Top 10 Practices Organic Gardeners Follow for a Robust Garden
- Author: Saiqa Najeeb
- Last Updated On: June 27, 2023
Do you want to supercharge the productivity of your garden? Organic gardening is the answer! Organic gardeners follow a combination of organic practices to improve soil health, stabilize a healthy ecosystem, and build a robust garden.
Organic gardeners consider their gardens as miniatures of the much bigger natural world, and they recognize that their gardening practices have an impact that extends well beyond their backyards.
This guide has compiled all the simple yet impactful practices that you can adapt to start your journey into organic gardening.
Read on to get the secret sauce!
1
Invest in your soil’s health
It makes complete sense to place this technique used by organic gardeners at the top of the list because soil health is the foundation of plant health. If your soil is healthy, many other possible issues are likely to be less problematic. Mineral particles of different sizes and shapes make up soil, giving it texture. You can adjust the organic matter, air, water, and soil creatures in your soil, but you can’t do much to change the texture of your soil other than add lots of sand or topsoil.
Important plant nutrients are added by organic matter, which breaks down into humus and improves the soil’s capacity to retain moisture and drain effectively. It also nourishes the helpful soil flora. You can enhance your soil’s organic matter content by incorporating compost.
2
Choose Healthy and Disease-Resistant Plants
The nastiest diseases won’t harm your plants if they’re resistant to them. To develop fruit, vegetables, flowers, and landscape plants that resist devastating diseases, organic gardeners work long and hard. Read catalog descriptions and plant tags to find resistant plants whenever possible. It also pays to buy and plant only healthy plants.
Don’t bring home any insect-infested plants, either. If you have any doubts about a plant’s health, quarantine it in a separate area before adding it to your landscape or garden.
3
Mulch often, mulch early
Mulch can slow down or even stop the growth of weeds on open ground. You can keep weeds at bay by using bark, pine needles, grass clippings, shredded leaves, straw, and other organic materials around your garden and landscape plants. Ensure that paths and plants are lined with landscape fabric or newspapers and that loose mulch is applied around trees and shrubs.
Organic gardeners search for for resistant plants, read catalog descriptions and plant tags. It is also beneficial to buy and plant healthy plants. Likewise, avoid bringing any insect-infested plants home. Before introducing a new plant to your garden or landscape, quarantine it in a different location if you have any concerns about its health.
4
Use integrated pest management
In integrated pest management (IPM), you try to evaluate all possibilities and shortcomings, before settling on a pest treatment strategy. You try to manage pests rather than simply eliminate them. When you use IPM, you do the following: Keep a close eye on the weather. Many insects and diseases are closely related to humidity, temperature, and the time of year.
Most organic gardeners keep an eye out for pests. It makes little sense to treat pests unless they are causing significant damage. In the grand scheme of things, a few pests may be tiny and acceptable.
Maintain a spotless environment. Use appropriate cultural techniques: Rotate crops from one area of the garden to another, eliminate noxious weeds, and clean up infested plant debris, starting with the least invasive and least toxic control measures. Begin with harmless controls, such as a powerful blast of water to dislodge insects.
5
Use slow-release, organic fertilizers
Numerous artificial fertilizers include highly soluble elements that force plants to grow quickly and lushly. Succulent growth is particularly alluring to insect and disease pests, even though it may appear to be beneficial. Additionally, the fertilizer that plants don’t instantly absorb may run off and contaminate waterways. The majority of organic fertilizers are slow-release products. Through the action of microbes, the nutrients are slowly released after being tied up in huge molecules. Runoff is less likely to occur since nutrients are fed to plants gradually and steadily.
6
Encourage Diversity
Natural plant populations have several species spread out over a vast area, making them less sensitive to insect and pest removal. Apply the same principles to your garden by changing up the crops in a row and avoiding having vast areas of one type of plant. Most organic gardeners have a varied border with a variety of evergreens and perhaps some flowering and fruiting small trees and shrubs, as opposed to planting a lengthy hedge made up of twelve or more examples of the same species of shrub.
7
Attract Beneficial Organisms
The best way to control your garden pests is to choose plants that will bring beneficial insects in your garden. Each pest has some sort of parasite or predator that can make your work easier. In this way, you don’t have to rely on pesticides loaded with chemicals. So, you need to say hello to other garden visitors such as toads, bats, birds, etc. that can aid you in your efforts at pest control. It not only reduces the risks of pesticides but also provides shelter and food for these creatures.
8
Use traps and barriers to keep pests at bay
Traps and barriers are the simplest way to protect your crops from pest attacks. If the pests do not reach your crops, they’ll not be able to harm them in any way. You can protect the young seedlings from cutworms by wrapping a piece of newspaper around them. Alternatively, you can go with specifically colored traps with sticky coatings to foil several kinds of pests. Pheromones, which are smells generated by insects to attract partners, are among the most effective pest control methods. Every year, pheromone baits paired with traps kill millions of Japanese beetles and other pests. Because these baits only attract the pests you wish to get rid of, they are safe to use among beneficial insects.
9
Avoid using the most toxic pesticides
Synthetic insecticides are among the most harmful compounds commonly used by homeowners. Gardeners who want or need to use pesticides have organic alternatives to synthetic poisons. Organic insecticides, such as pyrethrum and neem, can also kill beneficial species. If you must apply pesticides, always follow the label guidelines completely and apply them as a last option.
10
Plant in the Right Location
Plants that are struggling attract pests and diseases, whereas healthy plants repel them. To keep your plants healthy and growing, provide them with the soil, sunlight, and moisture conditions they prefer. Think of local plants that would naturally flourish in your area or in a similar climate. Replace the sad guests in your established garden with plants that have an upbeat view.
That’s all for now!
The organic gardening practices used by organic gardeners have proven to skyrocket the productivity of the gardens. If you also want the same results, follow the strategies outlined in this guide.
If you’re just starting out, it might feel overwhelming, but one step at a time can go a long way. Organic gardening is not a destination but a fruitful journey toward sustainability.
