| | | A Green Garden: Growing Green

From WikiVerde

It seems strange to think of recommending that your garden should be grown green, but a green garden is more than just the color of the plants that are placed in the soil. A green garden refers to the practices and products that are used to ensure that the garden grows successfully without harmful chemicals. Here are some tips to ensure that your growing garden is truly a green oasis.

Green Gardening Techniques

Garden Beds

Garden beds represent a large part of preparing a garden for planting. Some people avoid planting a garden simply because of the extensive work involved in preparing the soil. There are several ways of minimizing the work. For example, preparing raised beds and eliminating the problems of soil compaction will mean that preparing the beds will be much easier. There will not be huge rototilling necessary, since the soil is not walked on during the garden season. You can better control the pH of the soil and the watering when the beds are raised and manageable in size. When it comes to weeding, there is no longer a need for spending time on your knees, since raised garden beds make the plants and weeds easier to reach from a standing or sitting position.

Composting

Preparing your own compost to enrich and feed your garden is easy. There are tools and products created that will allow the maturing compost to be readily handled so that you can turn household garbage as well as lawn clippings and even aged manure into black gold for your garden. Composting provides rich nutrients for both your garden and lawn and prevents the wearing out of soil. Spreading a layer of compost on your soil regularly will feed it and prevent the problem of depleted soil. You will be able to get rid of about a third of the garbage from a typical household by composting the garbage.

Watering

You can save water and still have healthy luxuriant plants by learning to water your garden correctly. If you are in a drought area, choose plant varieties that have been developed for resistance to drought. Water the plants during the coolest part of the day so that you don't lose as much water from evaporation. Reduce the size of water hogging areas such as lawns and decorate with plants indigenous to your climate. This has the added advantage of requiring less maintenance in order to keep the landscape looking good. If you must irrigate, consider drip irrigation rather than overhead sprinklers or watering with a hose. This gets the water to the roots and reduces the amount of water lost to evaporation.

What To Grow

Fruit Trees

Fruit trees are a good way to have a garden that's green. You can control the quality of the food you eat, control water usage, and provide shade for plants that don't need full sun. A fruit tree provides extra oxygen by filtering the air and by attracting insects such as bees and butterflies that help to pollinate other plants in your garden. An attractive fruit tree adds beauty to the landscape as well. The cost savings for growing your own organic fruit is significant and you can grow enough apples on one small fruit tree, for example, to feed a family for a full season. Best of all, you control the kind of pesticides that are on the fruit that you eat. You can use natural insect predators to get rid of the pests without adding a dose of harmful chemicals.

Companion Planting

Certain types of garden pairs will help both plants flourish and you should be aware of these natural balances in preparing and planting your garden. Certain types of plants germinate better when grown in companionship with other plants. Determining the correct pairs may take a bit of trial and error. One of the best reasons to learn which plants to pair is that of attracting beneficial insects to control the harmful varieties. Planting a variety of garden plants and foliage means that beneficial insects are attracted to the plants no matter what the developmental stage is and what the typical food for the harmful insect is.

Lawn care

While most people enjoy a green oasis of lawn around their house, a showcase lawn can be a magnet for water, chemical fertilizers and hydrocarbons emitted while mowing the lawn. There are steps you can take to minimize the negative impacts of lawns while enhancing the look of your landscape. Use locally adapted grasses, reduce chemical fertilizers, mow more often and mow at a higher level, and don't water so often--instead water deeply so that the roots are encouraged to grow down to reach water. Your grass will be healthier and hardier through drought season.

Pest Control

Many people believe that it's not worthwhile to plant a garden since gophers, insects and birds eat more of the produce than the humans do. However, dumping pesticides on plants and drowning them in harmful chemicals is not the answer. Promote healthy gardens by eliminating sick or damaged plants quickly. Build up the quality of the soil in order to promote healthy plants. You can choose natural predators for most garden pests such as Brachonids to dine on harmful caterpillars and ladybugs and lacewings to control aphids and scale.

Slugs

Slugs in your garden are not only unattractive, they are devastating to the foliage on your plants. However, if you use slug poison, you may save the plant, but you will harm the soil and make it less viable for other helpful bacteria and organisms in the soil. In order to control slugs without resorting to harsh chemicals and substances harmful to birds and wildlife, adjust the watering schedule in your garden so that you water early in the morning. Slugs are most active at night and when the plants are moist. Mulching with seaweed is another easy and natural slug preventative.