Many people are finding out how great it is to have an organic garden. With the advice this article contains, you can begin your own organic horticulture adventure and create a thriving oasis that all your family can enjoy. Just follow these useful tips to get some great results.
You need to consider beginning the plants into pots. Then, you can plant the seedlings into your garden. By allowing them to sprout first, you are increasing the odds of a seedling reaching maturity. It also helps you make your planting times more frequent. Your seedlings will be ready to be planted when you remove your old mature plants.
You can use the wooden handles of your tools as measurement sticks. Large handled tools like rakes, hoes or shovels may be used like measuring sticks. All you have to do is lay them on the floor then use a measuring tape to measure their length. Then, transfer the measurements to the handle using a permanent marker. The next time you find yourself in your garden, you will have one large ruler right at your fingertips.
Consider planting slug-proof perennials. If slugs or snails find their favorite perennials in your garden, they’ll snack all night. When you wake up in the morning, there will be very little left of your plants. Young plants with smooth and tender leaves are their favorite. Perennials that have tough or hairy leaves are often times unappetizing to snails and slugs. Some varieties of these plants are campanula, helleborus, heuchera, or euphorbia.
Before you start planting your garden, plan it! It will be a while before things start to sprout and visually remind you of what was planted where, so a written record can be helpful. This is important, because different plants require different care.
Knee Pads
Knee pads are a gardener’s friend when caring for plants low to the ground. Kneeling on the ground as you garden will eventually cause serious discomfort for your knees. Wear knee pads meant for gardeners so that you’ll be more comfortable when kneeling in your garden.
Using pest-resistant plants or natural materials in your garden is a good way to keep pests away. Slugs are repelled by bordering your vegetable garden with either onions or marigolds. You can also mulch around trees and shrubs with wood ash, which drives away insects. These methods remove the need for harsh chemical pesticides.
Cooled water left over from steaming vegetables can be fed to them as a little snack. In order to help acidify the soil for plants like gardenias and rhododendrons, you can use coffee and tea grounds. Chamomile tea is a natural way to rid your plants of a persistent fungus.
Do not use broad-spectrum pesticides within your garden. Besides killing the insects you don’t want, this type of pesticide will also kill beneficial insects. The bugs you need are often more fragile than the ones you don’t: a pesticide could actually kill the beneficial insects while leaving the pests unaffected. This can cause you to use an additional amount of pesticides in order to attempt to fix this problem.
Heather is a magnet for friendly insects. Bees love heather, and it is a favorite stop when they emerge in early spring.
Beds of heather are largely undisturbed and make a perfect living space for spiders, beetles and a variety of other beneficial tenants. Always remember this, and wear your gardening gloves if you prune your heather!
Strawberries are a great plant to grow in any organic garden, especially if you happen to have kids or any strawberry lover in your home. Your children will enjoy being able to pick strawberries and will be ready to help you if they can get something sweet to eat.
Organic material piled three inches deep is an effective mulch in your flower gardens. This fights weeds, retains moisture, and gives your garden valuable nutrients. This will also make your flowers appear beautiful and finished all year long.
Laundry Basket
An old laundry basket works great for gathering produce from your garden. The laundry basket can be used as a colander for your produce. Rinse your crops while in the laundry basket to strain the excess water.
Use equal parts of green and dried plant material in your compost pile. Grass clippings, vegetable and fruit leftovers, and grass clippings are all examples of green plant material. Your dried material can be things such as sawdust, paper shreds, wood shavings, straw and cardboard. Avoid using ashes, charcoal, diseased plants and meat-eating animal manure.
For the best results when growing an organic garden, you should shake your seeds up a little bit. After planted, make sure you agitate the seeds at least twice daily, using your fingers or even a Popsicle stick. Although this method may seem counterproductive, it actually helps the seeds to grow quicker and stronger.
When checking out tomatoes to buy, do a bit of poking in the soil. If you’re buying some tomato seedlings to use in your garden, keep a look out for starts that are lush and green, but have poor root systems. Starts like these can remain on the seedlings. This will inhibit their growth because they will not be able to grow until they are gone.
A good tip for an organic garden with tomatoes, is to plant an additional set of tomatoes once three weeks have passed since you planted the original ones. You will not have to harvest the tomatoes at the same time. Additionally, if one crop is damaged in some way, you will still have more to look forward to.
Organic Garden
As you are now well aware, cultivating the perfect organic garden requires patience, effort and time. Apply the advice of this article, and enjoy the many benefits an organic garden can offer you. There are a huge number of plants to grow, and with these tips, you’ll succeed no matter which plants you ultimately choose.