Grow A Healthy Organic Garden With These Tips

TIP! Digging in hard clay soil is made even more difficult because it sticks to the shovel. Try applying a coat of wax onto your spade prior to working with clay soil, and then buff the spade head with a cloth.

Starting and maintaining an organic garden requires a lot of patience, and an affinity for growing plants. This hobby can help you grow food that is free of pesticides. How hard can it be, right? See these tips to learn how to get started with this healthy, rewarding hobby.

Clay Soil

TIP! Beginning your garden with healthy soil is your first defense against pests! If you are producing healthy plants, they will be stronger and better able to resist bugs and diseases. Start your garden off with a high-quality soil that you can enrich over time.

Clay soil is hard and will also stick to a shovel, making it difficult to work with. Use a thin coat of floor or car wax on your shovel, then buff it with a nice clean cloth to make dealing with clay soil easier. The wax prevents the clay from sticking to the shovel, and stops rust from forming.

TIP! When winter comes around, save some plants by putting them in the house. Think about saving your resistant plants or the expensive ones.

For a garden that thrives, choose the right type of soil. The soil that is already in your garden might need amending, depending on the particular plants that you want to grow. It is also possible to make an artificial area using only one type of soil.

TIP! Before you begin to plant your garden you will need to check the soil. Soil analysis costs a little money, but the report can inform you how to enrich your soil and open the door to a lush garden.

Keep the weeds out of your garden by removing them regularly. Weeds can turn a thriving garden into a total wasteland. To help with weed destruction, use white vinegar. White vinegar is a weed killer! Apply it full strength to any areas where weeds are a problem.

TIP! Consider adding coffee grounds to your soil if it contains high levels of alkaline. This is a simple way to replenish your soil with acid.

Plant bulbs if you want spring and summer flowers. Bulbs are hardy, easy to grow into flowers, and will blossom for several years. Bulbs bloom during different seasons, if you pick them carefully you will have flowers almost all year.

TIP! If your garden requires a lot of low work, then save yourself some strain by investing in knee pads. The time that you will have to spend on your knees in your garden can cause you unnecessary knee pain.

Both cat grass and wheat grass are good for giving your errant feline pause. Alternatively, you can try putting mothballs, citrus peel or anything else with an odor that cats find distasteful in the soil surrounding the plants.

TIP! Do you ever wish that your fresh mint leaves would not grow as quickly and overcome your garden? Keep the growth under control by growing them in a large gardening pot instead. You have the option of planting the container with the plant to keep the roots from taking the garden over.

Make sure that you divide your irises! If you divide the overgrown clumps of flowers, you’ll find that your stock grows proportionally. Lift bulbous irises when the foliage is dead. The bulbs should split naturally, and the replanted bulbs will usually flower within a year. Rhizomes, however, need to be divided by using a horticulture knife. Get rid of the center and keep the new pieces you cut from the outside. Each new piece you cut should possess at least one healthy offshoot. Replant each one immediately.

TIP! There are natural materials, and you can also use other plants to help keep pests away from your garden. For example, planting a border consisting of marigolds or onions can repel slugs.

When tending a vegetable garden, you might find that pest control is a bit difficult. Avoid spraying harsh chemicals on fruits and vegetables destined for your table. Research the methods available for eliminating garden pests organically. If you catch pests right away, the easiest way to eradicate them is to pick them off plants by hand.

TIP! You may want to think about having evergreens that will produce berries planted in your yard. This will aid in giving your garden great color, even during the winter when other plants have lost their colors.

Choose plants that will provide color in autumn. However, you can still maintain your gardening hobby throughout the fall months. Fall is the most colorful time of year for foliage. Maple, Beech and Dogwood trees are available in a number of fall colors, varying from bright yellow to rich crimson. Shrubs such as cotoneaster, hydrangea, and barberry will also provide a splash of color in the fall.

TIP! It’s crucial for you to protect knees when doing gardening work. Many people experience back pain and stiffness from bending over and working in the garden for extended amounts of time.

To keep your dog out of your garden, spray old perfume, aftershave, or other scented items in the grass around it. By masking the smells he may be attracted to, he should take less interest in the garden plants.

TIP! Pay attention to how much light your indoor plants are getting. If your house or apartment doesn’t get a lot of natural light, one option is to grow something that only requires medium or low light.

If you have recently planted seeds in your organic garden, you should regularly aerate the soil by using your hands to gently sift it. That may sound like a silly thing to do, but it’s been proven to help plants grow larger than they would otherwise.

TIP! As the seeds sprout, they’ll need less warmth. Take your plants out of the heat once they start to grow.

You may want to grow garlic organically. It’s best to plant garlic cloves in either spring or fall. Make sure the soil is drained well. Plant individual cloves pointed end up approximately two inches deep and four inches apart. Cut the green garlic shoots and use them as a substitute for chives or scallions. When the tops of the bulbs begin turning brown, they are ready for harvesting. Allow the sun to dry out the bulbs for a few days until the skin gets hard. They could be stored in an area that is cold, tied or loose in bunches.

TIP! You can cover your muddied gardening footware easily by keeping plastic bags around. Doing this prevents lengthy work interruptions, and allows you to finish the job quickly.

Botanical pesticides that are from your local area can be incredibly effective on pests. Natural insecticides are often more powerful than ones that have chemicals in them. But, because they are made of natural materials, these types of insecticides frequently fade much faster.

TIP! Try using untreated stone, brick, or wood to create a raised bed. Be sure that any wood you use isn’t chemically treated, and will be able to resist rot naturally.

If you’re planning on adding some tomatoes to your garden, try planting a new set of tomatoes exactly three weeks after you plant the first batch. Staggering the planting times ensures that you are able to consistently enjoy ripe tomatoes. Also, if something goes wrong during one harvest, all your tomatoes won’t be ruined.

TIP! In order to claim your crops are legitimately organic and be credible, it is important to your customers that you become organic garden certified. This should improve sales and attract customers who are environmentally conscious.

The mulch in your organic flowerbeds should be made of organic material and be no shallower than three inches. The mulch retains moisture, enriches the soil, and prevents weeds from growing. Mulch also makes your garden appear neat and well cared for.

TIP! It’s time to plant some organic garlic. Plant single garlic cloves during the spring or fall seasons in soil that is moist and well-drained.

This tip greatly eases your organic horticulture attempts. One of the best techniques is to plant native flowers, grasses and bushes to your landscape. By choosing plants that coexist easily with your soil types, climate and neighboring plants, you will reduce the need for additional fertilizers and natural pesticides. In fact, you are sure to discover that such plants are able to grow beautifully in compost made out of other indigenous substances.

TIP! Increase the biodiversity in your organic garden. Increasing your plant variety will draw further variety in the wildlife around.

When it’s time to dig a hole for a shrub or a tree in an organic garden, make the hole super ugly-looking. Roots may not be able to tap into nearby water sources if the hole is cut to cleanly with the shovel.

TIP! Mulch your flowers and trees with three inches of organic materials. This method is not only good for the earth, but conserves water, saving you money on your water bill and offering a bit of relief to the environment as well.

An organic gardener enjoys the benefits of working with nature, producing wonderful food through hard work and patience. This hobby allows you to use the land and grow delicious food. By using these tips and giving some effort, you can be a skilled organic gardener.