Many people are beginning to enjoy growing an organic garden. Just using the tips here will show you how you can get started now with an organic garden. Read on to discover some helpful tips and learn how to take advantage of them.
You must consider how much light is available when starting your plants indoors. If your windows are small or receive little light due to their positioning, a plant that requires little sunlight will be more comfortable and healthy. If you do and this does not help, consider investing in some grow-lights.
It’s simple to lay a new perennial bed. You just need to use your garden spade for slicing underneath the turf, then flip it, and finally spread about three or four inch deep piles of wood chips. Wait for a few weeks and plant new perennials in this area.
Keep your gardening tools close by to maximize gardening 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.
Spacing is one of the primary considerations when planning an organic garden. Leave a little more space than you think your full grown plant will need to make up for overgrowth. Space is necessary for the plants, but air circulation is also important. It is, therefore, important for you to plan accordingly and allow for enough room between your seed rows.
Plant Material
When composting lawn clippings, leaves, and other materials, it is best to add the same amount of green, freshly-cut material as you do dried material. Green plant material comprises leaves, weeds, spent flowers, grass clippings, and fruit and vegetable waste. Dried plant material, however, can include items such as cardboard, sawdust and shredded paper. Materials to avoid during composting include diseased plants, meat, ashes and charcoal.
Is there a natural way to kill weeds? You can easily control weeds by using layered sheets of newspaper. The main thing that a weed needs to thrive is sunlight. When you place layers of newspapers on top of them, the weeds will suffocate from the lack of light. Because newspapers decompose well with the passage of time, they make great additions to compost. To improve the appearance of newspaper, simply spread a bit of mulch over it.
A rule of thumb followed by many planters is to bury the seeds in soil to a depth of around three times the diameter of the actual seed. Some seeds shouldn’t be covered and must be in sunlight at all times. This is true of popular flowers like petunias and zinnias. If you aren’t sure, look online or at the package.
When maintaining your organic garden, try lightly petting your seedlings — either with the palm of your hand or something like a sheet of cardboard — once or twice each day. It may sound a little odd to do this, but there is actually proven research that shows this helps the plants grow.
Creating a trap with beer can help reduce the number of slugs in your garden. Bury a canning jar so that the open mouth and the soil top are level. Fill it with beer to about one inch below the top of the jar. The slugs will be drawn to the beer and then drown in the jar.
In order to construct your raised beds, make use of untreated brick, stone, wood and other materials. If you choose wood, it needs to be naturally rot resistant and untreated. The most popular options for this type of project are cypress, locust and cedar woods. Consider the chemicals that will leach out of the wood before choosing anything that has been treated. Remember the affect that such chemicals will have on your plants and soil. If you have placed treated wood in your garden, line it with a coat of plastic.
Organic gardening may sometimes require more effort than resorting to chemicals, but the payoff in the end is well worth the work. Growing organic is healthier and just overall better for you. Make sure you try your best to grow organic as opposed to adding chemicals to your garden.
As you have learned before, getting your organic garden perfected just takes a little bit of time and patience. Use what you learned today, and apply it to your garden to see how much of a difference it makes. The above hints will help no matter what you’re going to grow.