following tips to create a flourishing and very rewarding organic garden.
Shoveling soil that is mostly clay can be difficult because of the hardness of the soil, and because it sticks to the shovel. To make the clay soft so you aren’t working as hard, take floor or car wax and rub a light coat on the surface of the shovel using a clean cloth, then buff the surface. The wax will prevent any rusting, and the shovel will cut through the soil with great ease.
Give your flower beds a boost by introducing annuals and biennials. Your flower beds will look different from one season to another. Use these beautiful flowers to line your driveway, surround trees and shrubs, and for decorative hanging baskets. The most popular varieties to use include petunia, zinnia, cosmos, snapdragon, marigold, hollyhock, and sunflower.
Soil needs to be rich in certain nutrients to grow healthy plants. The soil may have to be adapted, depending on what types of plants you’re planning for the garden. It is also possible to make an artificial area using only one type of soil.
It is a good idea to pre-soak your seeds in a dark environment overnight. Simply place a handful of seeds in a container, cover the seeds up with water, and stash it away. This hydrates your seeds and jump-starts their growth. The seeds will most likely survive and mature this way.
When mowing your lawn, avoid mowing the grass too short. Higher grass has deeper roots, meaning a healthier lawn that will be less likely to dry out. If the grass is too short, it produces shallow roots and that leads to a lawn with brown spots and dried-out patches.
If you are growing vegetables in your garden, it is important that you have them in a spot where they can get at least six hours of sun a day. Most members of the vegetable family need this minimum of light for proper growth. It’s also the same for some types of flowers.
If you decide to grow peas, think about planting them indoors when you first start them off, as opposed to planting them outdoors. Seeds will always germinate much better when you first plant them indoors initially. The seedlings will also be heartier, which means they can resist pests and diseases better. When your plants are sturdy, move them outdoors.
Surround your vegetable plants with organic mulch, a few inches worth. When you place mulch around your plants, it keeps the ground more moist. This method will also prevent weeds. Every gardener can appreciate pulling fewer weeds.
Use only pesticides designed to kill the specific type of pest in your garden, and avoid the broad-spectrum kind. It’s true these pesticides kill the pests you don’t want, but they also lay waste to the advantageous insects that make those same pests a regular meal. Useful insects are more sensitive to these pesticides than the pests, so by killing them, you could be growing your pest population. This can cause you to use an additional amount of pesticides in order to attempt to fix this problem.
Plant things that will give you color for the fall. That need not be the case though! The fall season is probably the most colorful of the year in terms of foliage. Maple trees are an autumn rainbow of crimsons to yellows, and so are beech and dogwood trees. Some very good shrubs to choose are barberry, hydrangea, and cotoneaster, which is a member of the rose family.
To keep your dog out of your garden, spray old perfume, aftershave, or other scented items in the grass around it. This will mask any scents that might attract your dog and make your garden less interesting to him.
As these suggestions have shown you, anyone can have a successful organic garden. It does take work and patience, but all is worth it come mealtimes that include your organic, homegrown produce.
Originally posted 2015-02-19 09:44:33.
