Gather some ideas for planning your garden, whether it will be for home or commercial use. With a little research, you can learn exactly what you need, which will keep you from spending money on seeds you can’t use, or unnecessary equipment.
The first thing you can do to ward off garden pests is to ensure you are using healthy soil in your garden. Healthier plants are greater in strength and resistance to illness and insects. For the most vigorous and healthy plants, start with high-quality soil, and stay away from chemicals. These can accumulate salts over time.
You may be able to re-pot some plants to bring indoors for the winter. You can save the ones you spent the most money on or the ones that are resistant. Carefully dig around the rootball and replant in an appropriate pot.
Invest in a quality wheelbarrow and a kneeling stool if gardening work is going to happen often. Gardening can take a toll on the knees, but a small ergonomic stool will be a comfortable solution. As well, gardening can involve some heavy lifting and moving, so a strong wheelbarrow can really make that aspect much more effortless.
If you cut your hand, you can use a glove to protect it from germs and chemicals until it heals. Open wounds can easily get infected while horticulture because you’re exposing yourself to dirt, bacteria and germs. You can get bandages that can completely seal your cut.
Have your tools for horticulture nearby in order to maximize your efficiency with horticulture. You can do this by using a bucket, or you can wear rugged pants or a gardening apron that has several pockets. You should always have your gloves, pruning shears and a trowel close to you.
Organic material piled three inches deep is an effective mulch in your flower gardens. Mulching helps to hold moisture in the soil, enhance the soil quality, and slow down the growth of weeds. This will also give a nice, professional appearance to your garden all year.
Believe it or not, pine makes great mulch. Some plants like acidic soil because they have high acidity. For such plants, pine needles function both as a handy mulch and as a soil amendment to lower the pH. 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.
A good thing to know when it comes to your organic garden, and running it, is to, a couple times a day, lightly ruffle the seedlings with cardboard or your hand. This may sound strange, but research has proven that doing this will help your plants grow bigger than if they were not petted at all.
Treated Wood
You can make a raised bed with untreated wood, brick, or stone. Be sure that any wood you use isn’t chemically treated, and will be able to resist rot naturally. Some good choices include locust, cypress, and cedar. In order to avoid toxic substances from getting into the ground and perhaps into your vegetables, avoid using treated wood to enclose or demarcate different sections of your vegetable garden. If you must use treated wood, consider using a liner to keep chemicals out of the soil.
While it’s harder to grow organically than chemically, the rewards are much better. Even though the claims of the chemicals may be astounding, the organic way is always going to provide the best reward to you and whoever is eating your crops.
Once a year, you must rotate your garden. When you continuously plant some plants from the same family in the same area every year, disease and fungus is encouraged in these areas. These kind of enemies to plants can stay underground ready for the next year to cause harm to your plants. So, you want to make sure you mix it up and keep your garden on the move so that you avoid a problem like this.
Plant some organic garlic. Plant single garlic cloves during the spring or fall seasons in soil that is moist and well-drained. Place them about one or two inches deep into the soil pointed upwards and four inches apart. Green garlic can be cur directly from the plant and used in a pinch instead of scallions or chives. The garlic will be matured when the green tops start drying out and turning brown. To harden the bulbs’ skin, dry them for several days in the sun. Store the garlic in an area that’s cool, either tied up in bunches or loose.
Research the local botanical insecticides which can be useful in deterring the pest population. Natural insecticides are sometimes more effective than the myriad synthetic, chemical-based products available. The distinguishing factor of botanical varieties is that they will decay much more quickly and will be eliminated from your environment faster.
Water your organic garden using a soaker hose. This type of hose allows the gardener to get a small, but steady amount of water near the roots without getting the leaves wet constantly. These are more efficient than sprinklers, which use more water, and can save you the trouble of hand watering.
It only requires some research, lots of outside work, and a large amount of patience. Once you see the garden you’ve created, you’ll know all your efforts were worthwhile.