ORGANIC GARDENING TIPS

To make your life easier here are 12 organic gardening tips
Every homeowner (or renter) may benefit from tried-and-true organic gardening strategies that reduce the amount of effort and stress associated with gardening. These are the gardening suggestions that have made my life simpler, and I’m confident they will for you as well!

1. Recognize your zone

This will assist you in determining your gardening season as well as the first and latest frost dates in your region. Knowing your planting zone and dates can assist you in planning and planting at the appropriate times for your location, ensuring that your plants thrive.

2. Recognize your sun and shadow zones

Mark out the locations in your yard where it’s the sunniest, part shade, and shadiest.

Plant veggies in the sunniest spot you can find, with at least 6 hours of direct sunlight every day, but more is ideal (8-10 hours) for the healthiest plants that will give the most fruit for you.

Match plants to your growth circumstances once you’ve determined the light pattern in your yard. Using the information on the plant tags, do the following:

• Plants that thrive in the sun should be placed in a sunny location.
• Plants that only get part of the day’s sunlight in regions that receive only part of the day’s sunlight (3-5 hours a day).
• Also, in your shadiest regions, plants thrive in the absence of sunlight.

3. Learn about many types of plants

• When you’re just starting out, you’ll need to know the difference between an annual (one that only lasts a year) and a perennial (one that returns year after year), as well as plants that deer won’t eat, plants that flourish in the shadow, and more.
• There are heat-tolerant plants for hot climes, plants that can withstand standing water, and plants that will survive sub-zero temperatures in the winter.
• Shrubs can be deciduous or evergreen, and they can bloom in the spring, summer, or fall (there are even a few that bloom in the winter).
• You’ll want to know how tall vines grow and if they should be grown on the ground or in containers (like pumpkins and melons)

4. Everything comes down to the soil

The #1 concept of organic gardening is to modify your soil using organic amendments like compost and well-aged manure, both for natural feeding and to enhance soil quality.

(TIP: If you acquire manure, make sure you utilize it on a bottom layer if you fear it could contain weed seeds – this is especially true with horse manures.)

Using one of these methods, you may incorporate compost into your vegetable garden soil with minimal effort.

• Late in the fall, spread compost over your vegetable bed and cover with hay or chopped leaves as a winter mulch. Use black plastic if you live in an area where there is a lot of rain that might wash through the soil. In the spring, the bed will be ready for planting; simply dig only the sections that will be planted using your hand trowel.
• In the fall or winter, cover the debris-filled beds with black plastic (1-3 months before spring ). Pull the plastic off a week before planting, pick out all the dead, dried detritus, and top with compost using a spade. Let’s make it a week before we start planting.

The ideal soil structure is crumbly, simple to dig, water-absorbent, and oxygen-rich for plant roots.

Most, if not all, of your shrub and perennial needs, may be met by adding a layer of compost every year.

You’ll want to use a balanced organic fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphate, and potash for extra feeding at planting time and perhaps mid-season.

5. Large areas to be planted should not be tilled or dug

Tilling vegetable gardens produce weed seeds that grow all season, as well as affecting the soil’s composition.

6. When is the best time to plant?

You’ll want to examine your soil during planting time in addition to knowing your last frost date.

If it’s damp and forms a ball when squeezed, you shouldn’t dig or plant it until it dries out a bit more, since it might harm the soil structure.

Dig only until the earth is crumbly and does not form a ball in your hand.

7. Do the transplant correctly

Dig a hole larger than the soil ball when planting container-grown plants to facilitate root growth. For plants in gallon pots or bigger, use a spade; for smaller perennials and annuals, use a planting trowel.

A trowel full of compost or rich soil, mixed in with the current soil, will assist the roots to develop in their new location. Water the plant in, then spread garden compost around the base of the plant to offer nutrients during the growing season.

8. When it comes to root-bound plants, be forceful

Many, if not all, of the potted plants we purchase, are root-bound, which means the roots are tightly around the container.

The tight rings of roots prevent the roots from growing into the new soil if you plant them as is. I’ve lost plants like azaleas after a few years, and when I pulled them out, their roots were still the same form as the container from which they had been transferred!

Instead of continuing in a circle, gently pull the roots apart at the sides and bottom using your hands to assist them to grow out. Don’t worry if they cry a little – they’re tough.

You can make precise vertical incisions in the root ball with a knife if you run into particularly stubborn roots that won’t move with just your hands – frequently shrubs that have been growing at the nursery for a while.

9. Allow ample space for plants to develop

Oh, this is the most difficult part, especially when it comes to planting new shrubs and flower beds! It’s difficult to fathom how big the plants will grow because they’re so little. However, even if it appears that there aren’t enough plants for the space, check the labels and plant accordingly.
Perennials take three years to completely mature, while shrubs take even longer, so utilize annuals for the first few years until the other plants are more established.

10. Simple trimming guidelines are as follows:

• Early in the spring, remove old blossoms, dead branches, and the tips of summer-blooming shrubs (the hydrangea shown above being pruned in spring is a good example).
• After the flowers have faded, prune spring-flowering perennials and shrubs.
• After the blooms fade, cut off the fading flowers of annuals and perennials (known as “deadheading”) all season to tell the plants to keep producing instead of setting seed.

11. Maintain a healthy lawn

Aside from watering extensively once or twice a week, the best approach to maintain your grass green throughout summer is to never trim it shorter than 2 inches.

Use a mulching blade to trim it and leave the clippings in the grass to nourish it organically.

12. Leave trash in your autumn garden

Allow grasses and perennials such as coneflowers to feed the birds with their leaves and seed heads. Garden mums, for example, benefit from the dried stems being left on the plant. This boosts the plant’s chances of surviving a difficult winter.
however, chop back last year’s stems if you know that they are prone to illnesses if left alone.