Native Plants in Your Organic Garden
What are native plants? Why is everybody so hung up on planting them in their gardens? Are native plants necessary inclusions in an organic garden? Are the words “organic” and “native” interchangeable?
What are “Native Plants?”
The definition of “native plant” is different for every gardener. The definition can be as broad as “a plant that grows on the same continent” of the …
Habitat Gardens: Happy Meals and a Home for Garden Critters
“Invite animals into my garden? I don’t THINK so!” I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that from many serious gardeners if asked whether they welcome or shoo away insects, small mammals, birds and other animals to their gardens. Yes, deer herds indiscriminately ripping baby lettuces out of the vegetable garden, and cheerfully eating hostas and stripping arborvitae of their leaves is maddening. …
Animal Pests
Four- footed creatures and birds can cause more damage in many gardens in rural areas, than insects. They can ruin your garden or landscape overnight, eating anything from apples to zinnias. Most animal pests feed at night, so you may have to search for signs such as destroyed plants,tracks, tunnels, or any other signs that would tell you who the culprits might be.
Try and identify the pest. Tracks are often a good clue to their …
Deer Repellant.
Try these organic methods for repelling deer.
For minor deer-damage problems ,buy soap bars in bulk and hang them from strings in the trees. Or nail each bar to a 4″ stake and drive the stakes at 15′ intervals along the perimeter of the area.
Some gardeners report that human hair is an effective repellent. Ask your hairdresser to save hair for you to collect each week. Put a handful of hair in a net or mesh …
