Coming up with natural ways to control harmful pests is paramount to a successful garden.
This article is going to give an overview of a couple of the different ways to control pests in your organic garden.
**Fire your lawn care service.
How much do you pay for a lawn care company to treat your lawn? Chances are it's way too much. So ditch the lawn service and hire a local teen to mow for you instead.
To encourage a healthy lawn the organic way, have your hired help set the mower high -- at least 3 inches high.
That way, your lawn grass naturally shades out weeds (no more herbicides needed).
Be sure your helper uses a mulching mower that returns grass clippings .
Once a year, have your helper spread good-quality compost too, about 1/4 inch thick.
The compost will melt into the lawn almost immediately, adding a wide range of nutrients as well as beneficial microbes that help prevent lawn diseases.
Your raised garden beds can be as long as you choose.
For this example, let's say you want to construct a raised garden bed that is six feet long and two feet wide.
Two to four feet wide is ideal because you want to be able to reach across the beds to tend your plants, but you don't want it to be too wide. Take two boards that are six feet long and at least a foot high.
Place these parallel to each other. On the ends, you will nail your two-foot-long boards.
You will need to put down something to keep the grass from growing into your beds.
You may use sheets from your local newspaper. It is the gardener's preferred choice since it allows excellent drainage.
Spread them out on the ground in the bottom of the bed and spray them with water to keep them in place.
You might also black plastic or landscaping material to keep out grass.
However, these will prevent the roots growing down into the soil.
Plastic is not the best option since it does not drain very well and it holds too much heat.
You will have to punch holes in it to make sure the water drains properly from your beds.
Newspaper is biodegradable so it will eventually decay and become part of the soil.
The soil you put into your raised garden beds is very important, especially if you want an organic garden soil. Ideally, it should contain at least 1/3 of the natural dirt from your land. You can amend this organic fertilizer. You can use store-bought topsoil, composted natural materials, fish bone meal, manure (cow manure, turkey manure or chicken manure) or simply use a balanced pre-packaged soil mix. Mel Bartholomew offers his own brand "Mel's Mix" and tutorials at his Square Foot Gardening web site.
This recipe is easy to make since it utilizes things around the house. Take a gallon of tepid water and add one teaspoon of Epsom salts, one teaspoon of baking powder, a teaspoon of salt, and 1/3 teaspoon of ammonia. You can use this wonderful plant food mix to water your plants once every four weeks. Don't use it too much or too often as it may weaken your plants.
By considering these topics ' water usage, plant choice, IPM, and soil care ' when designing a sustainable vegetable garden, you're not only doing a good deed for the world around you, you're also ensuring yourself a healthy, vibrant garden. You'll be surprised at how wonderfully productive your vegetable plants will be when they're getting lots of organic matter and beneficial insects feel welcome to enter the garden to chomp on pests. Give these easy tips a try!
With Organic gardening, it is often best to be practical. In other words, simply plant what you like to eat. There is no reason to plant something just to plant it. Make the garden useful as well as ornamental by planting fruit, vegetables and herbs that are usually consumed by the family or what you would like to try. It is fine to branch out a bit and try some new tastes to expand the palate but make sure that most of what is planted will be directly useful.
Organic gardening method really is not hard. With certain simple strategies in place, it will become routine from season to season and a big harvest will be achieved. Always be mindful of space in a garden. Focus on crops that are generally delicious to eat.
Try some new things when organic gardening this season.
Finally, do not neglect herbs for they can make food truly improved.
