Organic Gardening Tips

So, you want to know all about organic gardening? Well, first off, let’s dispel a myth - it isn’t difficult, you don’t need to spend countless hours maintaining it, and you don’t need to be a professional gardener. In fact, organic gardening is often easier than regular gardening! Why? Instead of spending time mixing synthetic fertilizers, constantly spraying weeds and wondering why your vegetable yields are dropping year by year, you really only have to pay attention to one thing - the soil. Treat that, and everything else will grow healthy and strong. Healthy, organic soil means your plants and lawn will be better able to resist pests and crowd out weeds. After a while, you will begin to find yourself spending less time maintaining your garden, and more time just enjoying it. Or, if you’re like me, you’ll revel and enjoy working on it more!

There is another benefit to going organic - you will begin to learn how your garden actually works. You will want to spend more time outside, and with that you will begin to see more of the wonders of nature in your own backyard. You will learn what butterflies like which flowers. You will begin to understand why some plants thrive so well together. You will know why weeds grow the way they do, and what permanent and natural techniques to use to keep them away. Care for garden naturally, and your plants, shrubs and vegetables will thrive.

What Does it Mean to be an Organic Gardener?

• An organic gardener will use natural mineral and organic fertilizers to build up the soil. Instead of chemicals, you will learn how to use natural fertilizers like composted manure (don’t worry, it’s not stinky!), bone meal, fish meal, gypsum, eggshells, and of course, the best of all (and free!), your own compost.
• There are a lot of natural and even home-made alternatives to chemical pesticides and herbicides. Chemicals are often broad-spectrum, meaning they will kill good and bad insects. As an organic gardener, you will know how to treat specific pests and diseases without harming your plants, butterflies and birds.
• You will be thinking long-term. Instead of dumping flowers into a flower garden every spring, you will be aware of soil conditioning, what plants work best together, and how you will help rejenerate your garden next year. You will be thinking of your garden as a whole, not as individual beds.
• For your lawn, weaning the grass off chemicals and replacing it with natural fertilizers and mulch will take a few seasons. You will know about optimal soil acidity and how to cultivate good fungi in the soil. In the long run you will be caring for it less, because your lawn will be thicker and stronger, due to the healthy soil underneath. This will mean weeds will have a harder time taking root, and brown patches will disappear (because you will know why brown patches exist and how to combat it.)
• Weed control without herbicides means knowing how to prevent them from growing in the first place ands discouraging their growth. I myself have developed an effective three-pronged approach, which I discuss in my organic gardening ebook.
• Organic gardeners have a certain philosophy. Instead of taking from the soil, you will be conscious of giving and restoring it, as part of nature’s life cycle.

Helpful Organic Gardening Links

Here’s a couple links to help you out:

Growing Your Organic Garden Ebook - My years of experience as a professional horticulturalist is now collected into this ebook I wrote

Gardens Alive! - A great gardening website for organic soil, seeds, and natural pest control products. Get $20 off your first order of $40 or more.

Organic Pet Supplies - There’s a natural pet food store near me, but I found a great website called Only Natural Pet Store with an excellent variety of organic food, toys and health care products for pets.

Composting Tips and Supplies - New to composting? Here’s a couple tips for effective composting and suggestions for supplies (if you don’t want to build a compost bin yourself.)

Yardiac.com garden center - I’ve discovered a lot of neat garden furniture at this website. You can also go back to home page and view a few of my favorite garden ornaments in the middle column.

As an organic gardener, you will not only be giving back to the land, you will be creating a safe and healthy place for children, birds, pets and helpful insects like butterflies, bees and dragonflies. There are countless reasons to go organic, from saving the environment to keeping your family chemical-free to harvesting healthy vegetables. Organic is not a new way to garden - it is simply going back to growing food and plants the way nature intended!