Now that warmer weather is here, you can be expected to be bombarded by advertisements for chemical products to kill weeds or fertilize your plants. Maybe you don’t want to use chemicals on your garden because you feel natural garden care is best. By using natural products, you not only help protect the environment but you’re also doing your best to take care of your children.
One of the most natural ways to care for your garden is to use compost. This is natural, organic matter that has decomposed and been broken down into nutrients the soil can use to feed and nourish the plants. By incorporating the organic matter into your soil, the soil in your garden will become a living substance which will be able to ward off disease, weeds, and insects without the use of harmful chemicals. Natural fertilizers and pest control is used in place of chemicals, and they won’t bother the natural ecosystem.
Besides composting, you want your garden soil to be aerated. How do you do that? Well, you can physically go out to the garden with tines of a pitch fork and aerate the soil, or you can allow earthworms to do it for you. By having healthy, composted soil, you’ll create a habitat where earthworms can thrive.
Use companion planting. By planting vegetables by flowers or other plants, it is feasible to drive pests away. For instance, if you plant tomatoes near marigolds, the plant secretions from the marigolds will cause harmful nematodes to find another garden to infest. You can also plant garlic near plants to drive insects away.
Rotate your crops every year. In other words, don’t layout your garden with the plants in the same location every year. This depletes the soil of vital nutrients. For example, move the legumes into the location where corn stalks are usually placed because one places nitrogen into the soil and the other uses a lot of nitrogen. Rotating plants can also help prevent the development of some types of soil disease.
After the harvesting has been done, use the tiller to turn the dead plants back into the ground. This will put organic matter back into the soil and nourish it. It will also allow you to plant cover crops like clover, alfalfa, and rye which will keep the soil from becoming compacted during the winter months and can protect the soil. When it’s time to prepare your garden in the spring, you can again till the plants back into the soil to add much needed nutrients.
Regularly hoeing or manually weeding your garden will help keep plants healthy. They’ll be more resistant to insects and the weeds won’t be leaching the nutrients from the plants. You can also pour boiling water over the weeds to kill them. Using mulch around the plants can also keep weeds at bay and will help the soil retain more moisture.
If you notice that your plants are looking sickly, realize that every garden is going to have some pests. Sick plants attract predators. Add back beneficial insects such as lacewings or ladybugs to help diminish the number of bad insects in your garden. Some insects, however, may need a more direct and personal approach such as tent caterpillars; they can only be removed by hand to ensure you get them all.
Try using some of these ideas for natural gardening care this year in your garden. You, too, may decide that natural gardening is best. You’ll find you have better crops, you’re not poisoning the environment, and not risking poisoning the family you love.
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