Front Yard Landscaping Ideas
Organic Container Gardening: Healthy Plants With A Limited Amount Of Space
February 3, 2010 by Landscape Ideas
Filed under Gardening
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If you would love to grow healthy, fresh vegetables and vibrant, beautiful flowers but have limited space, organic container gardening can be the answer you've been looking for. This creative type of natural gardening can be done just about anywhere and it can even be easier than maintaining a traditional garden plot. Here are three things to consider for simple organic container gardening, regardless of the amount of space you may have. Start With Organic Soil It only stands to reason that for any successful venture in organic container gardening, one would need organic soil. A regular, outdoor garden begins with the soil or dirt that you already have and then organic materials are added to increase nutrients. But you'll be ahead of the game if you start with organic soil to begin with. With organic container gardening, you won't have any sub-soil to help retain water which in turn prevents the roots from becoming too wet. The best way to correct this problem is with simple peat moss. Peat moss can either be used alone or added to your organic soil along with compost or composted manure and the result is an excellent soil mixture for organic container gardening. Use Plain or Creative Containers Put your imagination to the test as just about anything that will hold soil and water can be used for organic container gardening. While some gardeners prefer to take the natural route and use pots made from clay or wood, you are really only limited by your own resourcefulness. Although, pots and containers that won't fall apart when they get wet and that will also drain properly work best for organic container gardening. If needed, you could always drill holes into the bottom of the container and then add about an inch or so of gravel to aid with drainage. Also, a few layers of torn newspaper or leaf mold atop the gravel will help retain water just enough to keep the soil moist as well. Plant Your Crop With the use of organic container gardening, you can plant the same plants and vegetables that you would in any other garden such as tomatoes, peppers, beans or herbs. The key is using containers appropriate in size to what you are planting. For instance, zucchini plants will need the same amount of room in the container as they do out in the garden, so be sure to have something that will allow the plant room to grow healthily. Organic seeds and plants will work best with organic container gardening, and you will also find that you'll rarely have a problem with most garden pests while using this particular method. It's much easier to keep pests at bay and keep an eye on leaves and stems with organic container gardening rather than with a large, regular garden. Ladybugs will still help with insect infestation and diatomaceous earth can still be used to deter slugs from destroying your plants. Basically, the same practices you would apply to traditional gardening can be used with organic container gardening. And anywhere you may have a sheltered area that receives enough light; you can enjoy the fruits, or vegetables, of organic container gardening all year long. Article Tags: container, gardening, organic
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