| Beginners Start Guide for Organic Gardening |
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| Environment - Environment |
| Written by Garden Mandy |
| Saturday, 09 May 2009 08:17 |
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Organic gardening can be fun and exciting, but it's also frustrating if it doesn't go well because you're unprepared. In order to get prepared there are several things that you have to know. The more you know about organic gardening the better you'll do with it, so take the time to learn what you need to know instead of just jumping in and ending up disappointed. It's better if you study up.
Organic gardening can be fun and exciting, but it's also frustrating if it doesn't go well because you're unprepared. In order to get prepared there are several things that you have to know. The more you know about organic gardening the better you'll do with it, so take the time to learn what you need to know instead of just jumping in and ending up disappointed. It's better if you study up. First, make sure that you understand what your goal is. If you want to build a huge garden that can feed your family you'll obviously be doing things differently than if you want to have a small area in the front for curb appeal. Maybe you want both, but you also have to think about the time constraints that you have and whether you are capable of spending the kind of time that you want to on the garden of your dreams. After you've got your goals addressed, the next thing to do is get the area that you've decided on ready. You'll have to prepare the soil to accept the plants that you're bringing home, and that means more than just making some rows to stick plants into. Instead, you need to work with the composition of the soil and what it has to offer so that you can ensure that it's ready for plants. If you don't, the plants that you bring home could die, and you don't want your money and your hard work to be for nothing. Then you can pick a spot for it. Selecting a site is sometimes one of the most difficult things to do, but if you have a good goal in mind you should be alright at picking a site out, too. Some sites get more sun than others, so you'll need to pay attention to that and make sure that you don't plant things where they won't get the kind of light that they need. With the soil prepared, you're ready to select the plants that you'll be putting into it. Your local nursery can help you with that, and you should know what to look for, as well. You don't want plants that show any kind of disease or parasite, so look for discoloration, damage to the leaves and stems, and other problems that you'll want to avoid. Once the area is ready you can begin bringing the plants home. A local nursery is the best place to get them, but keep in mind that they have generally been treated with chemicals that aren't in your soil. The plants might be a little bit shocked when you transplant them, but they'll recover quickly. Once you've got your plants and brought them home, water them well, and that's true even if you're planning on putting them in the ground very quickly. The root ball needs to be moist when you plant them so that they have the best chance of doing well. The plants that you finally bring home should be watered heavily when they arrive, even if you're going to be planting them right away. The shock of transplanting them is lessened that way and a moist root ball is the best choice during planting. Labeling the plants are important, too, because you don't want to forget what you planted where. If a plant dies you can see which one you lost and replace it. If some plants do better than others, you might want to adjust your garden the next year by growing more of a certain type of plant or by changing the soil composition. |