By CORALIE DARSEY-MALLOY
The fairest thing in nature, a flower…
still has its roots in earth and manure.
--D.H. LAURANCE
I have been "thinking green" for most of my adult life.
I started gardening as a school project around the age of ten and have always grown my fruit, vegetables, annual and perennial plants without using harmful pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers.
Organic gardening focuses on the health and feeding of the soil and companion planting. This way, the organic gardener can create a mini "eco-system" that will maintain a healthy balance. I have managed to do that in small and large ways – from growing plants within the limited space of an apartment balcony, to expansive gardens when my husband and I lived on an acreage.
Getting Started
When starting any garden it is important to think of the growing medium first. Always begin with the cleanest ground possible, meaning the least weeds. The cleaner it is from the beginning, the easier it will be to control future weeds. The only weed killer we've used is a recipe we found on the Internet: 4 cups vinegar, 1/4 cup salt and 2 tablespoons liquid detergent. This is good sprayed on pathways or on individual weeds. The most natural way to control weeds is by physically removing them and using preventative measures.
These tips will help you to eradicate most weeds:
Dig the entire plot, removing as many weeds and roots as possible.
Avoid putting the removed weeds (including perennials that you don't want growing unchecked) in the compost bin. They should be discarded because they will "multiply like weeds."
Another possibility is to put a tarp over an area early in the spring so that any emerging weeds become light deprived and die. Remove the tarp when you're ready to dig.
Remove any new weeds as soon as you see them.
Never let weeds flower.
Arrange plants in close enough proximity to allow room for growth, but not so far apart that weeds can take hold.
Mulching is an effective way to prevent weed growth. By blocking light, you kill them off before they have a chance to take hold.
Black plastic is by far the most effective method for preventing weeds. You can cover the entire area with plastic and cut slits where you will be planting, or place strips between established rows. The plastic will need to be anchored to prevent it blowing away. You can also place it under pathways before adding shale, gravel, stepping stones etc.
Paper can be used in the same way as plastic but it can be dug into the soil after harvesting.
Bark and crushed rock is well suited for use in ornamental gardens where plastic or paper would be unattractive.
Raked leaves and grass clippings are good mulch or they can be put in the compost pile.
When planting a new shrub or perennial in the spring or fall, it's good to add mulch around the root ball.
In the fall, you can add mulch around the base of overwintering plants for extra protection.
For those with smaller plots or who wish to try their hand at organic gardening in container pots, the importance of starting with proper soil cannot be overstated. Keep in mind that soils must contain sufficient plant nutrients but also retain air and moisture when packed into a pot. Read labels before purchasing if organic gardening is your goal. Worm compost, manure, peat, straw and shredded bark are all organic additions. For those who are adventurous and would like to make home-made potting soil I have included a couple of recipes. Ingredients are available at most major gardening outlets.
Recipe 1
1 part loam (roughly equal parts sand, silt and clay)
2 parts compost
1 part fine grade bark, leaves or peat moss
Recipe 2
4 parts topsoil
2 parts fine grade bark, leaves or peat moss
Plus for every 12 gallons of mixture, add 1 cup seaweed meal, 1/2 cup bone meal and 1/4 cup limestone.
Compost
By now most gardeners understand the importance of composting. This decayed vegetable matter is like "black gold" for nourishing the soil. It can be made in a compost heap, wood bin or commercially purchased container in a variety of sizes. Well-matured compost is dark brown, crumbly and pleasant to handle but even rougher compost is still useful. Grass clippings, comfrey, nettles and seaweed are great au naturel activators to get your compost "cooking." Also check garden outlets for compost worms to help with aeration.
Green Approach to Pest Problems
One of the most gentle approaches to keeping pests from your plants is to create barriers. Ordinary garden netting can keep birds, cats and dogs away from your prized plants. Barriers made from 1/2 inch mesh obstruct pests such as flea beetles, aphids, carrot and cabbage root flies. Cabbage root fly barriers can be made by fitting squares of carpet underlay closely around stems at ground level. Homemade bottle cloches can protect young plants from slugs or you can use sharp barriers such as rings of crushed egg shells. It is important to put any of these barriers up before the pests arrive. Otherwise you may actually make the problem worse by trapping them inside.
Or you can do as we do: plant fruit trees and provide water sources for birds which are natural predators even though some view them as pests in the garden. However, we have found that a healthy population of birds can help control insect pests including slugs and snails.
Although birds such as robins, starlings and blackbirds also feed on beneficial earthworms, when the soil is rich and aerated, there are enough worms for everybody! Our approach has been to provide fresh water where birds can drink and bathe either in birdbaths or from our water ponds that have circulating pumps. Birds are drawn to the sound of trickling water.
To encourage birds in our garden, we also have a variety of plants and shrubs with seed heads, berries, dense foliage cover and nest boxes under our eaves. Make sure those boxes are not in direct sunlight and are protected from wind, excessive heat and cold. Because we are bird lovers, we usually feed them in the winter as well.
It is important to bear in mind that birds do eat seeds and some fruit and flowers. To protect vulnerable plants use some sort of barrier or bird "scarer." Bush and cane fruit (blackberries) can be particular favorites and are best planted in a fruit cage.
Creating a safe habitat for bats is another wonderful way to attract them into your garden. They are a harmless mammal that eats many flying insect pests. If you build bat boxes, they will come, even though it may take a couple of years.
Pollinating butterflies are another important addition to the organic garden. However, the larvae of a few species, notably the large and small white butterflies (which become cabbage worms) are considered pests of the brassica family: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, mustard and canola. However, we have found that even with this troublesome minority, we do all we can to encourage butterflies by choosing plants that are rich in nectar, such as the butterfly bush, woodruff, candytuft, scabious, marjoram and lavender. It is important to provide food plants for their caterpillar young. Both the red admiral and peacock larvae feed on nettles and milkweed.
To keep the mosquito population down, we change the bird bath water daily and remove all standing water. We have three rain barrels and the collected water is either used or stirred frequently to prevent the larvae turning into the biting little pests that they are. We also plant citronella in container pots close to where we sit and burn citronella candles in the evening.
Companion Planting
This concept of combining plants that either assist each other to grow well, repel insects and even repel other plants is not a new idea. It has fascinated people for centuries and is gaining new popularity as concerns for the environment continue to grow.
It is both the root secretions and the odours of individual and massed plantings that repel and attract. Be sure to consider how much time is needed for the process to be effective. For example, marigolds should be grown for at least one full season to help control nematodes (microscopic nuisances in the soil).
Speaking of nematodes, they are discouraged by soils rich in organic matter. Also take note that asparagus is a natural nematicide. It protects tomatoes grown nearby while the tomatoes, in turn, protect the asparagus from the asparagus beetle.
For further information, browse the Internet with key words like "organic gardening," "companion gardening" and "composting." The book Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening by Louise Riotte is another excellent source of inspiration.
Earth laughs in flowers.
--RALPH WALDO EMERSON
The fairest thing in nature, a flower…
still has its roots in earth and manure.
--D.H. LAURANCE
I have been "thinking green" for most of my adult life.
I started gardening as a school project around the age of ten and have always grown my fruit, vegetables, annual and perennial plants without using harmful pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers.
Organic gardening focuses on the health and feeding of the soil and companion planting. This way, the organic gardener can create a mini "eco-system" that will maintain a healthy balance. I have managed to do that in small and large ways – from growing plants within the limited space of an apartment balcony, to expansive gardens when my husband and I lived on an acreage.
Getting Started
When starting any garden it is important to think of the growing medium first. Always begin with the cleanest ground possible, meaning the least weeds. The cleaner it is from the beginning, the easier it will be to control future weeds. The only weed killer we've used is a recipe we found on the Internet: 4 cups vinegar, 1/4 cup salt and 2 tablespoons liquid detergent. This is good sprayed on pathways or on individual weeds. The most natural way to control weeds is by physically removing them and using preventative measures.
These tips will help you to eradicate most weeds:
Dig the entire plot, removing as many weeds and roots as possible.
Avoid putting the removed weeds (including perennials that you don't want growing unchecked) in the compost bin. They should be discarded because they will "multiply like weeds."
Another possibility is to put a tarp over an area early in the spring so that any emerging weeds become light deprived and die. Remove the tarp when you're ready to dig.
Remove any new weeds as soon as you see them.
Never let weeds flower.
Arrange plants in close enough proximity to allow room for growth, but not so far apart that weeds can take hold.
Mulching is an effective way to prevent weed growth. By blocking light, you kill them off before they have a chance to take hold.
Black plastic is by far the most effective method for preventing weeds. You can cover the entire area with plastic and cut slits where you will be planting, or place strips between established rows. The plastic will need to be anchored to prevent it blowing away. You can also place it under pathways before adding shale, gravel, stepping stones etc.
Paper can be used in the same way as plastic but it can be dug into the soil after harvesting.
Bark and crushed rock is well suited for use in ornamental gardens where plastic or paper would be unattractive.
Raked leaves and grass clippings are good mulch or they can be put in the compost pile.
When planting a new shrub or perennial in the spring or fall, it's good to add mulch around the root ball.
In the fall, you can add mulch around the base of overwintering plants for extra protection.
For those with smaller plots or who wish to try their hand at organic gardening in container pots, the importance of starting with proper soil cannot be overstated. Keep in mind that soils must contain sufficient plant nutrients but also retain air and moisture when packed into a pot. Read labels before purchasing if organic gardening is your goal. Worm compost, manure, peat, straw and shredded bark are all organic additions. For those who are adventurous and would like to make home-made potting soil I have included a couple of recipes. Ingredients are available at most major gardening outlets.
Recipe 1
1 part loam (roughly equal parts sand, silt and clay)
2 parts compost
1 part fine grade bark, leaves or peat moss
Recipe 2
4 parts topsoil
2 parts fine grade bark, leaves or peat moss
Plus for every 12 gallons of mixture, add 1 cup seaweed meal, 1/2 cup bone meal and 1/4 cup limestone.
Compost
By now most gardeners understand the importance of composting. This decayed vegetable matter is like "black gold" for nourishing the soil. It can be made in a compost heap, wood bin or commercially purchased container in a variety of sizes. Well-matured compost is dark brown, crumbly and pleasant to handle but even rougher compost is still useful. Grass clippings, comfrey, nettles and seaweed are great au naturel activators to get your compost "cooking." Also check garden outlets for compost worms to help with aeration.
Green Approach to Pest Problems
One of the most gentle approaches to keeping pests from your plants is to create barriers. Ordinary garden netting can keep birds, cats and dogs away from your prized plants. Barriers made from 1/2 inch mesh obstruct pests such as flea beetles, aphids, carrot and cabbage root flies. Cabbage root fly barriers can be made by fitting squares of carpet underlay closely around stems at ground level. Homemade bottle cloches can protect young plants from slugs or you can use sharp barriers such as rings of crushed egg shells. It is important to put any of these barriers up before the pests arrive. Otherwise you may actually make the problem worse by trapping them inside.
Or you can do as we do: plant fruit trees and provide water sources for birds which are natural predators even though some view them as pests in the garden. However, we have found that a healthy population of birds can help control insect pests including slugs and snails.
Although birds such as robins, starlings and blackbirds also feed on beneficial earthworms, when the soil is rich and aerated, there are enough worms for everybody! Our approach has been to provide fresh water where birds can drink and bathe either in birdbaths or from our water ponds that have circulating pumps. Birds are drawn to the sound of trickling water.
To encourage birds in our garden, we also have a variety of plants and shrubs with seed heads, berries, dense foliage cover and nest boxes under our eaves. Make sure those boxes are not in direct sunlight and are protected from wind, excessive heat and cold. Because we are bird lovers, we usually feed them in the winter as well.
It is important to bear in mind that birds do eat seeds and some fruit and flowers. To protect vulnerable plants use some sort of barrier or bird "scarer." Bush and cane fruit (blackberries) can be particular favorites and are best planted in a fruit cage.
Creating a safe habitat for bats is another wonderful way to attract them into your garden. They are a harmless mammal that eats many flying insect pests. If you build bat boxes, they will come, even though it may take a couple of years.
Pollinating butterflies are another important addition to the organic garden. However, the larvae of a few species, notably the large and small white butterflies (which become cabbage worms) are considered pests of the brassica family: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, mustard and canola. However, we have found that even with this troublesome minority, we do all we can to encourage butterflies by choosing plants that are rich in nectar, such as the butterfly bush, woodruff, candytuft, scabious, marjoram and lavender. It is important to provide food plants for their caterpillar young. Both the red admiral and peacock larvae feed on nettles and milkweed.
To keep the mosquito population down, we change the bird bath water daily and remove all standing water. We have three rain barrels and the collected water is either used or stirred frequently to prevent the larvae turning into the biting little pests that they are. We also plant citronella in container pots close to where we sit and burn citronella candles in the evening.
Companion Planting
This concept of combining plants that either assist each other to grow well, repel insects and even repel other plants is not a new idea. It has fascinated people for centuries and is gaining new popularity as concerns for the environment continue to grow.
It is both the root secretions and the odours of individual and massed plantings that repel and attract. Be sure to consider how much time is needed for the process to be effective. For example, marigolds should be grown for at least one full season to help control nematodes (microscopic nuisances in the soil).
Speaking of nematodes, they are discouraged by soils rich in organic matter. Also take note that asparagus is a natural nematicide. It protects tomatoes grown nearby while the tomatoes, in turn, protect the asparagus from the asparagus beetle.
For further information, browse the Internet with key words like "organic gardening," "companion gardening" and "composting." The book Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening by Louise Riotte is another excellent source of inspiration.
Earth laughs in flowers.
--RALPH WALDO EMERSON
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