Restoring Your Soil: Tips to Make Your Garden Greener. “Mary, Mary quite contrary … ” How does your garden grow?
Even if the answer is “not well,” a black thumb might not be to blame. Instead, the culprit could be poor soil quality. Good soil is the foundation of a healthy garden. As with a house, if you don’t have a strong foundation, you can expect a host of problems. In this case, those problems could be anything from lackluster tomatoes to drooping daffodils to watermelons the size of English peas.
Testing, testing ... How to find out if poor soil is to blame for last year’s sad squash crop? Grace Gershuny, co-author of The Soul of Soil: A Soil-Building Guide for Master Gardeners and Farmers, says that county extension offices and land grant institutes often provide soil testing for a reasonable fee. “Even a home soil test will give you a reasonably accurate reading regarding pH levels,” Gershuny says.
pH problems. Vegetable Gardening Plans & Designs for an Indoor or Outdoor Garden. Top 10 Common Plants that Repel Mosquitoes and Other Insects - InfoBarrel. 1) Citronella Grass – Or Cymbopogon nardus is a clumping grass that belongs to the lemon grass family and is the source of the will known Citronella oil that is used in a number of commercial insect repellent products like citronella candles and tiki torch oil.
It also has many other uses including being used in household disinfectants, as a fragrance in soaps and is popular in aromatherapy. Citronella grass is a perennial that is native to Southeast Asia. It can be grown here in the United States just about anywhere but will usually die off during the winter unless you live in USDA climate zones 10-12. Citronella grass grows best in full sun, requires lots of water and can grow 5-6 ft tall. 2) Marigolds – To get the mosquito repelling properties that you are looking for from your marigolds they must be the African or French variety.
Marigold French Sparky Mix 500 SeedsAmazon Price: $0.01 Buy Now(price as of Jul 13, 2013) 30 Unexpected and Unusual Things You Can Compost. Composting isn't just for food, silly!
You'll be surprised at all the strange, random junk you can toss in the compost bucket. Don't draw the line at peach pits and coffee grounds - start chucking the following items into that bucket and watch your garbage bill go down while you create top-drawer dirt (and help the planet, of course). 1. Bills - because somehow it's a lot more satisfying shoving bills in with melon rinds and egg shells than the recycle bin. Trust me. 2. 3. Magazines. 163 Things You Can Compost. A young boy and his father were walking along a beach, when suddenly they came upon thousands of starfish left stranded on the sand by the receding tide.
The young boy leaned over, picked up a starfish and tossed it, like a Frisbee, back into the ocean. Then he picked up another one, and carried it to the water's edge. "Son, what are you doing? You can't possibly save them all. " "I guess not. The youngster believed that even when the situation seemed hopeless, he could do his part. Every year, tons of organic materials are thrown away, needlessly filling up landfills.
Compost is not limited to tossing leaves and grass clippings into a pile. If you see something I've missed, send me an email so I can add it to the list. More "compostable" reading: The World's Fastest Compost How to Compost Dog Waste Manure Matters: How different manures rate What about urine? Composting 101 - How to Make Compost. Welcome to COMPOSTING 101, Planet Natural’s go-to guide for making nature’s most rewarding soil amendment.
Time or money invested in your garden’s soil always brings the best returns: healthy, vigorous plants and great harvests. And when you keep yard waste and kitchen scraps from the landfill you’re doubly rewarded. You can buy ready-made, organic compost to get a jump start. But it’s easy and inexpensive to make your own with the right materials and good equipment. Here you’ll find all you need to know about getting started as well as maintaining the process no matter which composting method you’ve chosen. Want to learn even more about composting? 3 Essential Elements for Perfect Compost It’s time to let you in on a little secret: soil building done like this is the perfect lazy person’s gardening project. 1. Compost bins are of two types, stationary and rotating. When using the stationary bin method, locate the pile in a sunny location so that it has as much heat as possible. 2.