Tips for Successful Organic Gardening
by Martin Wilkerson
http://www.yahoo.com
With a bit of time, and knowing what you~re doing,
you can have an organic garden that is free of
chemicals and pesticides. More and more people
are trying organic gardening as they try to live a
healthy life. With just a few hints and tricks you~ll
soon have a vegetable and flower garden that is
beautiful and thriving without having to do much
that is different from gardening with chemicals.
One important step to having those thriving flowers
and vegetables is to make sure that you mulch
around the plants. You can buy mulch or you can
make your own. Making your own means that
you~ll know exactly what goes into the mulch,
ensuring that it is as organic as possible. Mulching
has three purposes: it helps the soil to remain wet, it
adds nutrients that plants need to grow, and it keeps
weeks at bay. And if you have some plants that
require an acid based mulch you can provide this
naturally as well by adding pine needles to your
home-made mulch. Pine needles have a high
concentration of acid which will leach into your
mulch.
Organic gardening means that if you have to use
fertilizers for your plants you~ll have to make sure
that you buy fertilizers that are certified organic.
Most gardening and plant stores will carry a
selection of fertilizers, and other soil supplements,
that are organic and safe to use for your vegetables
and other plants.
Pests, such as insects, are always a big concern for
the organic gardener. Inviting birds to your yard by
hanging bird feeders are one way that you can keep
down the number of insects that you have in your
garden. Keep in mind though that there are some
birds that will love to eat the tender shoots of your
plants. For example, sparrows love to eat parsley,
radish tops, and new lettuce so you~ll want to try to
avoid luring these birds to the bird feeder.
Birds won~t be the only way that you want to deal
with the pests in your garden. Since organic
gardening means avoiding the use of chemicals you
won~t be able to use pesticides to rid your garden of
these annoyances. You can make natural solutions
to spray on your plants to rid them of bugs, such as
aphids. One repellant for aphids is to make a
solution of soap and water, spraying it around the
stem and on the leaves and buds of the plant.
You~ll also want to spray the dirt around the plant to
further discourage the aphids.
Organic gardening is a great way to eat vegetables
that are grown naturally as well as to enjoy a garden
that is free of pesticides and other harmful
chemicals. There are many gardening books that
you can buy that will give you more tips and tricks
so that your organic garden grows and flourishes.
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