Organic Gardening for Beginners
A Beginners Guide to Organic Gardening
Organic gardening has become increasingly more popular in recent years, along with widespread recognition that we can’t keep on abusing the earth indefinitely without seeing some detrimental and long lasting effects on our global environment.
Lots of people have already experienced growing plants and vegetables in their gardens organically. There are particular reasons why a person would consider the move from, what are considered more conventional ways of gardening, to organic methods.
These reasons include; the reduction in use of chemicals, concerns about the health of your family members, and concern over your pets health.
Benefits
One of the main benefits is the fact that organic gardening is also harmless for the environment, and rather cost effective.
If you think of having a pond incorporated into the landscape of your garden, organic gardening is merely the only option you have as the fish are sensitive even to the smallest amount of pesticides in the environment around their habitat. If you go spraying your garden with any chemicals and you have fish in the pond, they will surely die as a result.
Information and Guides
Organic gardening for beginners does not seem to be as difficult as it used to be: there is a lot of information easily available now, including books listed further down the page, websites, and forums, with many experienced gardeners all very happy to communicate their experience to you.
Fruit, vegetables and flowering plants can be grown without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Soil
First of all you should consider the quality of the soil in your region: it is extremely difficult to grow beautiful flowers, vegetables, and healthy plants in a poor and exhausted soil.
If you are not lucky to have a high quality soil in your area, it is very important to improve your soil first in order to get the best possible results from your efforts.
Mulch
Mulching has always been one of the greatest ways to improve the soil. If you mulch the flower beds in your garden with a three inch thick layer of organic matter it will help to; preserve the water, defeat the unwanted plants and weeds, and provide some important nutrients to the soil. And of course it will make the landscape in your garden look neater and well maintained.
There are other techniques to remember while thinking about organic gardening for beginner. For example, if a plant prefers an acidic soil, it is advisable to put a layer of pine needles on it in autumn. During the winter period these needles will decompose, providing a natural acid to the soil, all without using any heavy pesticides.
Good mulch will also provide protection from many harmful insects and encourage healthier growth of the plants. It is well known that a healthy plant is more resistant to many diseases and insects’ attacks; therefore you will not have to use fungicides and pesticides afterwards.
Compost and Fertiliser
It is also an excellent idea to start a compost pile – it is written in any “Organic Gardening for Beginners” manual. It will help you to get rid of household wastes and at the same time to produce an excellent organic fertilizer. The plants will thrive in soil fertilized by compost. Visit this page to find out more about Composting…
Native Plants
And of course every beginner should know about selecting the right plants for a garden. It is better to opt for the plants that are native to your own area or region – in this case they are easier to maintain without using any chemical fertilizers or pesticides if they are native plants. Read more about Native Plants…
Insects and Pests
Organic gardening for beginners also includes learning the techniques of defeating insects without applying insecticides. The best thing to do is to just encourage and keep the beneficial insects in your garden, and pests will not have a chance to survive. Beneficial insects will keep the undesirable insects numbers down.
You could also try diatomaceous earth. Although it actually has very many uses, most popularly it is used as one of the natural and powerful insecticides. Read more about diatomaceous earth.
Results
This shows that growing a garden organically will not only contribute into saving the environment, but is also a matter of pride: not everybody can grow a beautiful flowering plant or vegetable without a single drop of chemicals!