Top Organic Gardening Advice From The Experts

~ craigb

TIP! Keeping your garden soil rich and healthy is the best way to discourage garden pests. Healthy soil leads to healthy plants with more strength to deflect those insects and various diseases.

Growing an organic garden is a very pleasant and rewarding activity. Starting to garden can be intimidating at first. The question is, what can a beginner do to become knowledgeable on organic gardening? Reviewing the advice that follows would be a good place to begin!

TIP! Bulbs are a great option for people who want to enjoy spring and summer flowers. Not only are bulbs hearty and easy to grow, but they’ll continue to grow as time goes on.

It is very important to keep the weeds from taking over in your garden. Weeds steal nutrients from plants, robbing a garden of its potential harvest. A simple tool that is useful in removing weeds is white vinegar. White vinegar kills weeds. If you’re annoyed with pulling up weeds manually, douse them with a white vinegar solution.

TIP! Soak seeds overnight, preferably in a cool, dark place. Soak the seeds by placing them in a container where they are covered with water.

If you want your garden to sport flowers in the spring as well as summer, plant bulbs. Bulbs will grow every year and are easier to take care of than seeds. If you choose your plants carefully, you could have flowers in blossom from the first weeks of spring to the end of the summer.

Knee Pads

TIP! One way to correct your soil’s alkalinity is by amending your soil with used coffee grounds. Coffee grounds are an affordable means of adding acid to the soil so that it is pH-balanced.

Knee pads are absolute miracle accessories if you work in a garden with plenty of low-growing plants. If you spend a large portion of your gardening session on your knees, it could create pain over time. Having a pair of excellent knee pads for horticulture can help cushion the knees to provide additional comfort.

TIP! Boiling away unwanted weeds is an odd, but productive method used in many gardens. This is a safe way to eliminate weeds, as this will not damage the soil.

Your plants need to be kept dry, but sill receiving a good amount of air. Moisture can be a magnet for disease and parasites on your plants. One parasite you have to watch out for in particular is fungi. To control fungi, use a fungicide spray on the area before you notice any problems.

TIP! Using natural materials in the garden will keep pests away. Plant marigolds or onions around other vegetables to keep slugs away from them.

There are natural steps you can take to keep garden pests at bay. Slugs stay away from marigolds and onions when they are planted in a garden. Mulch around the bottom of trees and shrub seedlings with wood ash to reduce unwanted infestation of pests. These are methods you can use to get rid of the need to use pesticides.

TIP! You should think about adding evergreen plants that yield berries into your yard space. These evergreens will color your lawn, even when other flowers are not blooming.

Heather can bring you beneficial insects. Bees like it because it gives them nectar in the springtime. Beds of heather are largely undisturbed and make a perfect living space for spiders, beetles and a variety of other beneficial tenants. With this knowledge at hand, it is in your best interest to wear gloves when tending the heather.

TIP! Controlling pests can be quite challenging when trying to grow a healthy, hardy vegetable garden. You can’t use chemicals as they’re the last thing you want to be eating when you enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Asprin will actually help your plants out by killing diseases. Dissolve 1 aspirin per gallon of water for a plant disease fighting solution. You can easily spray the plans with this concoction to help them fight of disease. The spray ought to be applied approximately every three weeks.

TIP! Let your children be involved in your organic gardening efforts. Gardens are a wonderful place for kids to learn, and working side by side with them can strengthen the bond that you have.

Having a garden of perennials can be an easy and quick process. Use your spade in a slicing motion to cut a flap of turf. Carefully turn the flap over, then cover the area with a three-inch layer of untreated wood chips. Allow for at least 10 days to pass, then plant the perennials that you just purchased.

TIP! Are you a parent? If you are, try planting some strawberries like everbearing strawberries in your garden. Kids really enjoy plucking snacks directly from the ground, and may have greater enthusiasm for the work if they see the results of their labor right away.

Have all of your tools available to you as you garden to increase efficiency. Put them into a basket you carry with you, or use an apron with many pockets and hanging loops. Have gloves, shears, a trowel and anything else you need handy for quick use.

TIP! If you’re really serious about environmentally-friendly gardening practices, refrain from developing some of your land and use it as an animal habitat. This will also benefit your cultivated gardens as it will attract more bugs and birds to pollinate your other plants.

It is possible to control weeds with natural methods. Take layers of newspapers and use them for weed control. Weeds require sunlight to continue growing. When you put newspaper on top of weeds they will suffocate because they are not getting enough light. Newsprint also breaks down well, incorporating itself into the compost. One way to enhance the appearance of your garden if you are using newspapers is to add an additional layer of mulch.

TIP! It’s important to let your cuts heal prior to doing any gardening without gloves. It is possible for a cut to become extremely infected if it comes into contact with dirt and grime while gardening.

A useful technique for organic horticulture, is to gently disturb your seedlings by using your fingers or a piece of cardboard one or two times daily. Believe it or not, aerating the soil in this manner can actually make your seedlings grow larger.

TIP! Use plastic bags to cover muddy gardening shoes. This helps the flow keep going so that you can get into the garden quickly to finish what you’re doing.

An organic garden is a benefit to you and everyone else who consumes the food that grows there. Chemicals are extremely efficient, but the organic method is the best way to get healthy produce.

Tomato Seedlings

TIP! Lightly ruffle your seeds by hand or with cardboard, twice daily in your organic garden. You may think it odd, but studies show that this action results in plant growth that is more substantial than would otherwise be achieved.

Look closely at the seedlings you purchase. 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. These starts can stay on the tomato seedlings for a long time, and the seedling won’t start to grow until these starts have gone.

TIP! Adjust your watering to the season and climate. The amount of water needed will change based on time of the day, the content of your municipal water and what your soil make-up is.

When it’s time to dig a hole for a shrub or a tree in an organic garden, make the hole super ugly-looking. If the hole that you create for them has any “glazed” sides that were caused by a shovel, then it may restrict the root from penetrating into the nearby soil.

TIP! When planting tomatoes in your organic garden, a great tip is to plant another set of tomatoes after three weeks of planting the original ones. This way you will not have to harvest all of your crops at once.

You should put a lot of thought into selecting the plants that will go in your all-natural garden. Keep this in mind when you are purchasing annuals, biennials, and perennials. It is important to purchase those with buds that don’t have any blooms. This way, they’ll able to develop a strong root system within your own garden.

TIP! When mulching around trees and flowers, the depth of the organic material should be at least 3 inches. This aids in environmental conservation and also saves you serious money on water each month.

An important tip for organic gardeners is to raise crops that are expensive to purchase. The value of plants will differ from person to person. If you grow veggie plants that cost a lot at the supermarket, you can save a lot of money. Plant vegetable plants that you love to eat.

TIP! Know which plants to buy for your organic garden. This is true especially when you purchase perennials or annuals.

If you plant things in your organic garden during the winter, construct a garden tent using materials you can find around the house. Find a few bean poles, and use them at each end of your garden bed by sticking them into the ground. Next, lay old sheets or lightweight blankets over the poles to make the tent. Use bricks or cinder blocks to hold the edges of the sheets on the ground. Even though it is cheap and simple, it is also an effective way of saving your crops during the cold season.

TIP! You can add richness to your compost heap by mixing in the dead leaves that you have raked in your yard. Leaves decompose, therefore creating an organic compost that is very healthy and nutrient rich for your plants.

By now you probably are beginning to understand why so many people enjoy working in their gardens. Horticulture can be an immensely rewarding hobby. Use these tips to get your organic garden up and running in no time.