3 Tips for Landscaping your Organic Garden

Landscaping is usually a fairly big task, consuming much time and energy. But before you hire that professional, here are some tips that could save both time and money.

1. Spend some time thinking about exactly how you want the final design to be. You need to take account of the style and function of your landscape.










 Do you want to include an area for entertaining? A barbeque? Is there to be an area for children to play, a fishpond or a swimming pool? 










An idea of the plants you want to be there will also help. Focus on the area where you spend most of your time. That's a good place to start.

2. Think twice before hiring a pro. An independent designer might cost you hundreds of dollars when you may be able to access free plans on the internet or at a nursery. But if you have an awkward block such as very steep ground, a pro might give you the expertise to save costly mistakes.

3. The style of your home must be taken into account. If you have a rural cottage, formal gardens surrounding it will look out of place. Think also about your lifestyle. Do you want to spend hours caring for many beds of annuals or pruning beds of roses? If so, go ahead and plant them, but if you'd rather spend your free time at the beach, then go for an easy-care garden and landscape.

Perennials . . . Organic Flower Gardening

In an effort to encourage community pride, my other half and I take great pains to insure that our yard is presentable!  After spending the first three years with my organic vegetable gardening, it was time for me to try my hand at the organic flower gardening. It was time to liven up my yard with beautiful flowers so I had to do my research and this is what I discovered  . . . 


Perennial flowers are a hardy, strong, local flowers that come back every year without you having to replant. During the off seasons, the flowers and stems of the perennials die back and you can hardly even tell the plant is there. When it’s time to bloom, entirely new flowers shoot up where the old ones once were, reoccurring year after year.


You need to make sure that your soil has proper drainage before you decide what type of perennial you are going to plant. If the water stays saturated for long periods of time, you should build a raised bed for proper drainage. To do a drainage test, dig a hole and fill it with water. Wait a day, and then fill it with water again. All traces of water should be gone within 10 hours. If the hole isn’t completely dry, you will need to build a raised bed.


Picking your perennials can be a complicated process. The goal should be to have them flowering as much as possible during the year, so you should create an outline of the year. Research the different types of flower you want, and create a timeline of flowering. If you plan it right, you can have a different type of flower blooming at any point in the year. Getting just the right mixture of seeds can give your yard a constantly changing array of colors.

When you go to buy the seeds from your local florist or nursery, you might be able to find a custom seed mixture for your area. This takes the really tough research part out of the job. Usually these blends are optimized for the local climate, and do great jobs of having flowers always grow in your yard. If one of these isn’t available, you can ask the employees what they think would be a good mixture. They should be happy to help you put something together which will be optimal for whatever you desire.

You should definitely use mulch when planting perennials. This will reduce the overall amount of work you have to do, by reducing the amount of weeds and increasing the water retention. Bark or pine needles work great, I have found, and depending on the rest of your yard you might have them on hand at no charge. As for fertilizer, you should use it sparingly once your plants start to come to life.


When you actually go to plant the seeds, you should put them in small, separate clumps according to the directions. This is because they tend to spread out, and if you have too many too close together then they will end up doing nothing but choking each other out. As you plant them, throw in a little bit of extremely weak fertilizer. In no time at all you should start to see flowers blooming up.

5 Tips For Growing a Healthy Organic Flower Garden


Believe it or not, just having the basic knowledge of how to care for your organic flower garden can truly be the determining factor when it comes to the presentation and health of your plants. Here are a few simple tips to make your organic flower garden bloom with health:

Organic Flower Garden 

Tip#1

A major perquisite should ALWAYS be the fundamentals . . .

Essential to healthy growth, it is imperative that you have enough water, sunlight, and fertile soil and the absence of these basic conditions can and will greatly affect the health of plants. Water flower garden more frequently during dry periods. When planting bulbs, make sure you go right into the depths. When planting shrubs and perennials, make sure you do not heap soil or mulch around the stem. If not, the water runs off instead of sinking, and in particular to develop rot overheating.

Organic Flower Garden 

Tip#2

Annuals with perennials formulate a good mix . . .  

Just be aware that perennial flower bulbs need not be replanted since they grow and bloom for several years while they grow and bloom year for a while. If you mix some annuals        with you perennials you will be guaranteed to always have flowers coming.

Organic Flower Garden 

Tip#3

You will get more blossoms from Deadheading . . .

Deadheading is merely snipping off the flower head after it has wilted. By consistently doing this you will make the plant produce more flowers. Be careful to make sure that you don't throw the deadheads on the garden or it can cause mildew and other plant diseases to attack your plants.

Organic Flower Garden 

Tip#4

Know the Good Guys . . . 

Unknownst to many, the vast majority of garden insects do a lot more good than they do harm. Butterflies, beetles and bees are known as the pollinators because they fertilize plants through unintentional transfer of pollen from one plant to another. Up to 75% of flowering plants rely on insects for their survival. 

Aphids

By fortifying your soil and making nutrients more available to growing plants is accomplished thru sowbugs and dung beetles. Together with fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms these are the good guys that are necessary to help in the decomposition of dead plant material.

Lacewings

However it is important that you are aware that other insects like lacewings and dragonflies which are natural predators of those insects that do the real damage, like aphis.


An occasional application of liquid fertilizer when plants are flowering will keep them blooming for longer.

Organic Flower Garden 

Tip#5

  Prune, Prune, Prune

Always prune dead buds, branches and leaves.  There are those that you will have to handle more carefully than others while pruning, such as Fuchsia.  Fushsias are particularly prone to snapping when you brush against them so use caution when pruning. Just know that the broken branch can be potted up to give you a new plant, so with that being said . . .

GOOD GROWIN!

Organic Gardening Tools - Growin with the BIG BOYS!

Organic Gardening Tools - An Overview of What You May Need

It is basic knowledge that to achieve sustainable growth of your garden plants, good soil quality, sunlight and sufficient water and VITAL.  Of course nature has blessed with the bare necessities and you will find the need for modern gardening tools as well to upkeep your garden. Gardening tools aide greatly in the maintenance of your organic vegetable garden as well as the good growing conditions.

Just be aware that defective or inadequate gardening tools can cause injury to your plants, cut your plants or actually plug your plants from the soil. To prevent such an occurrence, look for the best gardening tools that will provide your plants  the best of care.

Here are some points for you to consider regarding garden tools:

Lawnmowers

The Luxus Push Reel Mower     has been rated as best by the gardening aficionados provides large top cover that protects overhanging flowers and shrubs. Another special gardening tool called American Lawn Mower Deluxe has also been accredited as best which will be helpful to operate on elbow grease alone and also causing no pollution. But this is not conducive for too tall grasses.

Garden Shredders

All the garden shredders have a high power motor and come with a silent crushing system and is utilized to accelerate your shredding activity.  Garden shredders with electric shredder is an easy to assemble gardening tool, which aids in tree pruning with maximum of 40 mm and making healthy hedges. This gardening tool is considered to be a best among all the garden shredders since it is available with a plunger for increased portability and built-in wheels.

Cultivators

Cultivators are modern gardening tools which are available with patented tines to help in cutting the hard compacted soil smoothly. Cultivators are available with a free border edger. It is perfect to use in cleaning the moss, aerating and in thatching. This garden tool helps extensively in preparing vegetable plots and flowerbeds.

Edge Trimmer

This gardening tool has also been accredited as important equipment by the gardening equipment reviewers. This aids in trimming the hedges and also aids in plant pruning.

Spading fork

This is a wonderful gardening tool used for aerating and transplanting.  By using this gardening tool it is possible to perform splitting grasses and perennials. In addition to this these gardening tools helps a lot as the job of a manure fork, mulch, sorting hay, for tiny gardens.

Mattock

Mattock is an important gardening tool for breaking up the clay soils and also working around established trees with the roots. There is no need to have a pick and a hoe and handles in your garden, if you are having mattock with you.

Of course you may find that based on your own person organic vegetable gardening needs that you may only have need for one or two of these items.  However, once you have utilized some of this equipment, you will realized how much of the work that they do for you and how much easier they make it to maintain a healthy organic vegetable garden.

Good Growin!

Products and More Tips for Organic Vegetable Gardening

Due to the fact that Organic Vegetable Gardening has truly evolved into such a popular activity, organic vegetable gardening products are not difficult to come by.  You can buy organic vegetable gardening products in various stores or nurseries, or you can order organic vegetable gardening products from catalogs as well as online.  

You will need the basic organic vegetable gardening tools no matter what you are planting, such as a hoe, spade, and maybe even a shovel. 

You must have watering supplies, like a water hose and perhaps a sprinkler.  Of course there also may be an occasional need for a spade, a pot or containers (if you are a recycler like me) and a pair of gloves for your hands and a rake.  When first starting an organic vegetable garden you will definitely want some type of mulch or potting soil to get your dirt ready.  

  There are a few types of potting soil to choose from, including organic potting mix, seed starting potting mix, cactus potting mix, and root development potting mix, just to name a few.

Once you have your organic vegetable garden planted, you must have gardening products so that you can add nutrients to the soil to ensure a healthy plant life. 

 One such nutrient that can be purchased is Miracle-Gro  which is one of the most popular growing enhancements for plants utilized today.  

Just be aware that there are many different types of Miracle-Gro to choose from and the type that you choose  to utilize should depend on what you are growing. 

When you are growing vegetables or herbs, you will need different gardening products than you would need for a  regular flower garden.  For instance, when you are growing tomatoes you will need a tomato cage and ties to protect the plants against the wind.  Many plants, mostly vines, are designed to grow on something and you will have to have a fence or trellis of some sort for support.                             

New and upgraded gardening products are always popping up on the market.  It seems like every day there is some gardening product that claims to be bigger and better than the last.  While many gardening products are not a necessity, they sure make the job a lot easier to handle and far more enjoyable!

Good Growin!

Organic Vegetable Gardening Tips for Beginners!

If you are anything like me, getting started is the biggest hurdle, so don’t over complicate things when you start your Organic Vegetable Garden!  You will want to start small. For instance a small plant bed, approximately 25 or 30 feet square is ideal and is enough room for about 25 to 30 plants.  All you need for your successful organic vegetable garden is the mere opportunity to try out your green thumb and you will experience that joy.  Keep in mind that as you continue to grow in knowledge and experience, your organic vegetable garden can always grow and increase your plantings when YOU are ready to increase your gardening space.

 

Choose your organic vegetable gardening site carefully because you will need an area that gets at least six hours of sunlight.  This is why you will want to stay away from large trees that will deprive your plants of the necessary water and nutrients.  You will also want to plant a minimum of three feet from any fences or buildings.  If you are located in  an area of  hotter climates it will be necessary for you to select  a location that will provide shade from  the intense afternoon sun that can burn plants.

You will want to avoid areas that have rocky soil, standing water or slopes a lot . . . Now it is time to start digging!  Trust me when I say that if you have a problem with getting dirty, then you may want to rethink your choices!  The first thing that must be done is the removal of rocks, assorted debris, and all grass and weeds.  Then you will want to dig organic vegetable gardening location up about one foot in depth, spread out and level the dirt.  This will be you r time for adding compost or minerals if truly needed. The thing to be aware of is the acidic levels of your soil.  When the soil is too acidic, add lime; when the soil is too sandy, add peat moss.  Your plants will thrive in neutral to acidic soil, just add some fertilizer.

Be sure that if you are starting from seed that you  plant them according to the directions provided.  If you choose to start with plants, insure that they  are the ones with green, healthy leaves, stems and roots.  It is best to put the smaller plants towards the front of the bed and larger ones in the rear.  Just know that the key to a successful beginning in gardening is planting at just the right time by making sure the frosts are over before planting.

It is imperative that you realize that making sure your plants receive enough water is essential to their growth. 

 Hand watering your organic vegetable gardening works well if you only have a few plant. Of course you also have the option of sprinklers or sprinkler hoses.  You will find that watering is more effective during the cooler parts of the day. The majority of plants require about an inch per week. Just know that during the hottest periods, your plants will be require watering about three times per week at the  minimum.

You will find that the most helpful of things that you can add to your garden is mulch or compost.  By utilizing a few inches of organic mulch, you will improve the fertility and assist the soil in holding moisture.  Wood chips, grass clippings, leaves, manure, and pine needles are all things that can be used as mulch and can b found in abundance.  

Good Growin!

If you are leaning towards organic greenhouse gardening . . . check this out!