I love gardening as it is a great time to be close to nature but also a great time for quiet thinking. The only thing about gardening is that I have never known how to keep it on the natural side, what I mean by that is not use the harmful chemicals to keep bugs away. So this winter I decided that I would research what some of the best things I could do for the normal things that occur in the garden. This is what I have come up with.
- Weeds- Take wet newspaper and layer is on the plants. Overlap it and then add mulch. It is better than plastic because it is biodegradable.
- Mosquitoes- Keep a dryer sheet in your pocket but if you think you might be allergic to the stuff in the dryer sheet avoid contact with your skin.
- Squirrels- Sprinkle cayenne pepper around the plants and bulbs
- Fruit Flies- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar and 2 drops of dish soap, mix it well in a container (we use the small glass fruit container or baby food jars)
- Ants- Sprinkle cornmeal around your kitchen baseboards or the edge of the garden will kill the ants
- Slugs and Snails- Crushed egg shells work to keep the slugs out or you can put some copper wire in the garden to keep them out.
- Dandelion- Dig them out as soon as you find them. A great way to keep them out of the yard is to maintain your lawn and keep your grass deeply rooted, this will leave no room for the weeds to root and grow.
Planting a tree seems like such an easy thing to say and do. But there are many benefits to both yourself and the environment when you plant trees. One of the best benefits for you is that it will help to lower your energy costs. By planting a tree in the right spot in your yard, you will be able to shade your house in the the summer and warm it in the winter. This is simply because the leaves will provide the shade keeping your house cooler and the air conditioning will not have to be turned on so high or even as much. In the winter, the leaves will fall and the sun will be allowed to shine on your house warming it up. This causes you to be able to lower your furnace temperature. Using less energy will also help the environment in the long run, as well.
Trees are important of the environment for many reasons. Trees improve the air we breathe, moderate the temperature and even are homes to many creatures. Trees are also great for deflecting some of the wind and rain that occurs throughout the year. Trees can filter the air that is important for us to breathe. They will remove some of the dust and other airborne particulates from the air and give us clean air. Leaves absorb carbon dioxide, ozone and sulfur dioxide and give us oxygen. So don’t wait until Earth Day to plant a tree go out and do it often.
Those fancy plastic composters may look good and professional in your garden, but they don’t let air to get into your compost. I prefer to use a wooden construction and pallets are best for this as they let the compost aerate.
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They say a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Well – It’s probably true for most of God’s creatures. It certainly is for birds anyway as the best way to attract wild birds to your garden is by feeding them.
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Don’t grow carrots? Well give it a try! I’ve tasted regular cheap carrots from the supermarket. I’ve also tasted organic carrots from the supermarket. None of these come close to the taste of your own carrots sat on your plate after they had been in the ground just a few hours earlier. Supermarket carrots are so bland and tasteless that I refuse to buy them. However, as soon as the weather is right, carrots are the first things I sow. That’s how good they taste. One nightmare for all carrot growers however is the dreaded carrot root fly and the above picture shows it’s devastating effect.
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There is one thing that we all produce that we can use to accelerate the microbial decomposition of our compost material. It is urine!
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Don’t use peat based matter as a growing medium for things like hanging baskets. Peat bogs are dwindling around the world and are a vital carbon store.
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You may or may not be aware, but due to building booms in India & China, the prices of fences have risen dramtically in the last ten years. This is great news really, as it is pushing people back to the traditional fence – the hedgerow
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If you have beans in your vegetable garden then the chances are you will have a problem with aphids.
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There is much debate on the net about whether or not frogs are an effective slug control method, but my fellow vegetable gardeners down my allotments who have ponds on their plots swear by them. Whether they eat them or not – there is a definite link between the existence of frogs and the absence of slugs.
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As a vegetable gardener i totally detest slugs – They are a real pain. I have experienced the joy and excitement at seeing a whole row of cabbage or turnip seeds shoot through the surface, and then suffer the pain of coming back the next day and seeing them munched to death by slugs. Here is my favourite slug control method.
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Thinking of laying a path in your garden or vegetable garden? Concrete slabs I can here you saying! Fancy laying your path an alternative way?
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Many people truly hate getting out in the bleak mid-winter and raking up those Winter leaves from the garden. Well – If you want to enjoy low maintenance vegetable gardening in the summer, then the leaves are suddenly made out of gold!
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Comfrey is the organic gardeners secret weapon. It has numerous uses, from being a base for fertilizer, to healing bruises and sprains.
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As you all may already know I am a keen vegetable gardener. Vegetable gardening really can be a war at times. I personally am sick of planting 60 cabbages knowing full well that 30 will be grown for the slugs, 20 for the local magpies, and 10 may be left over for me to share amongst my family and friends.
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Hi Everyone – I am David and I will now be writing for DailyEcoTips.com. I look forward to sharing my personal eco tips with you and am looking forward to meeting you all. I have just taken over looking after the site from Dan, and less than 24 hours in here is my first post! Please excuse any initial teething mistakes!
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If you buy a manual push lawn mower, it’ll be a great way of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard work! However, it’ll be good exercise for you and you’ll also get a good job done.
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I’ve recently started gardening, and one really annoying pest are slugs. They only come out when it’s dark and damp, when you rarely want to be outside. So here are some tips on controlling the little critters the eco-friendly way.
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If you were intrigued by using Neem oil for garden pests, or using companion planting to ward off troublesome insects, then you could also make your own pesticides and repellants.
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I recently wrote about the organic gardening technique of companion planting. Well today’s tip is by Dave Barrett of Green Home Hints, and suggests using Neem Oil as an organic insecticide for your garden.
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