Every day, more and more people are learning the benefits of organic gardens. Using this simple advice, you can begin growing your own thriving organic garden. Use these tricks and tips to get the best results.
When you boil or steam vegetables for cooking, let the water cool and then use it to water your garden. Not only does this reduce your overall water usage, it provides a useful source of nutrients to your place. Your potted plants, especially, will appreciate the extra nutrients provided by your vegetable water.
Be realistic about the types of plants you can grow in your garden. If a particular plant has failed you in the past, don’t try it again. You need to right kind of climate, soil, and sun/shade ratio for certain plants. If you don’t have it, no amount of effort will make those plants a success. Choosing realistically will increase your yield while decreasing your effort.
Make sure your pot is the right size for your plant. If the pot is too small, the plant’s roots may not have enough room to grow. The roots will become “root bound”, stop growing, and begin to suffocate. The size of the root system can determine the size of your plant and yield.
Key to any garden activity is using the right tools. While having a shovel is essential, so are other tools that work best with your garden size. For smaller gardens, short handled tools work best, for larger gardens longer handled hoes and spades work better. Make sure you keep a sharp edge on your tools for easier work.
A useful solution to keep pests like bugs and flying insects away from your garden is to put basil, garlic or parsley plants as trim plants around your garden. These plants have the ability to deter pests, while still being quite useful in your kitchen! If a splash of color is more your style, marigolds have a similar effect.
Gardening doesn’t have to stop in the spring. Planting in the fall can help you have a beautifully vibrant garden once the winter snows melt away. Some plants that do well being planted in the fall include chrysanthemums, kales, and asters. Another benefit of planting in the fall is that bulbs need less fertilizer and watering, saving you some additional costs.
Using mulch is helpful to plants that are located in extreme heat. The best mulch to use is wood mulch because it holds in moisture and helps drown out the weeds. Wood mulch also adds nutrients to the dirt as it decomposes. Rock is used for mulch as well, however, rock does not retain moisture as well as wood mulch.
Make sure your garden will get sun before planting the seeds. Plants love the sun and will grow better when exposed to it. If it is not too much trouble, consider moving your garden to another area to get the maximum amount of sunshine. This way your plants will grow bigger.
Plant for fall color. A lot of gardeners see fall as the time to wind things down in the garden, but with some plants the opposite is true. Certain trees and shrubs really ‘come alive’ in the fall, offering vivid displays of color through their foliage. Trees and shrubs for fall color include maple, cornus, gingko, dogwood, sumac and viburnum.
As you can see, keeping up with an organic garden is both challenging and rewarding. It takes time and patience. Use the tips above to see how great your new garden may be. This advice can help you achieve success regardless of what you choose to plant in your garden.
