Taking your hobby of gardening an extra step and using organic materials, can be beneficial for the plants you grow, as well as, the environment! Instead of using pesticides and toxic weed-killing solutions, use natural alternatives like vinegar and soapy water. Read this article for more tips on organic gardening.
When designing your garden, choose high-yield crops, such as tomatoes and herbs. These items will allow you to maximize the space you have available in your garden. The more produce you can grow at home, the more money you can save on your grocery bill each month, so it pays to know what will produce the most for your efforts.
To protect your crops from being ravaged by pests such as deer and other nuisance animals, be sure to fence your garden securely. A good fence will also keep other people from trampling your crops, or worse, stealing them. If you have burrowing pests like gophers, you may want to use raised beds for your vegetables.
A key element to having a great garden is to fertilize it. There are many different types of fertilizers available at most home stores, but what works for different types of gardens varies. Manure is a great choice, but it does smell. A commercially produced manure will have no pathogens to contaminate the vegetables in the garden. Some people swear by chemical fertilizers, yet they are not an organic way to grow.
A wonderful treat for your indoor houseplants is to take them outside periodically and let them bask in the glory of a summer rainstorm. You will be treating them to higher humidity and longer hours of daylight that far surpasses the stale conditions they may be getting indoors! You will want to minimize too much direct sunlight and make sure your plant containers have good drainage holes so that extra rainwater doesn’t collect to cause root rot. Some quality time in the outdoors will pay off with lush, healthy plants year-round!
To make a homemade watering can, use an old bottle of detergent! Simply drill holes in the lid of the cap and be sure the bottle has been cleaned thoroughly. The thickness of a detergent container will make this a very sturdy watering can and the handle will allow you to use it with ease.
When your summer blooms have bloomed and faded away, remember to deadhead the flowers. This means pinching off the flower heads. This will encourage new flowers to bloom longer next year, and it will also strengthen the plant. Since the flower heads have seeds, you can also save the flower heads that you have pinched off for planting at another time.
Experiment with color pairings. Purple and yellow work very well together, and can be used to create either a warm or cool effect. For a warm effect, use more yellow flowers than purple, conversely, using mostly purple flowers will give you a cool, soothing effect. A mixture of tall purple delphiniums or penstemon, and lower growing yellow achillea gives a spectacular display.
Give your garden an exotic look with succulents. Succulents, either planted directly into the ground, or in pots, can give your garden an exotic feel. Most are grown for their interesting shapes, but quite a few have showy flowers. They require lots of light, sandy, rapid-draining soil, and modest watering during the growing season. The hardiest succulents are sedum and sempervivum. They are easy to propagate by clump division, and stems root easily when planted in moist soil.
In your compost, use green and dried plants in equal parts. Garden wastes, such as grass clippings, are classified as green materials. Dried plant material, however, can include items such as cardboard, sawdust, and shredded paper. Avoid using animal manure, charcoal or diseased plants in your compost.
The organic mulch around trees and flowers should be approximately three inches deep. This method is not only good for the earth but conserves water, saving you money on your water bill and offering a bit of relief to the environment as well. Mulching is not only frugal, it is also quite attractive.
You can maintain a garden without spending a lot of money on store-bought mulch or even using pesticides on your plants. Anything that used to be alive is a great source of mulch, like leaves or kitchen waste. Remember the tips in this article, in order to maintain a great organic garden, without spending too much money!