Over the years people have started to resort to chemical pesticides to a greater extent than ever before. This practice has created more damage than benefit and must be checked. There is a need to check the use of chemical poisons and spread awareness of choices like organic garden pest control.

Pests can do a lot of harm to a garden or a farm. It can be weeds, bugs, fowl or other creatures. A good example of pest infestation is the intro of European hares into Australia. The hares multiplied into the thousands and created widespread damage to farmlands. Similarly, aphids (plant lice) suction the juices from plants using their straw like mouth parts called stylets, thereby stunting the growth of plants.

Pests are the greatest enemies of farmers throughout the world. Farmers utilize chemical poisons to check the pest threat. Farmers are oblivious of the long term implications of chemical poisons. These poisons cause serious harm to farms as well as human beings. They start accumulating in the dirt thus making the soil unhealthy for growth. Extreme presence of pesticides and other chemical substances in our food chain is termed as ‘Biomagnification’ and this can lead to health disorder and hereditary troubles that can result in genetic manipulation.

Also, these pesticides kill not merely the pests but also numerous good bugs, inflicting more injury to the normal ecological balance. Several beneficial bugs like bees and butterflies, which are the main pollinators of our gardens are many times killed by chemical “pest control” methods. Studies have shown that pests begin to from a physical resistance towards chemical pesticides. This leads to the development of “superbugs” that are resistant to standard chemical killers. Weeds that could once be wiped out easily by a quick shot of Roundup or some different weed control chemical are today becoming more tolerant to Roundup. This makes the chemical futile for weed control.

The better option is to resort to organic garden pest control. This is a reliable and a wonderful choice as it does little harm to the land. Pull out the weeds whenever and wherever they pop up. Try pouring out some simmering water on weeds when you find them in the cracks of a sidewalk or drive where it may be more difficult to pull them out. It may take some time and elbow grease but boiling water will eliminate the weed without harming the soil.

There are some tools accessible to assist with pulling weeds. In order to find more info on organic pest control, check out a gardening magazine (like Home and Garden) or an online web site. One can also ask other avid gardeners for their tips and tricks.  gardeners are a cordial group and are usually willing to share their successful systems of checking not-so-friendly pests.

I couldn’t tell you how many times I have bought plants on impulse only to find they don’t really fit my home garden. Now, before I buy plants, I  examine our backyard garden to see what fits in.

What do I pay attention to now?

• I pay attention to things like, how much sun and shade it will get
• Is the soil well drained or waterlogged
• Is the spot I want to plant in sheltered or windswept

The little list above is what I have messed up on in the past so now I know our yard and have done much better choosing the best plants for our home gardening needs.

We didn’t check our soil because it was so obvious that it was all clay and hard as cement, which meant it didn’t drain well at all.We have to add a lot of our soil in order to have it drain but once that was done we had an entirely new home garden that grows more than weeds.

My advice is to test your soil to determine the pH level of your soil and what kind of nutrients you need to add, if any.

Is the soil acid or alkaline?

Some plants prefer soil that is slightly acidic, while others require alkaline soil to grow well.  You can test your soil and then just plant accordingly but we prefer to amend the soil to suit the plants we wish to grow. It’s a little more work but well worth our time and effort as we get a much better looking home garden.

This way we can grow plants, flowers and veggies, that we want. Heck we would be planting mostly water loving plants as our yard just wouldn’t drain for days at a time. Now it drains everywhere and we have all the plants we wanted.

Getting Arrangements You Want

Before you dig in take the time to place the plants you’ve chosen around the garden bed in their pots to see how they will look. Re-arrange them until you are satisfied. It’s so much better than rearranging them after you have them in the ground.

Grouping plants in sets of threes or fives usually looks better than planting in groups of even numbers. Be sure that you have an interesting combination of colors and textures of plants. Tall plants should go to the back, or the centre if your garden will be viewed equally from all sides. Try to keep your plants away from trees. The roots of trees are fiercely competitive and will steal all the nutrients and moisture meant for your flowers.

The right color scheme is one way to maintain the harmony in your garden. Imagine the color of the flowers when they are in bloom. Some colors may clash with others, but can still be planted side-by-side if they have a different blooming season. Foliage color is also important. Many flower plants have silver, grey or purplish foliage that is just as attractive as the flower. This means that they are still attractive well past the blooming season and so have added value.

If you are creating an organic and natural garden, you will undoubtedly fully understand how crucial the part of homemade compost plays if you are to obtain the most effective results from your efforts.

For that reason, obtaining your own compost tumbler can offer several great advantages. Compost tumblers can make the process of composting much simpler. Tumblers are suitable for residential use and for composting home waste on a everyday basis to help keep them out of the kitchen, the garbage and also the garbage disposal.

If you have previously used a compost heap or bin that you constructed your self, you’ll discover that compost tumblers are considerably nicer looking. This can be a advantage for your self at the same time as for your neighbours. Additionally, bins and tumblers are resistant to pests. This could be a big issue with traditional compost heaps and bins. With the tumbler you will not have to be anxious about any wild animals or even pet dogs from the area getting directly into your compost.

It is also simple to keep your compost aerated with the compost tumbler, which is important. You won’t need to be concerned about turning over the compost utilizing a fork or some other kind of turning tool. All you’ve to do is turn over the tumbler and your compost will turn out to be effectively mixed.

In addition, it remains closed. This is crucial to making correct compost, in particular throughout warm weather conditions. When it’s hot, the closed design will make sure that the compost stays damp and doesn’t become dried out. Furthermore, throughout damp weather the compost will not turn out to be saturated. Also, there won’t be any odours escaping from the tumbler, which can occasionally be a problem with big compost heaps.

Getting a compost tumbler can also make it more enjoyable for the whole household to start composting. Even the youngsters will get a kick out of heading out and giving the tumbler a flip. Rather than appearing to be like hard work, the entire family will feel as though they’re accomplishing some thing worthwhile with out getting to go through a lot of smelly, tough work.

Finally, they make it faster and easier to compost. There is no working with large piles of compost that should be regularly flipped. With a tumbler, you can take pleasure in all of the benefits of composting without all of the hard work. Whether you live on a large plot or you live in a suburban location, you can take pleasure in the advantages of composting using a tumbler.

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It might be surprising to some, but most herbs grow better in an indoor herb garden. A large number of herbs are annuals. Annual herbs and plants have a year lifespan. They grow and bloom in one season then within a year, they die. You may think that this type of herbs is too expensive, but you actually extend the life of your annuals.

Here are some key points explained in establishing an indoor garden.

Knowing the easy-to-grow indoor herbs

Annuals are the best type for indoor gardens. Since their lifespan is limited, they cannot be exposed continuously to changing weathers. Their roots usually have small growth; which is why they cannot stand the outside environment. They can be easily uprooted and their leaves would easily wither.

Some varieties of basil like Thai, Holy Basil or Tulsi and lemon, chives, scented geranium, lavender, rosemary, sweet woodruff and lemon verbena are some of the annuals appropriate in indoor settings. These could be grown in small pots and they could survive without constant exposure to sunlight. However, some may need to be taken outdoors once in a while. These would be further explained in the succeeding parts.

On the other hand, some perennials could also survive in indoor environments. They just need to be exposed outdoor from seasonally.

Having the right locations

Window areas, door openings, atriums and any area inside your house with natural lighting or close proximity to outside ventilation are the most suitable places for indoor herbs. Place them near the windows in the kitchen which should always be left open or at least ajar. Just a few hours under ample sunlight could make your plants healthier.

If you are into aromatic herbs, you most definitely want them placed in various parts of the house. But do make sure that you take them outside for at least one to three hours daily. Too much sunlight will cause their roots to dry up and that would result to frequent wilting of the leaves.

Perennials could also stay indoors but as much as possible expose them to sunlight regularly. Put them in places where there is most sun exposure. If you have limited space near the open areas, you could use chains to hang them instead.

Taking care of the herbs – on watering, pruning and soil maintenance

Indoor plants need as much water as outdoor plants. You can have them watered every other two days. But never drown the soil as this will make it too soggy to absorb other nutrients from the soil.

You can also do occasional pruning. But do not take out the drying foliage immediately. Letting them fall on the pot would make them possible fertilizers. However, if there are too much falling leaves, you have to remove some of them. They may be too moist, thus killing the roots.

Your soil should have regular peat moss or compost supplements. At least every three months, dig up an inch from the surface and put in a new batch. This is also a basic in growing herbs in pots.

Before annuals die, start repotting so you would not have to start planting all over. Trim off a healthy part of the herb. Each cut piece should have some roots and foliage already this will make it easier for you to grow them.

Now these three easy key methods would ensure you of a flourishing indoor herb garden all year round.

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When I eat or see a nice patch of rhubarb my mind goes back to when I was about 8 years old and had rhubarb for the first time, right from our home garden. Living on a farm we had a huge garden behind the house.

My kid brother, a year and half younger than myself, and I would raid the garden for stalks of rhubarb and then we would break off a piece of the block of rock salt the cows would lick and then enjoy the sensation. My face could contort into some funny shapes but it was so good.

Here in New Brunswick we have a patch of rhubarb out behind our garage. It was there when we bought our home but it’s not in the garden as there was no garden yet. It’s been a few years now and we have a home garden started and now we want to divide the rhubarb patch and move it to the home garden area because the rhubarb will get so much more direct sunlight during the growing season. As it is now it only gets about an hour of sun at high now and then the garage blocks it for the rest of the day.

I wasn’t exactly sure how to divide and replant rhubarb so I had to do some looking through some of my old home gardening magazines but I managed to find a helpful article in May 2000 Canadian Gardening magazine. It was a short little article by Heather Apple called Raising Rhubarb, but it showed me all I needed to know. Those are the articles I like, right to the point.

Propagating Rhubarb Crowns Or Segments

Credit where credit is due, so I will be following Heather’s example, from her article in May 2000, mentioned above.

The main reason we are going to move part of our rhubarb patch is so that it will get full sun instead of an hour or two a day.

We Need Good Drainage And Rhubarb Loves Full Sun

We plan to transplant behind our new home garden where the drainage isn’t the best but with a bit of work, like we did for our garden, it will be great drainage and of course full sun for most of the day.

The soil can be somewhat acidic which works great for us as our soil is very acidic.

Spacing And Depth For Planting Rhubarb – 2 ft Apart – 2 ft Deep

Because rhubarb can grow so large you want to give it some elbow room to grow. For this reason you should give each segment or crown about three feet around it.

Make the hole about two feet across and a foot and half deep. This is the time I actually dig deeper and replace most of the dirt with top soil and compost because our soil is dense clay and needs work.

Be sure to give at least six inches of compost or well decomposed manure in the bottom to give those root the best chance to get strong and healthy. That’s what is going to grow you that rhubarb you want.

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