If you have just started out as a gardener, you probably have visions of a beautiful, bountiful garden and lots of enjoyable hours tilling the soil and reaping the fruits of your labors. While this can surely be the case, very often, horticulture is lots of hard work followed by baffled disappointment - at least until you know what you are doing! Here are some ideas to help you cultivate your green thumb as quickly as possible.
Starting off your garden with healthy soil can be the best defense against those pesky garden bugs. Healthier plants are greater in strength and resistance to illness and insects. So if you want your garden to provide plants that are as healthy as possible, you need a good quality soil that contains few chemicals and that can accumulate salts over time.
Use mulch to add nutrients to your soil. Mulch is a much better way to amend your soil than fertilizers because it comes from natural ingredients in your garden. Commercial fertilizers may contain undesirable chemicals. In addition, mulch is free. All you need to do is compost your clippings and yard waste in a compost bin. Before long, you will have enough mulch for your entire garden.
Avoid rose mildew. This fungus affects many types of roses, especially in wet weather, when days are warm and nights are cold. Small gray or white spots will appear on the plant, forming a felt-like down. Shoot tips are killed and buds fail to open. Don't plant roses close together - they need good air circulation to avoid mildew. Spray any affected plants with fungicidal soap.
Don't use broad-spectrum pesticides in the garden. These pesticides will kill every type of pest in your garden, including beneficial bugs that eat garden pests. Beneficial bugs are usually several orders more sensitive to the things you spray than the pests you are trying to kill, so you might wind up dropping the good bug populace and open the door to pest population growth. This will cause a cycle to start where you will need to keep increasing the amount of pesticide you are using.
Make sure to keep your eye on your garden for pests. They can eat away your plants or foods and cause irreparable damage. If you do find them more resources in your garden, it is important that you get rid of them as soon as possible before they reproduce and create more problems.
Check your store bought soil for pests. If you buy from big home improvement stores, your soil may have pests such as aphids. To kill the insects and their larvae, put the soil in a metal baking pan and place it covered in a 400 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Let cool before using.
Take extra care of any fragile shrubs that are known to drop their leaves in the autumn. If the temperature drops below 50 degrees, you should consider protecting them, especially if they do best in warm environments. Join them together at the top, and use a blanket or old sheet to cover them. This is more effective than putting plastic on the plant, it will let the air flow.
Brighten up your winter garden with trees that have interesting bark. A winter garden can tend to look bare and drab, especially if you live in a very cold climate. Three good choices are a paperbark maple, silver birch or scarlet willow. This will make a quite noticeable difference to the look of your garden.
When you are pruning a tree, make sure that your tools are sharp. Cutting with a dull tool can tear the bark off the tree, causing unnecessary damage to the tree. Not only that, cutting with a dull tool causes you to spend extra energy in cutting. A sharp tool will give you a cleaner cut with the least amount of effort.
To keep animals from digging up and destroying your bulbs, wrap the bulbs in a thin layer of steel wool. This won't prevent the bulbs from growing in any way, but will scare away any animal that's begun digging it up. You can purchase steel wool from any home improvement store.
If you have the space, building a compost bin can be a great way to save money and always have compost at the ready. When planning your bin, consider a three-sided bin rather than a four-sided bin. A three-sided bin allows you to easily access the heap for regular turning without reaching over a wall or using a gate.
To prepare the ground for your organic perennial plants, simply cut the turf and turn it over a few weeks before planting time. Spread wood chips a few inches deep on the freshly-turned soil, and within a couple of weeks the ground will be ideal for your organic perennials. These hardy plants need only a little bit of preparation.
For organic fertilizer to use around the plants in your garden and flower beds, start a compost bin made from all-organic material that would otherwise be wasted. Pitch in yard clippings, leaves, vegetable peelings, eggshells and coffee grounds, turning the contents of the bin often. In just a short time, you will have great material to mix with your soil that will provide nutrients and nourishment to your plants without added chemicals.
Avoid chemicals in your garden. Keep the toxins out of the food and the water supply. One of the best parts about organic gardening is eliminating chemical compounds from your food supply. There are many alternatives to chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Almost any problem can be cured with the right management.
Trees and flower beds need at least three inches of organic materials. This adds humus, nutrients, conserves water in the soil, and discourages the growth of unwanted weeds! This will also give your flower beds a nice, even, and finished appearance. There are many organic mulches available or you can make your http://interiorbuz.com/terrace-decoration-ideas/terrace-decoration-ideas-home-decor-outdoor-pinterest/ own.
Pests can be a challenge when you are starting organic horticulture. You need to keep the soil that you are using healthy. Healthy soil brings forth healthy plants and they can withstand some damage from pests. Your plants will not only be healthy but they will be beautiful as well.
Use mulch to protect the plants in your organic garden. Plants need to be protected so that they can grow, since they cannot protect themselves that well. Some protections that mulch provides includes protecting your plants' roots from the heat of the sun and and protecting the fragile plant crown during the winter.
Now are you ready to get started? Use these tips to boost your gardening skills. Enjoy the fresh air, sunlight, and being outdoors! Hopefully, you will have a great experience that you will want to repeat year after year! Share with family and friends! They will love it!
