To have the most success with your garden, you need to take care of it. Gardeners need to use all the information they can to create and tend to their organic garden. Your goal should be to grow healthy, happy and delicious organic products. Use this information to make the best organic garden that you can.
Properly put down your sod. You will need to prepare your lawn soil before laying the sod. Pull any weeds that you see, and work to break up the soil so that it is a fine tilth. Lightly, but firmly compress the soil, making certain it is flat. Make sure the soil is thoroughly moist. Stagger your sod so that each joint offsets from joints in adjacent rows. Firm sod until there is an even, flat surface; fill in gaps with soil. Water the sod each day for two weeks so it will become well-rooted and ready for foot traffic.
Clay Soil
It is important that you give your plants the chance to gradually adjust to the change in temperature and conditions, or you risk shocking them. Place them outside in the sunlight for an hour or two on the first day. Over a period of several days, slowly increase the time they are allowed to stay outside. Finally, after about a week, you should be able to move them outside and leave them there for the summer.
Digging in clay soil with a shovel can be very difficult. The clay isn't easy to work with and will adhere to the shovel, which only makes the problem worse. Try applying a coat of wax onto your spade prior to working with clay soil, and then buff the spade head with a cloth. The wax will help keep dirt from sticking to the shovel, and will also keep the metal from rusting.
Transform your gardening tool handles into clever measurement rulers. Large handled tools such as shovels, rakes, and hoes can be used as measuring sticks. Simply lay the handles out on the floor and run a measuring tape next to them. Label the distances with a permanent marker. Now when you go to work in the garden, you will have a ruler that is large at your fingertips!
Choose perennials that won't be taken out by slugs. Snails and slugs are garden nightmares, and only need a single evening to obliterate a plant. These garden pests prefer perennials with thin, flat, delicate leaves, particularly if the plant is not yet mature. Perennials that have tough or hairy leaves are often times unappetizing to snails and slugs. Achillea, euphorbia, helleborus, heuchera and campanula are good choices that slugs don't like.
It can be very hard to shovel clay soil, especially when it sticks to your shovel as you are working. Use a thin coat of floor or car wax on your shovel, then buff it with a nice clean cloth to make dealing with clay soil easier. By waxing the shovel head, the clay will not be able to adhere to the surface.
Brighten up your flower beds with annuals and biennials. These biennials and annuals are fast-growing, and they allow you to brighten up your flower bed with a change for each season. Sunny areas in the middle of shrubs and perennials can be filled in nicely with these plants. Some flowers you can use are rudbekia, petunias, cosmos, marigolds, or sunflowers.
If you have a wall or fence that you do not like, plant climbers to mask its appearance. Plants that grow as climbers are quite versatile, helping you hide ugly walls or fences, many times within only one season of growth. They can be trained to grow over an arbor, or through trees and shrubs that are already in the garden. Some types of climbers support themselves naturally through twining stems or tendrils, but others will have to be attached to something. Reliable varieties include wisteria, honeysuckle, climbing roses, clematis, and jasmine.
It's obvious that organic horticulture can help you produce fresh fruits and vegetables in your very own garden. The horticulture process itself requires hard work and dedication, but the end results are worth the effort it takes to grow an organic garden.
Do not spend your money on chemicals to fight mildew. Mix a little liquid soap and baking soda in water. You then want to spray this mixture on your plants one time a week until you notice the mildew disappear. Baking soda will bring no damage to your plants, and will treat the mildew in a gentle and efficient manner.