Holistic lifestyles are starting to become more popular, and people are starting to live more organically. People who want to develop a more environmentally friendly attitude may not know where to start to reap the benefits of organic gardening. Read on to glean some new organic ideas in the following article.
Include your children in your efforts to organic gardening. Gardens are a wonderful place for kids to learn, and working side by side with them can strengthen the bond that you have.
A mixture of aspirin and water can help your ailing plants. Dissolve one and one-half aspirins into two gallons of cold water, and use it to fortify your plants. Then spray your plants with this mixture to stave off diseases. The spray ought to be applied approximately every three weeks.
If you are interested in sustainable organic gardening, consider keeping part of your property undeveloped so that wildlife can flourish there. Most likely, you will find your organic garden producing better once your property is home to the insects, birds, and other wildlife that plants rely on for pollination and the production and dispersal of seeds.
Keep your plants in a warm, moist environment, if possible. Indoor plants grow best at these warm temperatures. If you don’t like keeping your home that temperature in the winter, you may wish to consider getting a heat lamp, instead, to keep your organic plants the correct temperature.
One of the problems that people come up against when trying to grow organic plants indoors is a lack of natural light. If you want indoor plants, choose specimens that can grow in relatively dark places. If you already have plants that need full light and the natural light provided is not sufficient, artificial lights can supplement their needs.
Before planting your favorite perennials, you must first prepare the ground. 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. Wait two weeks, then dig in and plant the new perennials.
Pine Needles
Pine needles make a great organic mulch. Certain plants are acidic, and thrive in acidic soil. If that’s the case, the easiest thing to do is use pine needles for beds. Cover your beds with the needles, as they will decompose and disperse their acid throughout the soil.
Old laundry baskets are handy tools at harvest time. Laundry baskets which have holes in them act as giant strainers for your home grown produce. When you put your produce in a basket, you can then rinse it off and let it strain any excess water through the laundry basket holes.
Use a beer trap to capture slugs and stop them from eating your plants. Start by burying a wide-mouth jar in the soil, ensuring that the rim of the jar is just at the soil’s surface. Fill the jar with beer about an inch lower than the top. Slugs are attracted to beer. They will crawl into the jar and be trapped.
Build raised beds with untreated stone, brick or wood. If you choose to use wood, make sure it is naturally rot resistant and untreated. Cypress, locust and cedar are all great examples of what woods to use when building a raised bed. Take care to avoid wood that has been chemically treated when your garden will hold vegetables, since unknown substances in the wood can make their way into your future food. If you have placed treated wood in your garden, line it with a coat of plastic.
Regulate the amount and timing of watering, to the specific climate and its seasonal variations. The amount of water you need depends on when you are doing the watering, whether your water is high-quality and the grade of the soil in your garden. As an example, do not water your plant’s leaves if you live in a humid climate since this will most likely result in leaf fungus. Rather, make sure the root system is watered.
Research the local botanical insecticides which can be useful in deterring the pest population. Sometimes natural insecticides are more efficient than the synthetic pesticides you can buy. However, botanical pesticides rot rather quickly and tend to disappear.
You need to mulch your flowerbed and garden using at least 3 inches worth of organic material. The soil will be nourished and will be able to retain more moisture. Also, weeds won’t grow as easily and the whole area will more professional.
Using a soaker hose to water the garden is probably your best choice. The water comes out very slowly and evenly, and the hose can be placed exactly where water is needed, such as at the roots. A soaker-hose does a better job and is easier than using a sprinkler or watering can.
Make sure that your garden is diverse. A larger variety of plants in your garden will attract more wildlife. Your organic garden should closely mimic a natural setting so plant different varieties of plants that can coexist in your location. If you can manage this, the garden will be the perfect place to relax, and you’ll have done a little something for the environment.
Make a shade garden out of your organic garden. Shade gardens are designed to be hardy and low maintenance. Because they are shaded, they require less watering, saving you a lot of time and labor. The only downside is a slower growth, but this also means less weeds.
With more knowledge comes a higher level of skill and success. The tips here can help.