When the winter chill is out of the air and spring starts to settle in, a lot of people out there break out their shovels and plows and decide to plant a garden. If you want to plant a garden this year, why not make it an organic garden? Here are some fantastic tips you can use to make sure that your garden grows.
When starting your organic garden, a great tip is to make sure you have the right timing when sowing your seeds. If your timing is off when planting a particular plant, you will have very disappointing results. If you make sure you have your timing correct, you will likely be pleased with your results.
If you plan to raise organic plants inside, you need to think about how much light they will get. If your residential space has limited sunlight, it will be best that you grow plants that are ideal for this type of environment. If you cannot achieve success merely through plant selection, consider using artificial light sources.
When raising an organic garden, sometimes a solution to resolving bad soil is to raise your garden bed. Building a garden bed or roost above the regular soil, can allow you to put your own fertilized soil within the bed without the risk of the soil becoming diluted or mixed in with the surrounding area.
An organic alternative to chemical fertilizer is compost. You can make your own compost by using fruits, vegetables and other organic wastes from your home. Compost gives your soil the nutrients it needs and improves its structure.
When building or maintaining a compost pile, it is important not to add coal ash or charcoal to the pile. Both ash and charcoal have high amounts of iron and sulfur, as well as other unwanted chemicals, that may pollute the soil and potentially harm the health of your plants.
Encourage bees, wasps, ladybirds and other beneficial insects. These insects are vital in an organic garden. Bees are nature’s most efficient pollinator, and wasps and ladybirds prey on destructive insects in the garden. Ladybirds are particularly effective at ridding your plants of aphids. To attract these beneficial insects, plant companion herbs and flowers around the edge of your vegetable garden.
Encourage toads to take up residence in your organic garden. Toads are a natural predator of many of the pesky bugs that will eat and destroy your crops. Create makeshift toad houses out of overturned broken clay pots and keep soil nice and moist to make it conducive to amphibian life.
If you plan on starting an organic garden, you should always properly cover your seeds. If your seeds are not properly covered, then they will not grow. You should aim to cover most of your seeds about three times as deep as the thickness of your seeds in order to ensure optimum growth. However, certain seeds, such as alyssum and snapdragons, should not be covered because they need a lot of light to germinate.
Choose a site for fruit trees depending on their specific requirements. Most fruit trees require 8 hours of sun per day. Morning sun is important, as it dries dew rapidly, helping to prevent fungus. Avoid planting fruit trees in a low spot in the garden where frost or cold air can collect. Some fruit trees are especially susceptible to late frost damage, and are better planted on a north-facing slope. This is especially true for peach, plum, cherry and apricot trees.
A quick way to create a perennial garden is by cutting under the turf using a spade, turning it upside down, and covering the area with three to four inches of wood chips. After you have done this, wait a few weeks, and you will be able to cut into it and plant your new perennials.
Composting is a great way to fuel your garden. You can add pretty much anything, like grass clippings, shredded paper, coffee grounds, and much more. Basically, you can use anything that was living at one time (but try to avoid animal products). If you buy some worms and keep the compost bin in a warm, sunny place it will turn into perfectly dark and rich soil in no time.
Variety makes for a better compost pile. By using a wide variety of materials in your compost pile, you are providing a better pH balance, more nutrients and microbial organisms. Shred materials when possible, as smaller particles decompose much faster, but having a few larger materials in there helps to improve the aeration. For the best results, don’t add any more materials once the composting process has begun.
An important tip for organic gardening that will naturally help prevent disease from appearing in your plants is to move your plants to different spots of your garden each year. This will keep any disease from spreading because the soil doesn’t build up harmful organisms from planting in the same spot each year.
Organic gardening means trying to grow plants as naturally as possible without the use of chemicals. So when the time comes to kill harmful, plant-eating insects, try planting a few flowers in your vegetable garden. The flowers will attract beneficial insects that naturally kill the harmful ones. These beneficial insects perform other valuable services like pollination as well as pest control.
To keep dirt from getting stuck in the leaves of lettuce and other leafy vegetables, use mulch. When the plants appear, spread an inch or two of mulch around the base of the plants. This will prevent dirt from getting into the plant and also help prevent pesky weeds. Just be sure that the mulch is organic and untreated by pesticides.
One of the best things about a garden is that once you put in the initial labor, you can sit back and enjoy the fruits – or vegetables – of this labor as your garden begins to grow. Make sure that you’re using these tips correctly if you want to experience the best possible results with your organic garden.