Does it always seem like the grass is greener on your neighbor's side of the fence? You might believe that your next-door neighbor has a special formula for a beautiful yard that no one else knows about. In reality, there's no secret method for creating a gorgeous garden. All you need is the knowledge about how to care for your plants the right way. You can start educating yourself by checking out the horticulture tips that follow.
Learn about plant varieties so you can choose the ones with the best yields. If yield is important, choose hybrids designed to resist cold and diseases rather than traditional varieties.
If you learn that your soil has a high amount of alkaline, mix some used coffee grounds into it. This is an easy and inexpensive solution to increase the acid content back into the soil. The plants will be healthier, leading to more delicious home-grown veggies.
Spectrum Pesticides
Don't use broad-spectrum pesticides for your garden. Besides killing the insects you don't want, this type of pesticide will also kill beneficial insects. Bugs that provide a benefit to your garden are more easily killed by these broad-spectrum pesticides, you may simply end up with a bigger pest problem. Your problem will only get worse and you will find yourself using more pesticides.
For visual interest, make one plant a focal point of your garden. Gardens are like art; you need to give the piece (or garden) an initial focal point. It can be anything, but oftentimes a plant that stands out from its neighbors will do the trick.
When you water your garden, do it with care. A soaker hose is a great way to water all of the plants at once, and will save you a lot of time. Use low water pressure with your soaker hose so that the force of the water does not harm sprouts and seedlings. Let it water your garden for a few hours, so you're available to do other stuff.
The flesh of vegetables gets soft in the heat of the day, making them especially vulnerable to inadvertent damage with even the gentlest picking. Do not twist the vegetable to remove it from the vine; instead, cut the stem to avoid damaging the plant.
Mixing a variety of plants at different heights is how you can make a very interesting English garden. If you use a combination of plants that grow to the same height, your garden bed will be uniform and dull looking.
If you want to start a small organic garden indoors, evaluate the amount of natural light that is present. If you're living in a home that doesn't receive much sunlight, you should consider growing plants that thrive in environments with low to medium amounts of light. You could also consider using grow-lights for this exact purpose.
It can be extremely fast and easy to plant perennials into your garden. It isn't as hard as it may seem; you basically just slice down under the turf, flip it over, and spread wood chips four to three inches. Let the area have about two weeks, then dig it and plan the new perennials.
You should use wood that is untreated, brick or stone when building the raised bed. For best results, you should only use wood that has not been treated with chemicals or protective coating. Cypress, cedar or locust wood are appropriate selections. Take care to avoid wood that has been chemically treated when your garden will hold vegetables, since unknown substances in the wood can make their way into your future food. If you have placed treated wood in your garden, line it with a coat of plastic.
Organic Horticulture
Feeling in harmony with the earth is a benefit of gardening as a hobby, and this holds especially true when it comes to organic horticulture. Organic horticulture is an excellent lesson in the plant life cycle and how to get the most from the planting process.
Research local botanical insecticides which can help keep any pest population down. Sometimes natural insecticides are more efficient than the synthetic pesticides you can buy. Keep in mind, however, that natural pesticides frequently deteriorate more quickly than those with a man-made base.
When you start planting your organic tomatoes, stagger your planting time by planting two groups of plants, three weeks apart. This makes sure that you are not inundated with a huge tomato harvest all at one time. This will also prevent you from losing an entire harvest if some type of problem arises that kills off a batch.
Invite biodiversity into your garden. Wildlife will be attracted by different varieties of plants, so make sure you have a wide choice for them. Make your garden naturally inviting by planting many different kinds of plants. Your garden will become a haven for you to enjoy, as well as a help to the environment.
Here you have organic gardening, simplified! Chose plants that are native to your area. When you choose plants that can work with your soil type, climate and nearby plants, you can reduce the need of fertilizers and other aids. By planting native plants that are used to growing in your location, you will see that they can gain their nutrients from the compost that is made from the surrounding plants and native ingredients.
Now that you've reached the end of this article, you realize that the advice is not difficult to follow at all. You simply need to decide what it is you want to achieve, then use the gardening knowledge you have acquired from this article to make it happen. Just be sure to keep a close eye on your plants and see how they respond to the various methods you apply to them. If your thumb turns out to be brown rather than green, take corrective action. While it may take time, with patience your beautiful garden will be admired by the whole neighborhood.