Build A Beautiful Organic Garden With These Ideas
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, gardening 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.
When you need to control weed growth, choose your weed killer carefully, and always follow the directions. Many weed killers have chemicals that are harmful to people if they are not applied properly. They are especially harmful to young children if the children play around an area that has recently been treated.
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Although railroad ties may look very nice in your garden, the chemicals in them are thought to be hazardous and toxic to the health of the garden, so consider alternatives. Natural wood is easy to find and will add a beautiful touch to your garden.
If you are planning an irrigation system for your garden, consider a drip irrigation system. A conventional system using sprinkler heads loses a lot of water through evaporation. However, a drip system irrigates your garden by a constant slow drip of water beneath the surface, which means less water is wasted through evaporation.
Try using latex or plastic gloves instead of cloth gardening gloves. Cloth gardening gloves do not block moisture well - a problem when working with moist soil, and they often get stiff, crinkly, and uncomfortable after a few uses. A sturdy pair of plastic or latex gloves, like those used for cleaning, is a much better choice. They protect against moisture, and cleaning is as simple as rinsing them off under a hose and hanging to dry.
If you want an organic way to weed your garden, try "boiling" them. Boiling water in a pot is a safe "herbicide." Carefully pour boiling water right on the weeds, but be careful not to pour it on the plants you want. Boiling water is not good for the weed roots and will stunt further growth.
Divide your irises. Try increasing your stock by dividing your overgrown clumps of plants. After the foliage dies, pick up bulbous irises. The bulbs should split up normally in the hand and shoulder flower when replanted for the next year. If you have a rhizome you will need to split it with a knife. From the outside cut the new pieces and then get rid of the old center. Every piece is supposed to have at least one durable offshoot. Replant your cuttings immediately for the best results.
A good green garden should start from seeds and not plants. Starting from seed is far less harsh on the environment than using plants you buy at the nursery. Very few nurseries recycle the plastics that they use as containers for their plants, so the majority of these containers are thrown away and dumped in landfills. Therefore, it is better for the environment to plant a garden with seeds or to find a nursery that packages its plants using organic materials.
To make 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.
Try to fill your garden with a variety of plants instead of just a few types. A garden with a wide variety is more resistant to garden pests. It attracts more beneficial insects that eat the bad bugs. This will cut down on the need for pesticides. A garden with just a few types of plants will sustain more damage from pest invasions.
Fall is the time of year to start planting those bulbs that produce the beautiful flowers that herald the beginning of spring. These types of spring flowers are easy to grow and can reward you with many years of gorgeous blooms. These bulbs need to be planted a few weeks before the first hard freeze in order to get their root system growing so they can survive the cold winter.
By following these tips, you should be able to get a good start on your gardening hobby. Keep in mind that container gardening is a very easy and controllable method of gardening that is just great for beginners. You can plant almost anything in a container garden, and if you are a renter, you can easily take your garden with you if you move. Just remember to keep your container garden well-watered since it will have no resources to draw on other than what you give it.