Tag: pest control

Horticulture Tips For New And Advanced Gardeners

TIP! Use annuals and biennials to enliven your flower beds. Using a variety of flowers allows your flower garden to have a different look each season.

Learning how to to garden can seem like more than what you can handle, but like many other things, it is not hard to research and learn how to do. Hopefully, these tips will help you to improve your gardening skills and become an expert gardener.

TIP! You don’t need a costly chemical solution to deal with powdery mildew in your garden. All you need to do is mix baking soda with a tiny bit of liquid soap in with some water.

Pick your plants with an eye to maximize the yield you can get. A hybrid designed for your weather, and resistant to local diseases, will give a better yield than non-hybrids.

Baking Soda

TIP! One way to correct your soil’s alkalinity is by amending your soil with used coffee grounds. This is an easy and inexpensive solution to increase the acid content back into the soil.

Do not spend your money on chemicals to fight mildew. All it takes is a liquid soap, water, and baking soda mixture. Spray this onto your plants about once per week or until it subsides. Baking soda will bring no damage to your plants, and will treat the mildew in a gentle and efficient manner.

TIP! Have one plant be the most interesting eye-grabber in your garden. You need a focal point that can catch your eye in garden design.

To grow properly, plants need adequate levels of CO2. In general, higher amounts of CO2 are related to better plant growth. Greenhouses provide the best levels of CO2 for plants. To achieve optimal growing conditions, keep the levels of carbon dioxide high in your plants’ environment.

TIP! To make a creative English garden, include many different kinds of plants and vary their height in the same garden bed. If plants have the same growth height, the bed will appear flat and not have much interest.

Plant bulbs if you want spring and summer flowers. Since bulbs are easy to grow and resistant to poor weather conditions, they will grow without fail year after year. Specific types of bulbs usually bloom at specific times of the season, so if you make appropriate selections, you can be rewarded with blooms from the early part of spring to the later part of summer.

TIP! If you have a cut, be careful about exposing it to soil or gardening chemicals. A cut could get infected if it gets in contact with grime and dirt in the garden.

Whenever you are planting a veggie garden, it is vital that you place them in a location where sun shines down on them for six or more hours per day. Most vegetables that can be grown need that much sun to grow well and quickly. This is true for flowers as well.

TIP! Add used coffee grounds to your garden soil. They contain nitrogenous nutrients which are essential to plant growth.

Start your garden off right with seeds, not plants. Starting from seed is far less harsh on the environment than using plants you buy at the nursery. It’s better for your garden, in particular, because transplants have high failure rates; whereas, sprouting a seed and growing a plant in the same conditions is better. Additionally, it’s better for the environment, because the plastic pots used by most greenhouses are generally not recycled and are cluttering landfills.

TIP! Use a laundry basket to help you collect produce from your garden. This will be like a strainer for all your produce.

Spread a little bit of organic mulch, around two inches worth, in and about each vegetable plant. Mulch will retain water so that you won’t have to water your plants as often. It will also prevent the growth of weeds. This can save you a lot of time and effort in pulling out the weeds.

TIP! If you have problem slugs in your organic garden, get rid of them naturally with a beer trap. Take a glass jar and bury it so that the soil is even with its mouth.

Learn the ideal times for harvesting your vegetables. Different vegetables have different, ideal times that they should be picked for best flavor. For example, baby peas and zucchini taste best when they are picked young. Yet, in reverse, tomatoes must wait for prime-ripeness before they are subject to being picked. Thus, you ought to familiarize yourself with the best times to pick the produce from your garden.

TIP! Build raised beds with untreated stone, brick or wood. If you choose to use wood, see to it that it’s untreated and that it can resist rotting.

When you’re dealing with a veggie garden, pest control may be difficult. Do not spray harsh chemicals on the vegetables you are going to eat. Instead of resorting to these harmful chemicals, you can keep garden pests at bay simply by paying close attention. When you see bugs, remove them by hand before they have a chance of spreading.

TIP! Grow some garlic that is organic. Plant organic cloves in spring or fall and use moist, drained soil.

Broad-spectrum pesticides are really not the optimal choice for pest control in your garden. In addition, these pesticides destroy the good insects which eat pests. Since these pesticides often affect the good bugs more than the bad, using them can actually increase your pest problem. In the end, you may resort to using even more pesticides in order to erase the problem.

TIP! Research botanical insecticides that can be purchased locally to aid in ridding your garden of pests. Natural insecticides are often more powerful than ones that have chemicals in them.

Garden for fall colors. That doesn’t have to be it though. The fall season is probably the most colorful of the year in terms of foliage. Maple trees produce yellow and red leaves, just like Beech and Dogwood trees. Some very good shrubs to choose are barberry, hydrangea, and cotoneaster, which is a member of the rose family.

TIP! Learn the right way to buy your plants. Find out if you are supposed to buy them when they are in bloom, when they are budded, or at some time in between.

Use smarts when watering your garden. A soaker hose will save you time because you won’t have to individually water each plant, like you do with a regular nozzle, or a can that you need to constantly refill. To protect your plants, keep the flow on the soaker down. It can water the plants for two hours so that you can do other things.

TIP! Turn your fallen leaves into an organic compost that you can add to your soil. An organic compost is created when leaves decompose, and this is a very nutrient rich item for your plants and will make them healthy.

It can be extremely fast and easy to plant perennials into your garden. Slice under the grass with a spade, flip the layer you have lifted over, and spread three inches of wood chips on top. Give the area a couple of weeks, then dig into it and plant your new perennials.

Pine Needles

TIP! It is important to remember that a healthy garden requires water. Plants can not survive without it.

Pine needles should not be overlooked as a great source for mulch. Some plants do better in soil with high acidity as they are highly acidic themselves. When you have any plants like this, it’s very simple to just collect pine needles to use in your bed. Go ahead and cover the beds you have with needles a couple of inches and while they decompose, they actually disperse some acid into the soil.

TIP! Think about the veggies you use most and then plant them in your garden. By doing this, you will be able to use the gardening space to your best advantage, and you will also save money on food bills.

Now, admit it, gardening isn’t as complicated as you thought! Like most topics, gardening has a great deal of information to be learned and the advice is readily available from a number of sources. Sometimes, you need a starting place. Hopefully, this article will serve that purpose and set you on the path to a beautiful garden.

Having A Hard Time With Organic Horticulture? Try These Techniques!

TIP! Clay soil makes working with a shovel difficult. The clay is hard and sticks to the shovel.

Men and women of all ages enjoy relaxing in an organic gardening and making things grow. But, newcomers may find the process to be somewhat overwhelming at first. So, how should a beginning organic gardener learn the basics? If so, keep reading. You are only minutes away from becoming a better gardener.

TIP! You should divide irises. Splitting up overgrown groups of irises will allow you to easily increase the number of irises in your garden.

Learn how to properly lay sod. Get your soil ready before you lay the sod. Pull any weeds that you see, and work to break up the soil so that it is a fine tilth. Using a light but firm touch, compact the soil until it is flat. Make sure you work with a moist soil. You want the sod laid down in staggered rows, and the joints to be offset from each other. Firm sod until there is an even, flat surface; fill in gaps with soil. Water the sod each day for two weeks so it will become well-rooted and ready for foot traffic.

TIP! There are natural steps you can take to keep garden pests at bay. A border of onions or marigolds around a vegetable garden can repel slug.

Use bulbs to ensure continuous flowers throughout the spring and summer. Bulbs are usually very hearty and very easy to grow, and bulbs will grow year after year. Different bulbs bloom at various times, so choosing appropriately, you may have blooms early spring to later summer.

TIP! If you are planning on growing peas, start them indoors before putting them outdoors in your garden. Pea seeds germinate better indoors.

Try to grow some wheat or cat grass around your cat’s favorite plants. You can also put something on top of the soil around the plants that has an offensive smell to cats, such as mothballs or citrus peel.

TIP! If you are just starting out, follow all the guidelines and rules on your chemicals and tools. Failure to follow instructions can be dangerous or painful.

Don’t plant a garden without planning it. This will help you to remember where you planted the different plants when sprouts begin to shoot up from the ground. A good plan can also help you to place each plant in the area that is most beneficial to them.

TIP! Think about planting evergreen plants that will produce berries in the backyard. These types of trees can offer your garden a splash of color, especially during the winter when all other plants and trees have lost their hues.

Using boiling water to kill weeds is both efficient and organic. Boiling water in a pot is a safe “herbicide.” Douse boiling water on the weeds and avoid nearby plants carefully. Weeds will usually stop growing if boiling water damages their roots.

TIP! Cooled water left over from steaming vegetables can be fed to them as a little snack. You can also use tea or coffee grounds to acidify soil for plants such as rhododendrons and gardenias.

Good green gardens begin from seeds, not plants. Starting with your own seeds is more environmentally friendly than buying plants from a nursery. Seeds eliminate the waste of plastic containers from nurseries which rarely get recycled. There are some nurseries, however, that send their plants out in organic potting materials.

TIP! Allow your children to assist with the work to be done in your organic garden. Helping a garden grow is an excellent learning experience for kids, and it allows your family to spend time together while creating healthy, nutritious foods.

Start your peas in a protected indoors environment rather than outside. Pea seeds tend to germinate much better when planted indoors, before being moved to an outside garden. The seedling sprouts will be heartier, giving them a better chance to grow into a healthy adult plant capable of rebuffing diseases. Once the seedlings are sturdy enough, they can be transplanted to their rightful place in the garden.

TIP! Keep your plants in a warm, moist environment, if possible. This level of heat is required in order for plants to grow.

Pest control is very difficult if you are dealing with your veggie garden. Don’t spray harsh chemicals since they will spoil your veggies. Research the methods available for eliminating garden pests organically. Taking the pests off of the plants by hand is one of the best fixes if you are able to catch the infestation in its early stages.

Pectrum Pesticides

TIP! Use alcohol to help control the slugs in your garden by fashioning a beer trap. Dig a hole just deep enough for a glass jar to be placed in it while the jar still has its rim in line with the surface of the ground.

Broad-spectrum pesticides are really not the optimal choice for pest control in your garden. In addition, these pesticides destroy the good insects which eat pests. Bugs that provide a benefit to your garden are more easily killed by these broad-spectrum pesticides, you may simply end up with a bigger pest problem. This can lead to needing even more pesticides to eliminate the problem insects.

TIP! Have you ever given any thought to using organic gardening methods to grow garlic? Plant individual garlic cloves early in the spring or fall. They should be planted in well-drained moist soil.

The warmth of the day can make vegetables soft, making them more prone to damage as you pick them. Vegetables and fruits should always be cut from the vine, not twisted; twisting subjects a plant to needless stress.

TIP! When you mulch your garden beds with organic material, make sure it’s about three inches deep. This will help your garden by adding nourishment to the soil, holding in moisture levels, inhibiting the growth of unsightly weeds, and creating a noticeably more professional look.

It’s simple to lay a new perennial bed. Take your spade and work up a thin layer of soil. Turn that soil over, then spread a few inches of wood chips on the newly turned area. Let the area sit for a fortnight, then turn the earth and set up your new perennial bed.

Pine Needles

TIP! To mulch, trees and flowers, use a minimum of three inches of organic material. This is not only beneficial for the earth, but it also saves you water and money on the water bill.

Do not overlook the benefits of pine mulch for your garden. Acidic soil is a favorite of garden plants that are high in acidity. If this is the case, use pine needles to mulch your beds. Covering your plant beds with a layer of pine needles will allow the pine needles to disperse their acidic nutrients into the soil for your plants.

TIP! Grow crops that are high-value. Buy what crops you personally like in large quantity.

An old laundry basket makes a great way to gather your harvest. The laundry basket is a perfect strainer for any produce run off. Rinse the product off whilst it’s in the basket so that any extra water can strain through the laundry basket’s holes.

TIP! Know how and when you must water the organic garden. Try making use of a soaker hose for this purposes.

After reading this article, you should have a better idea of the appeal of growing an organic garden. Working in your garden will bring you great relaxation while you have a fun experience. Follow the advice in this article to avoid the common pitfalls associated with organic horticulture.

Chemical Free Gardening: Top Tips For An Organic Garden

TIP! Do not spend your money on chemicals to fight mildew. Mix plain baking soda with a small bit of liquid soap and water.

Organic gardens have become very popular in recent years as people start to understand the consequences of corporate farming techniques. The tenets of holistic living require use of herbs and certain other plants, which need to be organic. Focus on the fantastic organic gardening tips laid out below.

TIP! Always take the time to get the weeds out of your garden. If you have weeds in your garden, it will not be as nice as it could be.

When winter arrives, you can save some plants by placing them in your home. You may want to save the most beautiful or expensive ones. Carefully dig up the plants, using caution not to disturb the roots, then transfer into a pot.

TIP! Fall edibles are a wonderful addition to your garden. A pumpkin can be used as a planting container instead of clay pots.

Bulbs will give you wonderful flowers that you can enjoy in early spring and right through the summer. Bulbs are generally very simple to grow and hearty, as well; they will continue to grow for years. The types of bulbs you use will determine the time of year your flowers will bloom, giving you the pleasure of blooms from spring to summer, if you plant them right.

TIP! Soak the seeds and store in a dark area overnight. Place a couple seeds in each container, then fill it close to full with water.

Before you start planting your garden, plan it out. This will assist you in recognizing your tiny plants when they start to pop up. You are also less likely to lose smaller members of the larger garden in the overall mix.

Knee Pads

TIP! If you want to effectively weed out young plants, you can try “boiling” away the weeds. The safest herbicide that you can probably find is a cup of boiling water.

If you have many low-growing plants in your garden, get yourself a pair of horticulture knee pads. Horticulture can really put a lot of pressure on your knees that will leave you cramped and uncomfortable. Investing in good knee pads will help cushion your knees so you are more comfortable.

TIP! The best gardens will evolve from original seeds rather than transplanted items. As a green-friendly gardener, you always want to use seeds to start your new plot.

If you have a vegetable garden, it can be quite difficult to decide what to do about pest control. While chemicals can help with pest control, you should avoid using overly harsh ones, as veggies you grow in your garden are meant for eating. Persistence and care is a much better solution for pest control, but many avoid it because it actually requires some work on their behalf. If you catch pests right away, the easiest way to eradicate them is to pick them off plants by hand.

TIP! Consider planting evergreens in your garden that produce berries. This will keep your garden colorful, even during those months when other plants are not growing.

Identify a plant that will be the most prominent object of the landscape. Any great garden design involves using a focal point to grab someone’s attention and keep it there. You want to choose a plant that will stand out, as opposed to blending in with the other plants adjacent to it.

TIP! Give them a boost by watering them with the cooled water that is left after steaming vegetables. Tea and coffee grounds can also serve as acidifiers in the soil of your gardenias or rhododendrons.

Be smart about how you water your garden. You can save time by using soaker hoses to water more than one plant. To protect your plants, keep the flow on the soaker down. Letting the soaker hose do the work frees you up to turn your attention elsewhere.

TIP! Be smart about how you water your garden. Consider a soaker hose as a way to water multiple plants while saving time.

Grow heather so that you can attract useful insects. Bees love heather, and it’s one of the earliest sources of nectar for the bees when they emerge during springtime. Heather beds are also attractive to bugs such as spiders and ground beetles that will kill pests. With this knowledge at hand, it is in your best interest to wear gloves when tending the heather.

TIP! You’ll save time and energy if you keep tools nearby while working in your garden. Keep the tools in a big bucket, or store them in strong pockets in your pants.

You can help your plants resist disease by spraying them with aspirin water. Three aspirins per four gallons of water will help keep your plants healthy. All you need to do is spray the plants with the solution in order to battle common ailments. Try spraying your plants with this around every three weeks.

TIP! Although organic gardening is often much harder than using chemicals, the reward is much greater. While chemical companies may make astounding claims about their products, growing organically is the most rewarding option for you and those who consume your crops.

To be as efficient as possible in the garden, always have your tools handy. You can wear an apron or pants that have a lot of pockets, or use a big bucket or can. Keep all of the tools you use and your gloves handy and will help you work more efficiently.

TIP! Organic fruits and vegetables grow without being exposed to pesticides and other chemicals. This is great for the health of your family, but you will still have to regularly check your plants for bugs and pests.

A rule of thumb for when you are planting seeds in containers is to make the hole depth around three times larger than the seed itself. There are exceptions to this rule though, as some seeds need direct sunlight to grow. Some common examples include ageratum and petunias. When in doubt about whether a seed requires direct sun exposure, you can find lots of information online or on the seed packaging itself.

TIP! Gardening of any type can be a great hobby that helps you to feel more at one with the earth, but organic gardening is especially good at this. Approaching gardening in this way will enlighten you in the entire process from beginning to end.

Invite biodiversity into your garden. Wildlife will be attracted by different varieties of plants, so make sure you have a wide choice for them. If you are interested in creating an untamed, natural look for your garden, you should include many varieties of plants. The end result should be a calming and great place to relax. Your hard work will have been well worth the effort.

TIP! Think carefully about any product you buy to use in your garden. There are many organic fertilizers and pesticides available which are much better options than chemicals.

Plant trees strategically to maximize the amount of natural share over your home. This can save you money on electricity, as the trees will cool the area, which means the air conditioning doesn’t have to work as hard.

TIP! It’s important to know the right way to buy plants for your garden. When it comes to perennials and annuals, this is particularly important.

Use fruit peelings and scraps of fruit and vegetable waste to create your own compost. You will have a great garden with hardly any cost at all if you use these items to create a organic compost.

TIP! You can be a bit more environmentally friendly by doing things like saving rainwater. Trap rainwater in rain barrels, buckets or anything else that you have to use to water your garden.

When preparing your organic garden for winter, consider putting up a makeshift tent in the garden by employing materials you have at home. You can stick old bean poles into the four corners of your beds. Cover them with sheets and hold down the edges with bricks. This is an inexpensive way to build a tent that will protect your crops during winter.

TIP! Using a good amount of mulch is a wonderful method to conserve water in your garden at home. Mulch can decrease your need to water plants because it provides and conserves the moisture available to your plants.

Water is crucial to a healthy, beautiful garden. Plants require water to survive, just like people. When the temperature is especially hot, plants can become dried out very quickly. If your plants have an adequate supply of water, you garden with thrive.

TIP! When running your own organic garden, you should consider digging small ditches in between your plant rows. This way, when you water your plants, the water will flow directly to them, and they won’t need to be watered as much.

The more you understand about organic gardening methods, the better prepared you will be to grow a lush, natural garden that provides both beauty and sustenance. Remember that these tips are only the starting point.

Compost Your Own Fertilizer For A Better Garden

TIP! Make sure that your sod is laid properly. You will need to prepare your lawn soil before laying the sod.

If you want to improve your diet, you may want to get into organic gardening. Growing an organic garden does take some planning, though. This can leave you wondering where to start when it comes to organic gardening.

TIP! To prevent your plants’ systems from becoming shocked, you need to gradually transition them from higher to lower temperatures. Place them outdoors in the sun for about an hour or two on the first day.

Use pots to start your plants, then transfer them to a garden when they become seedlings. Your plants will have a better chance of getting big and healthy! In addition, it offers you a smaller time frame between plantings. When you take out the prior set of adult plants, your seedlings will then be prepared to go in.

TIP! Starting a garden with the best soil is a great defense mechanism against pests. Healthy plants can better ward off pests and diseases.

To get the best results, you must use the right soil. What plants you desire determines what type of soil you need in your garden, and whether or not it needs to be amended. You may also be able to design an artificial area that contains one type of dirt.

TIP! Transfer your favorite plants inside so they survive the winter. This is especially useful if you have a particular plant that you love or was expensive.

Keep an eye open for stink bugs in your garden, especially during the fall months. These destructive pests enjoy many kinds of fruit, as well as beans, peppers and tomatoes. If left uncontrolled, they can cause substantial damage in your garden, so make plans for how to protect your plants from these pests.

TIP! Plants need CO2 grow well. When exposed to high levels of CO2, most types of plants will grow better.

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 vegetables require this amount of sun in order to grow properly and at a quicker pace. This is true of some flowers.

TIP! If a test indicates that your soil is very alkaline, you can mix the dirt with used coffee grounds. Using coffee grounds is a low-cost way to increase the acidity of the soil.

You must protect tender, deciduous shrubs. If you have them in pots, you need to guard them from cold weather that will damage or kill them. Tie these canes at the top, and place a blanket over it. This is a much better method, instead of putting the plastic wrap around the plant. It allows proper air circulation that can prevent rotting.

TIP! If you are just getting into gardening, make sure you heed all of the directions on fertilizer and chemical labels. If you do not do this very simple step, you can end up causing skin irritation problems that are very painful.

Do you love fresh mint leaves but hate how they quickly grow to take over your garden? Instead of planting mint in the ground, confine it to a large pot. Then, you can plant the container into the ground. However, the container walls will keep the roots held, and prevent the plant from consuming too much of your garden space.

TIP! Take a look at planting berry-producing evergreens in your yard. The evergreens will add some color to your garden or yard, especially during the winter, when other plants have died or lost color.

Be consistent with garden fertilization. Manure can be effective, though you should use products which minimize pathogens. You can choose from many different fertilizers. Do not worry about the kind of fertilizer you end up using but definitely put down something.

Pest Control

TIP! If you want a sustainable garden, leave a part of it undisturbed for wildlife to enjoy. One side effect of this is that where animals thrive, so do birds and insects that help nurture and pollinate plants, which will increase the quality of your garden.

Pest control can become a major issue. While chemicals can help with pest control, you should avoid using overly harsh ones, as veggies you grow in your garden are meant for eating. Persistence and care is a much better solution for pest control, but many avoid it because it actually requires some work on their behalf. If you catch them early, you can take them off the plants by hand.

TIP! It’s simple to quickly prepare your soil for the planting of a perennial garden. Using a garden spade, dig underneath the turf and flip it.

Heat softens vegetables, so you can damage them immensely by pulling them out of the ground or cutting them off vines when it is too hot outside. You can also protect both your vegetables and the plant they grow on by cutting them off instead of twisting them off.

TIP! Tuck away some plastic grocery bags and use them to slip over your muddy boots. When you do this, your flow stays going, and you can just get right back out to your garden and finish quick.

An English garden mixes plants of various kinds and sizes close together, which helps to give it a more multi-dimensional feel. Using plants which grow to the same length or height will make your bed look uniform.

TIP! You may find an old plastic laundry basket ideal for gathering vegetables from your garden. A laundry basket will act as a strainer for your produce.

If you have children, plant strawberries, especially everbearing strawberries, in your organic garden. A lot of children not only love to pick out their own fruit but they also love to learn about it as well.

TIP! A beer trap can help to eradicate slugs. Take a glass jar and bury it in your garden so that the top of it is level with the soil.

When horticulture, remember to take care of your knees! Bending over from a standing position is something many people cannot do. Kneeling is much better for your back, and it will help you to tend to your plants with greater ease. A kneeling pad can be placed under your knees to help reduce the pain from compression.

TIP! Use untreated wood, stone, or brick to build a raised bed. If you choose to use wood to construct your bed, choose a species that is naturally resistant to rot and avoid treated wood entirely.

You can grow a great organic garden if you decide to dedicate your time and efforts to it. In addition, it’s true that you must be consistent if you want to see results. If you keep the tips provided here in mind, you can find your way to organic gardening success. Enjoy your harvest!