Many people select organic gardening to avoid using pesticides or commercial fertilizers on their garden for fear of long-term damage to their health and the environment. Additionally, most organic gardening techniques cost very little money. With the tips here in this article you can quickly become an expert in organic gardening.
Protect your deciduous shrubs which are tender. Any potted shrubs should be sheltered in the winter from cold weather. Try to tie the tops all together and cover them with a sheet, large piece of cloth, or blanket. This is more effective than putting plastic on the plant, it will let the air flow.
Make sure that you divide your irises! Increase your iris population when you divide up overgrown clumps. You can do this by simply picking up bulbous irises once the foliage has withered. They will literally split in your hand, flowering the next year after replanting. Make use of a knife to split up rhizomes. Cut healthy pieces from the root stalk and throw out the dead center. Don’t plant any pieces that don’t have any strong offshoots. Immediately replant all your selected cuttings.
Use natural pest control when possible. A border of marigolds or onions around your veggies can prevent slugs. Another way to get rid of pests is to spread wood ash at ground level around shrubs and tree plantings. These are methods you can use to get rid of the need to use pesticides.
Beneficial Bugs
Don’t use broad-spectrum pesticides in the garden. These strong pesticides are non-selective, killing beneficial insects as well as pests. Beneficial bugs usually have more sensitivity towards pesticides than bad ones. Therefore, if the number of beneficial bugs drops, the problem with pests can get bigger. You will need even more pesticides to deal with the problem, and it will never really go away.
Choose one plant and make it the focal point of your garden. The best garden designers always use a focal point that draws the eye. Frequently, it will be a plant that’s very different from others in the neighborhood.
When you are gardening out in the sun, wear the proper clothing so that you do not get any type of sun damage. Wear a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen to protect your skin from the damaging effects of the sun. By protecting yourself from the sun’s rays, you lower your risk of getting sunburns or skin cancer.
Always completely protect any cuts, or wait until they are healed before attempting any gardening, as this can introduce dirt or chemicals into the wound. Cuts that are infiltrated by soil or other substances have the potential to breed serious infections. The key is to use bandages capable of covering cuts in their entirety.
By following some of the tips we include in this article, you’ll be up and running in no time and will soon have a good supply of produce grown in your own garden. You should notice more wildlife present in your garden if you use natural methods.
Originally posted 2013-05-03 10:32:41.
