What is Organic Gardening? Learn in 8 Easy Steps!

Author: Saiqa Najeeb
Last Updated On: July 24, 2023

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Organic gardening is not just a gardening practice; it is a way of life. Most people just limit the idea of organic gardening to avoiding synthetic pesticides and fertilizers loaded with chemicals. But it goes far beyond this simple notion. Growing an organic garden is a lifelong commitment to sustainability and reducing your impact on the Earth.

In this guide, you’ll explore the concept of organic gardening in its deepest sense. Soon, you’ll be on the road to understanding and implementing several organic gardening practices.

What is Organic Gardening?

The lives and habitats of plants, insects, birds, fish, and other animals, as well as humans, are impacted by how people utilize and misuse soil, water, and air. The main focus of organic gardening is finding the least intrusive, safest ways to prevent and treat challenges. In organic gardening, some biological and cultural processes are utilized to achieve the following goals

- Reducing soil erosion: Rain and wind remove the topmost fertile layer of soil, causing many consequences. While gardening organically, the soil is covered with cover crops, mulch, and other protective measures to prevent the soil from eroding.
- Boosting soil fertility and health: The soil ecosystem is generally enhanced by using organic matter such as compost instead of harmful chemicals. In this way, the soil organisms get activated and increase the bioavailability of nutrients.
- Minimizing diseases and pests: Several organic gardening techniques are used to control pests and diseases, reducing the need of pesticides. Removing diseased plants, adapting frequent pruning, and utilizing row covers.
- Promoting animal and plant diversity: While practicing organic gardening, a variety of plants are introduced in the garden to create a thriving ecosystem, attracting beneficial insects and other organisms. These include garden pest predators and pollinators of different plants.

Building a Healthy Soil

Healthy soil is the deciding factor for the success of your garden. Not everyone is blessed with the perfect soil, and for those who are, it still takes a lot to maintain healthy soil. If you’re taking from soil continuously and not returning anything, it will disrupt the natural cycle.

In the organic gardening approach, you provide your soil with soil life such as worms, microorganisms, and fungi, along with the right environment for them to perform their job. The best way to build your soil is through the addition of organic matter. Compost is the most commonly used organic matter, while aged manure and crop residues are also used as organic additives. For maintaining healthy soil, an optimal pH is also required for the efficient absorption of minerals by plants and the maintenance of soil microbiota.

Choosing the Right Plants

Ecosystems in organic gardens are kept in a healthy, balanced state. Plants flourish when certain growing conditions are present because they have evolved over thousands of years to adapt to those environments. You’ll be well on your way to producing a thriving organic garden by selecting plants that complement your garden conditions, such as soil moisture, soil texture, duration of sunlight or shade, etc.

For maintaining a healthy ecosystem, two steps are mainly involved:

Getting to know your region’s climate as well as the unique characteristics of your soil.
Introducing stable plant and animal communities.

The plant and animal species have a give-and-take relationship, ensuring the optimal distribution of resources among each factor. Planting the right type of plants compatible with their environment results in a robust organic garden.

Ensuring Plant Diversity

Organic gardeners encourage diversity in their landscapes as a way to replicate nature. Many different species of trees, shrubs, perennial plants, and annual plants can be found in natural plant communities. Each plant species benefits from this abundant diversity in a number of ways:

As a result of the plants of a given species not being close to one another, mixed populations are protected from insect and disease destruction. Pests spare some plants while harming or destroying others.
Deep-rooted plants frequently move soil nutrients to the top, where decomposition releases them, assisting shallower-rooted species.
Other neighboring species benefit from nitrogen-fixing plants’ ability to capture nitrogen from the air and add it to the soil.
Low-growing, shade-preferring species can get protection, support, and shade from tall, sun-loving species.

Encouraging diversity in animals and insects

Naturally, a variety of plants attract a range of animals and insects. Birds are attracted to berry-producing trees and shrubs, while butterflies and hummingbirds are attracted to nectar-rich flowers. You might wonder why you would want to attract animals and insects to your yard. Your garden requires them. Beneficial insects and other animals pollinate plants and feed on plant pests. Ladybirds, syrphid flies, and small parasitic wasps are some of a gardeners’ closest companions.

By providing a diversity of habitats, you can encourage helpful organisms. Introducing a diversity of flowers in your garden will result in continuous blooming throughout the year. Herbs like basil and cilantro, plants with tiny flowers like alyssum and thyme, and plants with little blossoms clustered in flat-topped flower heads like yarrow and dill are also excellent choices. Spraying insecticides should be avoided because most of them also kill beneficial wildlife.

Making Use of Integrated Pest Management

Many gardeners immediately grab a bottle of pesticide when faced with bug issues. Pest control requires more pesticides since killing insects with pesticides starves the bugs’ natural predators, which leads to a reduction in the predator population. It’s a never-ending circle. Additionally, herbicides frequently harm people in addition to their intended targets. Additionally, beneficial spiders and insects that pollinate flowers and feed on plant pests perish.

Managing pests through IPM involves the following steps:

Cleaning garden tools, checking newly planted plants, and removing weeds and diseased plants can help avoid many pest problems.
Selecting pests and diseases- resistant varieties and using crop rotation also help fix pest issues.
Knowing about the pest type, their number, and what type of plants they are affecting is also essential for healthy pest control.
Pests can be controlled using mechanical methods such as fabric coverings, hot water, fire, or air without using any pesticides.
Biologically, you can manage garden pests by introducing predators such as beneficial nematodes and ladybugs and encouraging the existing ones.
Chemicals are the last option to go for. Choose the type of pesticide that has the least effect on beneficial garden creatures.

Optimizing Soil Nutrients

Nutrients are essential for a plant’s growth, health, and ability to resist environmental hazards like pests and disease. Feeding the soil is the best approach to feeding plants. Numerous helpful creatures dwell in the soil; by feeding them, you feed the plants.

Composting gives food and a hospitable environment to soil-dwelling fungi, bacteria, earthworms, and other creatures. They then convert this organic material into nutrients that plants can use. You might occasionally need to add extra nutrients to the soil to keep plants healthy. Strong, steady, and healthy plant development is encouraged by the use of organic slow-release fertilizers.

Conserving Resources

The majority of organic gardeners are conservative in the best possible way. They attempt to buy less in general and follow the principles of reducing, recycling, and reusing as much as possible. Composting kitchen waste and garden clippings allows you to reuse the nutrients found in plant matter in the garden. Additionally, it entails being careful not to waste water and making sure that the gardening supplies you use don’t negatively impact the environment.

Conserve Water: The best irrigation technique delivers moisture to the roots, which is where it is most needed. The finest irrigation methods are soaker hoses and drip irrigation because they gently feed water to the soil, where it may soak in rather than pass off. The worst sprinklers are those that are used overhead, especially on a hot, bright day.
Think about the source: Take a look at the origins of the products you use in your garden. Consumers will be encouraged to hunt for goods that are made locally as the cost of delivering goods increases.

Key Takeaways!

So you have now discovered what is organic gardening? It encompasses more than just cultivating plants without synthetic chemicals. It is a comprehensive strategy that motivates us to work together with nature while promoting biodiversity, soil health, and sustainable practices. We become good stewards of the earth by composting our kitchen waste, avoiding hazardous fertilizers and pesticides, and supporting beneficial insects and pollinators.