 How Does Your Garden Grow?(ARA) - With spring upon us, the time has come to decide what you would like to do with your garden. Seed catalogs may conjure visions of luxurious bouquets adorning your home and sweet fragrances permeating every room. Or, perhaps, they whet your appetite for meals prepared with homegrown vegetables. But how can you best prepare that plot of soil behind your house to help make your garden grow? Prep Work If you didn’t remove all the debris from your garden last fall, you must clear out the old leaves and stems before you plant. There may be insect eggs or disease spores from last year’s growth, and you don’t want them infecting your new crop. Simply removing this debris is the single-most effective pest control measure you can take for your garden. After you have removed the debris, use a shovel to break up clods of dirt and loosen the soil at the rooting depth of your plants. Generally, you only need to work down about 5 or 6 inches. Any plants that root below that depth are capable of penetrating most soils. If your garden plot has packed clay or sandy soil, till in some organic matter, such as peat, composted leaves or lawn clippings, as deeply as you can. This will form a soil structure that will allow roots to breathe and grow. It will also help retain vital moisture and nutrients. Do not use lawn clippings as mulch if you have treated your lawn with a weed killer or insecticide; chemical residuals on the clippings could damage garden plants or make vegetables inedible. Selecting a Fertilizer Melinda Myers, a noted author and host of public television’s “Great Lakes Gardener,” advises gardeners to always use a fertilizer that is gentle on both plants and the environment. “Using a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer provides plants with small amounts of necessary nutrients over a long period of time, resulting in even growth of roots and shoots,” she says. “Such measured growth makes plants less susceptible to pests or stressful growing conditions. “Slow-release nitrogen fertilizer also reduces the risk of damage to plants and the environment in the event it’s misapplied or overused. An organic-based nitrogen fertilizer, such as Milorganite’s GardenCare 6-2-0, is ideal for helping build soil while fertilizing.” When to Fertilize Fertilize when you first seed or transplant to encourage root and plant growth. Fertilize again when the plants begin to flower or display leaf growth that will mature for harvest. For full-season plants, fertilize a third time in mid- to late summer. Potatoes, tomatoes and similar plants especially benefit from this third application. If you have any doubts as to what kind of fertilizer to use or how much to apply, or if you would like your soil analyzed for nutrients, contact your local county Horticultural Extension Agent. Those Darned Pests Insects, weeds and disease can present problems even in a healthy garden. Mike Archer, research coordinator for Milorganite and a master gardener, recommends using Integrated Pest Management for pest control in any garden. IPM is generally a low-cost, low-impact means for controlling harmful pests, as it minimizes the use of commercial pesticides and potentially dangerous chemical applications. “In many cases, treating a garden with pesticides kills off beneficial insect species that keep problem species under control,” says Archer. “You should learn to identify these helpful insects, so you don’t kill off friends of your garden.” Other methods of environmentally sound pest control include hoeing weeds, staking tall plants so fruit does not touch the ground, providing garden ventilation to minimize incidence of disease, and trickling water on the soil when watering on sunny days so leaves don’t scald. Have Fun There’s no doubt about it; gardening can be hard work. But if you follow these simple tips, your garden will prosper and your experience will be a positive one. Remember, many mistakes can be easily cured with a hoe, a shovel and a compost heap. So, relax, have fun and experiment! And, most importantly, enjoy the fruits -- and vegetables -- of your labor. Courtesy of ARA Content |
