Organic Garden Tips for a Beautiful
Vegetable Garden

Here are some useful organic garden tips to help you get started in organic gardening.

People refer to "going organic" as both a philosophy and a lifestyle. To start an organic garden can also be looked on as both a philosophy and a lifestyle.

A garden is after all more than just for growing food. It is a model of what is possible in a community, as one can look at the use of, and the care of, the soil as part of the goal towards achieving a more balanced and a healthier earth. Your organic garden of course is about your own and unique piece of the earth - your very own backyard.Here are some organic garden tips specific to the soil in which you grow your vegetables, fruits, herbs,and flowers. What to grow in your organic garden.

How to control the pests and weeds and how to create the balance in your own piece of the world and the environment.

Producing healthy, nutritious organic food promotes a more sustainable way of living and encourages other people in your community to follow your lead.

Carefully Look After the Soil

Fundamental, and one of the best organic garden tips is to look at your small but significant contribution to going organic in terms of how you treat and use your soil.

Without the top soil nothing will grow in your backyard and, in terms of the 'big picture' as in some of the planet's large agricultural areas, depletion of the top soil is a significant and increasing problem. We can all do better when it comes to the soil. Good organic garden soil is critical to your success growing your organic garden. The healthier and fertile your soil, the better your plants and vegetables will grow. You should add manure and compost to your soil to improve it's quality and to encourage a healthy population of earth worms.Try to NEVER use inorganic fertilizer.

The importance of a composting system can hardly be overstated. Consider that weeds before they have seeded, surplus root crops or the tops of other vegetables are part of the foundation of the fertility of your organic garden.

You compost this 'waste' material and add it back to the soil in the form of organic matter along with it's residual fertility. In addition you can add leaves and other organic matter to the compost. The decomposition process will take care of a lot of the weed seeds but, get the weeds into the compost before they actually produce seeds.

Use Plenty Mulch

Mulching, with which you will encourage weed control, help conserve moisture, help maintain pH all of which encourage better growth. If you can get some composted bull manure from a local farmer, that is an old fashioned farmer who doesn’t use chemicals, and put down two inches or so of this mulch your weed problems will go away.

Be Careful About What you Grow

Your prevailing weather conditions may limit what you can grow. Make a short list of some of the easy things to grow - peas, beans, potatoes, turnips, carrots, lettuce, beets, and maybe some peppers would do to start.

I live in Canada so I am limited by early and late frosts, although with greenhouses and cold frames it's not much of a problem.

I am not however, going to plant pineapples. You can get the heat unit maps, growing charts, and supplementary information, from your local authorities.

That should be enough information to get going, and if you are an experienced gardener you already know what grows best in your area. Growing organic is an exercise in how you grow your vegetables not what you grow. But, because of the limitations of not using pesticides and weed killers you will have to consider such issues as companion plants and plants that attract or discourage a variety of beneficial and pest insects and other pests.

Plants that thrive under the same conditions can be grown in the same area of your garden and will require less care.

Different plants and crops use different nutrients. Or plants like legumes, for example, peas and beans fix nitrogen into the soil, root crops like carrots beets and turnip require phosphate, and things like tomatoes, and peppers, need potash.

Vegetables like cabbages, lettuce and celery will take up the nitrogen. It is possible that one type of plant might provide nutrients that benefit others.

The thing to remember while gardening is to start small. A small plant bed, about 25 or 30 feet square is perfect, is just enough room for about 30 plants. This will give you a chance to try out your green thumb and if you find that you enjoy your garden you can always expand and increase your plantings.

The next thing you will want to do is choose a site. Gardening must be done in an area that gets at least six hours of sunlight. Try and stay away from large trees that will take your plants water and nutrients, and at least three feet from any fences or buildings. In hot climates it is a good idea to choose a place that will have shade from a part of the intense afternoon sun. It is possible to have a healthy garden with even ten to twelve hours of sunlight, but the type of plants must be adaptable. While soil can always be improved, a site with good soil is a plus. Avoid areas that have rocky soil, steep slopes, or areas where water stands.

Now comes the fun part: start digging. Gardening is not a clean hobby; youíre going to have to get some dirt under your nails. First remove the rocks, debris, and any grass and weeds then dig the spot up about one foot deep. Level up the dirt and add compost or minerals if the needed. If your soil is too acidic, add lime; if it is too sandy, add peat moss. Plants will thrive in neutral to acidic soil with a little added fertilizer.

If you buy seeds then plant them according to the directions. If picking plants, choose ones with green, healthy looking leaves and stems and healthy roots. Put the smaller plants towards the front of the bed and larger ones in the back. The key to a successful beginning in gardening is planting at the right time. Make sure and wait until the frosts are over before planting. If you are planting seeds the package will usually tell you exactly when you can plant them to achieve maximum growth.

Once you have started and gotten into gardening, making sure your plants receive enough water is essential to their growth. Hand watering works well if you only have a few plants. Other options include sprinklers or sprinkler hoses. Watering is more effective during the cooler parts of the day. The type of plant will depend on how much water is needed, but most require about an inch per week. During the hottest periods plants will be need watering about three times per week.

One of the most helpful things to add to a garden is mulch or compost. Just a few inches of organic mulch will improve fertility and help the soil hold moisture. Wood chips, grass clippings, leaves, manure, and pine needles are all things that can be used as mulch.

Control of Weeds is Basically Simple

Every gardener has a weed problem, but you learn to live with weeds. Oh! there are very effective ways to deal with weeds, but most of the really effective weed controls are chemical, or inorganic. We as organic gardeners are restricted to more basic methods.

There are some relatively easy and with some basic tools, very basic ways of dealing with weeds. I prefer to think in terms of three methods, the hoe, the hands and the mulch. This is not complicated, as some effort, some time, and some physical exercise, can keep things under control. Just do not let the weeds get ahead of the garden.

Given that weeds seem to grow faster and if not controlled, they grow bigger than the vegetables. Weeds can definitely create a problem.

Many kids have household chores: taking out the trash, dusting, and other simple projects. When I was a kid, my mom would put me to work pulling weeds in the garden. Why weed pulling? Simple: she didn’t want to do it. Getting rid of weeds can be painful and time consuming. There are many chemical products on the market today, but they can be hazardous and many of them simply don’t work. Here are a few other options to minimize the amount of back-break weed pulling you’ll have to do this year.

If you’re just starting a garden, or if you only grow annual plants, you can simply till the weeds under and into the soil. If you have perennial weeds that keep popping, kill them once and for all using solarization. First, pull or till under all the current weeds. Then, add a black plastic sheet over top of your soil. This will cause heat up the soil in your garden, killing any seeds that may be hiding under the surface. The disadvantage of this method is that it may kill beneficial bacteria as well. It also can’t be used if you have perennial plants in your garden because it will damage the root structure.

If you have perennials and don’t want to tear up your entire garden, keep weeds away by adding mulch. Mulch keeps sunlight from reaching the soil; which prevents weed seeds from germinating. You will have to get rid of weeds to start with, but it will control prevent them from coming back. As an added benefit, mulch helps keeps your soil moist and moderates the temperature, which improves the health of your plants. You can use yard clippings, tree bark, or most organic materials to mulch your garden.

Whatever method you use, it’s likely you’ll still have to pull a few weeds, but remember that you can always get the kids to help out!Tips for Controlling Garden Weeds

Many kids have household chores: taking out the trash, dusting, and other simple projects. When I was a kid, my mom would put me to work pulling weeds in the garden. Why weed pulling? Simple: she didn’t want to do it. Getting rid of weeds can be painful and time consuming. There are many chemical products on the market today, but they can be hazardous and many of them simply don’t work. Here are a few other options to minimize the amount of back-break weed pulling you’ll have to do this year.

If you’re just starting a garden, or if you only grow annual plants, you can simply till the weeds under and into the soil. If you have perennial weeds that keep popping, kill them once and for all using solarization. First, pull or till under all the current weeds. Then, add a black plastic sheet over top of your soil. This will cause heat up the soil in your garden, killing any seeds that may be hiding under the surface. The disadvantage of this method is that it may kill beneficial bacteria as well. It also can’t be used if you have perennial plants in your garden because it will damage the root structure.

If you have perennials and don’t want to tear up your entire garden, keep weeds away by adding mulch. Mulch keeps sunlight from reaching the soil; which prevents weed seeds from germinating. You will have to get rid of weeds to start with, but it will control prevent them from coming back. As an added benefit, mulch helps keeps your soil moist and moderates the temperature, which improves the health of your plants. You can use yard clippings, tree bark, or most organic materials to mulch your garden.

Whatever method you use, it’s likely you’ll still have to pull a few weeds, but remember that you can always get the kids to help out!

Work With Nature to Control Pests

They can remove several common pests, though it may affect beneficial bugs too. However, this type of pesticide/insecticides won’t have lasting effects on the environment.

These organic garden tips will help to make your organic garden a success. It has been estimated that a simple 32 sq. ft of garden space planted intensively uses less nutrients and water and could keep a family and community, supplied with an abundance of healthy, nutritious organic produce.Organic Garden Tips

Attract Birds to Your Garden

What better way to beautify your garden than to fill it with birds? Birds add color and life to any garden. If you’re wondering why other’s gardens have birds galore and yours is lacking residents, follow these tips and you’ll have a feather filled garden in no time.

The first thing birds need to be happy is shelter, which can be provided with birdhouses. Birdhouses can be purchased from many different stores, but it’s cheaper and often more effective to build your own. You may notice at stores that there are many different kinds of houses available. What type of birdhouse you need depends on what kind of bird you want to attract. Just remember, to try to attract local birds. If you haven’t seen a kind of bird in your neighborhood, you shouldn’t count on seeing it in your garden. Try to place the houses in areas that are more hidden where birds will feel safe and comfortable.

Providing adequate shelter for birds also means giving them appropriate nesting materials; this can help them turn their bird house into a comfortable home. Birds usually use hard materials for structure and soft materials to fill in the gaps. Good nesting materials include string, hair, twigs, moss, fabric, and even dryer lint. Basically, theyíll use anything long and skinny, or soft materials that can be pulled that way.

Another essential factor for attracting birds to your garden is water. Birdbaths are the best option because they are shallow for swimming and have edges for drinking. If you have a large garden, you can add more than one bird bath. If you do, try to have them in sunny and shady places so birds can choose. Along with attracting feathered friends, bird baths also add a decorative touch.

Another important factor for attracting birds is food. While water and housing may entice your birds to stay, they’ll probably find your garden in their search for something to eat. You should provide birds with a variety of different seeds, fruits, and nuts. They need a balanced diet just like you do. One thing you might want to consider is whether or not to feed cooked food. While it’s better for birds to have fresh food, this may also cause unwanted plants in your garden and surrounding areas. Just like houses, feeders should be placed in areas where a bird feels comfortable and safe from predators. Birds also like to feast on insects, so make sure your garden has good rich soil to promote creepy crawly critters to stay too.

When trying to attract birds to your garden patience is the key. Even if you provide all the essentials for birds, they still may not show up right away. You should give them time to find your garden and then make a habit of visiting. Even if you don’t get birds right away, keep trying. They’re sure to show up in no time.

Avoid fungus during summer

Most of us are ready to invest huge amount for landscaping and gardening to give face lift for our home. But we failed to prune when the plants needed it, and then your highly invested landscape looks terrible than ever. So this is a high time to know about the gardening tips for better maintenance of your lawn. Do follow the following gardening tips for better life of your garden: -†

Gardening tips for pruningAs we discussed in the introduction, pruning plays an important role in the garden maintenance. If you commit any mistake while pruning, don't lose your heart because it's like a bad haircut, it is going to grow again. †

Avoid watering in the eveningDuring summer, you may experience high humidity, which might result in lot of problems in your garden. To get your plants nice and dry, tuck them in for night. In addition to this watering in the evening may be avoided to prevent damage to the plants.†

Get rid of Powdery mildewPowdery mildew is the common fungus mostly affects your ornamental plants. This will create white film on the leaves of the plants in your garden. Even other ornamental plants such as Sand cherry and Dogwoods are also getting affected with this fungus. Efficient gardening is necessary to curtail the growth of this fungus. You can easily prevent this by spraying general fungicide in the garden center. †

Prevention of Pythium BlightIf you are in the north and also having perennial Rye grass, then you ought to be very careful not to leave your grass wet at night. A dreadful fungus called Pythium Blight may take its upper hand, if you leave your lawn wet in the night because this fungus love to grow in high humid condition mostly, in the night.†

Pythium blight can easily be seen in the early morning. You can easily appreciate the fungus on the top of the lawn as white cotton candy. You can easily notice this fungus mainly along driveways and walks, where the soil is moist. Pythium blight can easily be controlled by watering in the day at the earliest possible time.†

Fire BlightFire Blight, yet another culprit prefers to grow well during summer than any other season. This fungus prefers to attack Pyracantha, cotoneasters, crabapple trees, and Apple trees. The presence of Fire Blight can easily be visualized once the any one of the branches of the plant turns red and dies. This Fire Blight can be prevented little by pruning the affected branch and removing it from the main plant as far as possible.†

It is also important that the cut branches should be burnt since Fire Blight is contagious and also wash or dip the projected shears by using alcohol in order to prevent the spread of the deadly fungus to other parts of the branch.

Shotgun fungusA little gem like fungus, which prefers to grow in mulch and tends to swell, has been termed as Short gun Fungusî. This fungus can fly up to 8 feet in the air and will spatter your house with tiny brown specks and once they stick to your house or windows, they stick like glue. Most of us suspect the spiders and aliens for this tiny brown speck. You can't prevent this fungus, but can do something by keeping the mulch loose so air can circulate inside to keep this fungus out. Although mulch is great, don't allow them to get packed, try to remove it at least once in a year and also rake it flat as if it will look like you've just mulched.

Garden for All Seasons

The next thing you will want to do is choose a site. Gardening must be done in an area that gets at least six hours of sunlight. Try and stay away from large trees that will take your plants water and nutrients, and at least three feet from any fences or buildings. In hot climates it is a good idea to choose a place that will have shade from a part of the intense afternoon sun. It is possible to have a healthy garden with even ten to twelve hours of sunlight, but the type of plants must be adaptable. While soil can always be improved, a site with good soil is a plus. Avoid areas that have rocky soil, steep slopes, or areas where water stands.

Now comes the fun part: start digging. Gardening is not a clean hobby; youíre going to have to get some dirt under your nails. First remove the rocks, debris, and any grass and weeds then dig the spot up about one foot deep. Level up the dirt and add compost or minerals if the needed. If your soil is too acidic, add lime; if it is too sandy, add peat moss. Plants will thrive in neutral to acidic soil with a little added fertilizer.

If you buy seeds then plant them according to the directions. If picking plants, choose ones with green, healthy looking leaves and stems and healthy roots. Put the smaller plants towards the front of the bed and larger ones in the back. The key to a successful beginning in gardening is planting at the right time. Make sure and wait until the frosts are over before planting. If you are planting seeds the package will usually tell you exactly when you can plant them to achieve maximum growth.

Once you have started and gotten into gardening, making sure your plants receive enough water is essential to their growth. Hand watering works well if you only have a few plants. Other options include sprinklers or sprinkler hoses. Watering is more effective during the cooler parts of the day. The type of plant will depend on how much water is needed, but most require about an inch per week. During the hottest periods plants will be need watering about three times per week.

One of the most helpful things to add to a garden is mulch or compost. Just a few inches of organic mulch will improve fertility and help the soil hold moisture. Wood chips, grass clippings, leaves, manure, and pine needles are all things that can be used as mulch.

Organic Flower Gardens are Good for the Environment

The planting and maintenance of your organic flower garden isn’t much different from what you have always done. Most people plant at least some annual garden flowers to pretty things up in the spring. They have spring bulbs that seem to appear out of nowhere. I,m always looking for the snowdrops that peep up through the snow in spring. Then the croccuses, the daffodils, nasisis and the tulips. Not to mention a few flowering weeds. Yes! go ahead, let them flower. They try so hard, and you can always pull them out later before they go to seed!

The perennials will soon get used to fending for themselves. Evening Primrose, Echanasia, and such just keep coming back every year right on schedule, and roses take a little more effort, but are well worth it. Of course you will have the fruit trees the raspberry canes, the red currents, the black currents all of which have flowers and all of which are a benefit to your organic garden.

Organic flower gardening might even be easier and less work than what you were doing before. Because you won’t have harmful chemicals to spray, you won’t have to worry about hazardous weed killers and other products, and you’ll be better able to enjoy your garden for what it is. A bit wilder, maybe a little less structured and definitely a place full of the balance of nature. Sure! That’s what we are striving for - balance, equilibtium. Appreciating your planet and making the most of the resources that you have is essential to your place in the world.

With proper care, all flowers truly need is sunlight and water. All those chemicals that you used to buy aren’t really necessary, even though people will still try to convince you they are. Relax, your main tasks will be:

Fertilizing - using organic fertilizers, compost and mulch.

Watering, infrequently seems to work best by encouraging plants to put down deep roots.

With a mainly perennial flower garden there will be some manicuring, pruning, transplanting and keeping an eye open for wilt and fungus diseases as well as the usual sucking insects,. But perennials offer longevity and beautiful flowers that are hard to achieve any other way. Even just a few strategically placed groups of plants around your garden area can work wonders in your favor.

Remember that most perennials like to have full sun for most of the day so where you place them is important. You will still have to give the plants the attention they deserve, but they will keep coming up year after year right on time and you will wonder how easy can it get. Try to plant varieties that flower at different times throughout the season, and, you will be rewarded with a contiuose display of color.

If you have a spare corner of the garden and want to grow some cut flowers get a bag of wild flower seeds and throw them on. The bees love wild flowers and so will you!

It doesn’t matter what type of flowers you plant in your organic flower garden, as long as you will have fun and find beauty in your investment. Having an organic flower garden can be a great way to enjoy gardening while still taking care of the environment. It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, or if you are a seasoned professional, flowers are flowers, and they will respond to loving care.

If you want to enjoy the beauty of a flower garden while sparing the environment, consider planting an organic flower garden in your yard.

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