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| Sustainable Gardening Basics There are over 5,000 different species of edible plants that can be grown outdoors. Using herbs to landscape can be far more productive than bedding plants, producing a much wider range of easily harvestable plant material. |
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The Garden Bed
Don't skimp. Get a soil test to know the pH and other nutrient information Loamy, humus-rich soil is best, it can retain water, but still drain well; stays workable, allowing good root growth while protecting in cold winters. Many local soils are heavy clay or sandy and should be generously amended. Add organic matter. Tilling humus, compost & aged manure into the soil helps increase air spaces in the soil and nutrient uptake. Tilling wet soil can destroy soil structure by compacting. Soil should be loose, use stepping stones to avoid compacting it. The garden site should be spaded to a depth of 8 to 12 inches, leveled & raked to remove any large clods & debris. Use a balanced fertilizer and mix into soil. Organic fertilizer will remain in the soil longer than chemical fertilizers. After planting, apply 2 - 3 inches of organic mulch to prevent drought, stress, weeds and to provide insulation. At the end of the season, work it into the soil and apply a new layer of compost or mulch. Then work that mulch into the soil and re-top with new mulch at the end of that season. And so on and so on... THAT is soil building. Cut & come again annual herbs should be given light applications of fertilizer after a heavy harvest. Deadheading (removing spent blooms and seed pods) will promote more blooming on most varieties. Deadheading weeds prevents thousands more weeds from popping up. Keep a garden map or journal to keep track of what you planted, where and when you planted it. Update it every season! It helps you avoid placing plants on top of each other in the Spring. Crop rotation is vital to prevent soil deficiencies. You can avoid depletion of nutrients by planting a legume after a heavy feeder such as corn and to replenish the nitrogen in the soil. Rotate your root crops, leafy crops, heavy feeders & cover crops. Don't plant annual nightshade plants in the same place every year (tomatos, peppers, potatoes, eggplant), you'll encourage blight and soil-based disease if you don't rotate. |
Compost Happens
Soil depletion of organic nutrients is one of the main causes of unhealthy plants and disease. Organic soil amendments and conditioners increase plant productivity. Healthy plants grow & taste better, store longer, resist insect attacks, cold, heat, drought and disease. Composting is a great recycling process, it improves soil structure, increasing the soil’s ability to hold moisture, helps soil aeration, fertilization and nitrogen storage. It buffers pH, releases nutrients, and provides food for microbial life. Everyone has access to decaying plant wastes, grass clippings, fall leaves and vegetable scraps, etc. Use these green materials to speed compost action: yarrow, hollyhock, marigolds, chamomile, chicory, strawberry greens, ferns, alfalfa, black walnut, dock, sorrel, elder, moss, comfrey, dandilion, coltsfoot, nettles, sage, valerian and eel grass. They also add micro nutrients and minerals to the compost. Kitchen waste is great in compost and reduces your garbage bills. Don't put in the compost: meats, dairy, fats or oils. Make sure you cut up bulky items like apple cores, brocolli stems, watermellon rinds, ets. so they will break down faster. Pile it & keep it turned. Keep it moist, not wet, Fluff it with a pitchfork to keep air pockets in it. Add weeds to compost pile only if temperature is above 145 degrees. Container gardening: don't use organic material. Soilless potting mixes have no resistance to organic or soil based bacterias, fungi, diseases, etc. Vermicomposting uses earthworms to make compost. Worms can eat their body weight daily in organic matter; convert it into dark, soil enriching castings full of live micro organisms, growth hormones, nutrients; humic acids which condition the soil and a neutral pH. Soil pH Explained
Soil is acidic, alkaline or neutral.
Neutral soil has a pH of 7.
Acidic = a pH range from 1 to 6.5. Alkaline = a pH range from 7.5 to 10. Most plants thrive in a pH range of 6, but will tolerate a pH of 5.5 to 7. Lime, leaf mold, peat moss, rotted sawdust & soil sulfur will lower the pH in an alkaline soil. For acid soil, add dolomite lime & mushroom compost to sweeten the soil. For the best results, add these amendments in the spring when soils are warming and microorganisms are active. |
| Pesticide-Free Gardening Americas home owners and hobby gardeners are emerging as the greatest new threat of toxin-related environmental damage. |
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Integrated Pest Management
When we use chemical
controls in our gardens, the problem is not only with residues in our
food; we pollute the water, poison the air and contaminate the land with toxins, nitrates or salts. Master Gardeners the world over will tell you: "Accept a level of imperfection in the landscape, give nature the opportunity to solve the problem on its own." Resist the use of chemical controls, avoid artificial fertilizers & sprays. Use composts & biological methods instead. Build up a natural balance of predators to keep the garden pests under control. Keep landscape clear of debris, leaves, limbs, trimmings and weeds. This removes hiding places of pests and deters fungus & disease. Visually inspect your plants for early detection of problems. Place outside night-lighting away from gardens and pest-prone plants. Lights are an invitation for pests. Try to use resistant varieties and companion plants. Use plants that attract beneficial species and birds. Alternate plant heights, mix leafy & flowering plants. This allows predators to see into the beds and between plants. Beneficial insect populations do not recover as quickly from exposure to insecticides as pest species do. Use selective control methods that target that pest only, leaving beneficial insects to do their job. Frogs, toads and snakes- the greatest predators of the garden, eat thousands of slugs per season. So give them a pond or shade garden. The birds, butterflies and dragonflies also need a shady water source. Many gardeners kill beneficial insects, they think they're pests. They treat for pests when it is a natural characteristic of the plant, a disease, fungus or care problem. When in doubt do nothing. |
Green Manures
Plants that are grown for the sole
purpose of tilling the green matter into the soil to fix nitrogen & add organic matter, or added
to compost. By providing an insulating blanket, microbes and earthworms will thrive with the weeds being smothered out. Alfalfa, winter field beans, buckwheat, clover, fenugreek, bitter lupin, mustard, grazing rye, trefoil, winter tares, corn salad, milk vetch, goats rue, soya bean, melilot, radish, peas. The goal isn't to let these plants fruit, it's to till them under in their green-growth prime. Beneficial insects are attracted to cover crops; alfalfa attracts parasitic wasps, lady bugs, damsel bugs, big-eyed bugs and assassin bugs. White clover attracts tachinid flies, ground beetles and parasitic wasps. In turn, they prey on aphids, scales, caterpillars and whiteflies. Most grains attract lady bugs. Clovers and vetches attract minute pirate bugs. Fava beans and buckwheat attract predatory, parasitic wasps, syrphid flies and bumblebees. Turn the green manure plants into the soil about a month before you're ready to seed or plant. |
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Companion Planting
Many plants benefit from
companion-type arrangements in the
garden. Some help each other by passing
nutrients through their root systems.
Some attract useful birds, predator or pollinator species to the herb garden. These species reduce pest and disease problems and alleviate the need for chemical controls. The garden provides birds with natural food, nesting materials & blooms that give nectar to Butterflies, Bees and Hummingbirds. Butterfly Weed provides food for the larva and nectar to the adult Monarch and Springtail Butterflies. Some pests find their victims by scent. Confuse them by planting aromatic herbs close by. Some plants act as attractants to draw pests away from insect-prone plants. Other plants have sticky leaves - trapping the pest. Some herbs can act as repellents when grown near other plants or you can make an infusion and use it as a spray. Goldfinch use Thyme, Rue, Yarrow and Pyrethrum for nesting materials because of their insecticidal properties. |
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Predatory Species &
Their Prey
Ladybugs: Eat several hundred soft bodied pests per day.
Don't mistake the different life stages for a pest!! (1) Lady bugs lay bright yellow, oval eggs in clusters where you will find other pest eggs. (2) Tiny black & yellow or black & red, multi-segmented larvae, resembling an alligator, feeds for 2 weeks before becoming the ladybug. Ladybugs eat aphids, mealy bugs, thrips, leafhoppers, scale, whitefly eggs. Black Ground Beetles-Prey on termites, soil dwelling pests, caterpillars, slugs, aphids, grubs, flea beetles, cutworms, thrips, potato beetles, earwigs, mites. Spiders, Yellow Jackets and Mantis-will eat almost anything. Dragonfly-predator of many small flying insects including termites, fungus gnat, mosquitos, blackfly Nematodes-most soil-based pest larva, flies, fungus gnats, Japanese beetle. Green lacewings-prey on aphids, mites, leafhoppers, thrips, mealybugs, scale, white flies. Hover flies-predator of aphids, mealy bugs, thrips, leafhoppers, scale. Parasitic Wasps & Tachinid Flies-parasitizes aphids, many beetle species, flies, caterpillars, cutworms. Frogs and Snakes-eat hundreds of slugs, snails, worms, grubs, termites and other soil-dwelling pests. Birds- eats scale insects, most soil-based larva, grubs, most garden pests, worms, caterpillars, earwigs. Plants that Attract Predatory Species Golden Marguerite-lacewings, ladybugs, hover flies, parasitic mini wasps, tachinid flies Alliums-hover flies, parasitic mini wasps Carrots-lacewings, hover flies, assassin bugs, Big-eyed bugs, parasitic wasps, Bergamot (Bee Balm)-attracts hover flies. Coriander-lacewings, ladybugs, hover flies, parasitic mini wasps, tachinid flies. White Clover -parasitic wasps, tachinid flies. Candytuft-syrphid flies Dill & Fennel-lacewings, ladybugs, hoverflies, syrphid flies, tachinid flies, parasitic wasps Goldenrod-ladybugs, hover flies, assassin bugs, Big-eyed bugs, parasitic wasps Feverfew & Thyme-hover flies Lavender- hover flies Yarrow-lacewings, ladybugs, hover flies, parasitic wasps Morning Glory-ladybugs, syrphid flies Speedwell-ladybugs, hover flies Alfalfa-ladybugs, assassin bugs, big-eyed bugs, damsel bugs, parasitic wasps |
Plants that Control Pests
Alliums: Chives will prevent apple scab & black spot in roses. Trap plant for aphids & controls Japanese beetles. Onions repel ants, aphids, flea beetles, mosquitoes, Garlic repels ants, aphids, flea beetles, mosquitoes, ticks, onion flies. Leeks repel carrot fly. Artemisias: Grow Southernwood or Wormwood near cabbage to deter cabbage moth & near fruit trees to deter fruit tree moth. Boughs of Wormwood between rows of onions & carrots deter flies. Basil will repel flying insects (flies & mosquitos, especially) if planted between your tomato plants. Protect basil from beetles by inter planting with hot peppers. Borage- Repels tomato worms. Coriander & Fennel control aphids, slugs, snails, spider mites. Feverfew and Pyrethrum contains pyrethrin, a natural insect repellent. Don't place near plants that need pollination, as bees rarely come near feverfew. A weak infusion controls whitefly & spider mites. Dried, crushed chrysanthemum flowers repel aphids, leafhoppers. Marigolds control & attract pests from desirable plants-earworms, rabbits, maggots, whiteflies, potato beetles, slugs. French Marigolds repel aphids from tomato or pepper crop. Nematocidal Marigolds deter harmful nematodes & weeds. Marjoram & Oregano- repels whitefly. Tomatoes/Celery- repel cabbage worm. Mints: Catnip controls aphids, earworms, squash bugs, cucumber, Japanese, & flea beetles. Pennyroyal repels ants & fleas. Is generally beneficial to any herb or vegetable garden. Peppermint (& other Mentha sp.) controls ants, aphids, cabbage loopers, cabbage grubs, flies, cucumber beetles, flea beetles, squash bugs, whiteflies, mites. Spearmint is used to control bee mite. Nasturtium will attract aphids, flea beetles & black fly to itself & away from desirable plants, like tomatoes. Repels potato beetles, cucumber beetles. Nicandra & Nicotiana traps aphids, gnats, whiteflies. Nettle will control black fly. Rosemary repels the carrot fly. Sage is a wonderful companion crop for many other plants. It will repel cabbage moths & looper, carrot flies, flea beetles, a large number of harmful flying insects, especially those around vines & predators of rosemary. Thyme controls cabbage loopers, flea beetles, whiteflies. Green beans & Flax- controls Colorado potato beetles. |
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Plants That Help Each Other
Alliums: Chives help apple trees, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber. Garlic benefits apple trees, parsnips, peach trees, roses. Don't plant near beans, cabbage or strawberries. Basil benefits apricot trees, asparagus, grapes, tomatoes, hot peppers Plant Dill near cabbage, celery, tomatoes. Chamomile benefits cabbage, roses. Borage planted with strawberries will attract bees for pollination. Sage is a wonderful companion crop for many other plants. Plant sage with rosemary, cabbage, carrots, roses. Rosemary benefits sage, cabbage , carrots. Don't plant rosemary under peach trees or with strawberries. Cilantro/Coriander benefits cabbage, carrots. Mints & Oregano benefit cabbage. Parsley benefits asparagus, raspberries, strawberries. Nettle improves soil content of angelica nearby. Savories will attract bees to your garden & will enhance the growth of beans. Marjoram attracts pollinators, benefits cucumbers. Plant under apple trees. Fennel- do NOT plant near dill, beans or tomatoes. Plant Rue, Lavender or Geraniums with roses. Don't plant rue near cabbage. Hyssop benefits cabbage & grapes. Don't plant near radishes. Interplant Violets with Tarragon. Thyme benefits broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower. Horseradish benefits apple & apricot trees, potatoes. |
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