Planting A Perennial Garden That Is Low Maintenance

~ craigb

TIP! Select plants that produce a relatively high yield. Hybrids are usually hardier in terms of disease and weather resistance, and are designed to produce more.

One of the tenets of organic gardening is to focus on the garden and to tend it well. Gardeners need to use all the information they can to create and tend to their organic garden. This advice will help you create happier, healthier and tastier produce. Utilize these tips to create a garden that stands out as an organic mecca of beauty.

TIP! Grow some wheat grass or catnip for your cat to eat instead. You could also place something that will cause your cat to go away from your plants, such as citrus peels or mothballs.

Trying to shovel through clay soil can be extremely difficult and tiresome. To ease the digging, apply some car wax or floor wax to the head of the shovel and buff. The clay won’t stick to it, and the end will not rust as an added bonus.

Flower Beds

TIP! Apply organic mulch generously around your vegetable plants. Mulch will keep soil moist for longer.

Brighten up your flower beds with annuals and biennials. Your flower beds will look different from one season to another. Use these beautiful flowers to line your driveway, surround trees and shrubs, and for decorative hanging baskets. Notable collections include sunflower, marigold, hollyhock, rudbeckia, cosmos, and petunia.

TIP! Plan your garden to provide some fall color. It doesn’t have to be that way! When it comes to vibrant color, the bright foliage of fall beats all the other seasons.

When powdery mildew appears on your plants, you should not rush out to purchase a costly chemical treatment. Mix a little liquid soap and baking soda in water. Once a week, spray this on plants to eliminate the mildew. Baking soda is not harmful to your plants and will take care of the issue as well as any other treatment.

TIP! Make sure to water your garden properly. You can save time by using soaker hoses when watering plants.

Cover fences and walls with lots of climbers. Climbing plants can cover a wall after one growing season only. You can also train climbers to cover arbors and other things that you want covered, and they will even grow right through trees and shrubs. Some varieties of these plants will have to be tethered to some sort of support, but other varieties will be able to attach to the medium they are climbing. Honeysuckle and jasmine are very beautiful varieties of such climbers.

Transfer your favorite plants inside so they survive the winter. Think about saving your resistant plants or the expensive ones. Dig around roots carefully before transferring to a pot.

TIP! You don’t want to pick vegetables during the day when it is hot, as that is when they are prone to damage due to them being softer. Do not twist the vegetable to remove it from the vine; instead, cut the stem to avoid damaging the plant.

Plants need ample amounts of CO2 to reach their maximum growth. A high level of CO2 provides an optimum environment for growth. A greenhouse has the best levels available. Higher CO2 levels can provide optimal conditions for growing plants.

TIP! Include your kids in growing an 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.

To give them a helping hand, pour the water you obtain after steaming vegetables over your plants. In order to help acidify the soil for plants like gardenias and rhododendrons, you can use coffee and tea grounds. Some types of plant fungus problems can be solved by sprinkling with chamomile tea.

TIP! It is important to allow cuts to completely heal before you do any gardening in order to protect the cut from exposure to dirt or chemicals. Your cut could get infected if you’re dealing with grime and dirt when gardening.

Don’t use broad-spectrum pesticidal products anywhere in your horticulture area. It’s true these pesticides kill the pests you don’t want, but they also lay waste to the advantageous insects that make those same pests a regular meal. Many times good bugs will be more sensitive to harmful pesticides than the ones you are trying to get rid of. If your good bug population goes down, your problem will only get worse. This will leave you using even more pesticides to fix the problem.

TIP! After seeds have sprouted, they require less warmth than they did prior to sprouting. Move your plants away from the heat as they grow.

Have one plant be the most interesting eye-grabber in your garden. Any great garden design involves using a focal point to grab someone’s attention and keep it there. The best focal points are those plants that really stand out from those that are adjacent.

TIP! Use approximately two or three inches of natural, organic material as some mulch in every single flower bed. Covering the beds with mulch serves multiple purposes; it helps the flowers by retaining moisture and adding nutrients, and it discourages the growth of unwanted plants.

Young children will love it if you plant strawberries that bear continually, and organic gardens are the perfect place to do it. Strawberries are a favorite of children due to their sweetness. And since they’re so easy and fun to pick, it’s also a healthy, productive, safe activity that children can assist adults with.

TIP! When you want to harvest the produce in your organic garden, always have an old laundry basket to hand. An old laundry basket makes an excellent strainer for cleaning your produce.

Before planting any perennials, you have to make the ground ready. Slice under the grass with a spade, flip the layer you have lifted over, and spread three inches of wood chips on top. Give this area at least a few weeks, then you can dig into the area and plant the new perennials.

TIP! Looking for a natural way to kill weeds in your garden? You will need many layers of newspapers. Like any other plant, weeds need to be exposed to the sun.

You should add a two to three inch layer of organic mulch to your flower bed. Not only will you be adding nutrients, but weeds will be less likely to grow and moisture will be retained more easily. By adding mulch, you can give your flower beds a finished appearance.

TIP! Adjust your watering according to season and current climate. The level of necessary watering turns on the type of water you use, the kind of soil in your garden and the amount of direct sunlight you have.

When working in the garden, try to work as efficiently as possible. One of the biggest time wasters is not keeping track of your tools and having to look for them every time you need them. Get all of your tools together before you go into your garden, then place them in a safe spot when you are finished with them. You can use a tool belt, or you may want to wear pants with extra pockets.

TIP! Grow garlic that is organic. Garlic cloves should be planted in the spring or fall.

Organize the chores for your organic garden so they do not pile up. If your busy life prevents you from tending your garden every day, do small tasks to avoid having so much work when you do have some time. While you are with your pet outside, pull some weeds while the pet does its business.

Organic horticulture will help you create a truly fresh and nutritious garden. While it is labor and time intensive, your garden will be quite amazing as a result.