All About Organic
Landscaping
Trees, Shrubs, And Perennials
Organic care of trees, shrubs, and perennials is an extension to that of lawn. The same basic concepts of planning, soil building, and maintenance apply. To begin, the plan is most important.
Planning- The right plant in the right place is the only way organic landscaping can work. Each plant has a mature form and size that it must be allowed to grow into. Furthermore, each plant likes a certain type of soil, wetness, nutrients, sunlight, and other types of cultural needs. Knowing that the place the plant is grown is ideal for that plant ensures a good start. Look at problems with plants and avoid placing them where that problem will occur. A plant with mildew problems should not be in an poorly circulated site. Of course good planning takes into account the type of soil.
Soil- Have a soiltest done to know what your soil needs. A pH between 6.5-7.5 brings the most available nutrients, yet some plants like it a little lower or higher. The soil will need much organic matter added, and should also be tilled to incorporate the organic matter. There is a careful balance to find with organic matter. If decomposition is too fast, the plants will not benefit, but if it is too slow, the plants never get it. It will take several years to find the happy medium your soil needs. The kinds of amendments are covered in the amendments section.
Compost-Your own free organic matter!
Composting provides the essential organic matter needed for the soil. It is very simple to put together a bin and add all the plant waste materials along with other household items to create organic matter. If your garden has relied on chemicals, this organic matter will help revitalize it, and also includes the biological life that has been destroyed by the chemicals. If composting is not an option, make sure to pick an amendment that fulfills all your needs- some local soils may have organic matter added, such as Comtil around Columbus, OH, which uses sewer sludge.
natives- It only makes sense that plants native to the area will thrive in your property. Furthermore, intrducing natives is a step towards putting a part of the ecosystem into your garden, hoping the rest will follow. Excluding invasive species is a must for low maintenance and to create a balanced system for your garden.
Weeds- it might seem that hours will be spent digging and redigging weeds every year with no herbicides. However organic landscaping takes on a long-term approach that ends with less weeds.
Mulching is the first step to stopping weeds. Seeds do not contact soil through mulch, and many weeds can not survive under mulch. Use a thin layer of 2 inches around plants, and be careful of pine bark and other high carbon mulches. The high carbon uses all the nitrogen in the soil, leaving the plants none.
Developing a groundcover or establishing layers of plants (tree, shrubs, tall perennials, border plants and annuals) will help choke out spots for weeds.
Corn Gluten Meal
You can suppress the growth of weed seeds early in the season by spreading corn gluten meal over the area where they're growing. Corn gluten meal, a by-product of corn processing that's often used to feed livestock, inhibits the germination of seeds bear in mind, once the weeds have gone beyond the sprout stage, corn gluten will not affect them. Also, corn gluten doesn't discriminate between seeds you want to sprout and those you don't want, so avoid using corn gluten meal where and when you've sown seeds. It works best in established lawns and perennial beds.
Identify each weed if possible and find the appropriate control. Some annual weeds should be pulled; doing this to some perennials only worsens the weeds. Some weeds respond to soap and water or other organic mixes. Most importanly, do not let weeds seed themselves and stay on top of the problem; it will get better year after year.
Pests- Much like lawn care, bug strips can show early signs af a nast bug. Observation is essential to stopping the spread once a bug is present.
Again, identification is the most important, for there are organic remedies for all types of bugs. WEbsites such as this one: http://www.extremelygreen.com/pestcontrolguide.cfm
offer solutions to the problems.
-Remember bad insects can be controlled through the use of beneficial insects, or natural predators of that insect.
-Keeping a clean garden is key to stopping diseases and pests. Also do not bring in unhealthy plants or dirt
companion planting can also be helpful, but will be talked about in the edible section.
Vegetable Gardening And Edible Plants
