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Green Gardening
How to Use Beneficial Insects for Pest Control
Harmful insects in the garden are always a nuisance, but organic gardeners have a wide range of natural pest control methods to choose from. It may seem strange, but one way to control damaging insects is to bring in more insects. This is because certain beneficial species will prey on harmful species, eating them in great quantities and keeping the population of pests down to a manageable level. Here are some tips for using beneficial insects for pest control. The best type of beneficial insects are those that are native to the area. Your first step should be to encourage these helpful bugs to take up residence in your landscape. You can do this by creating the environment they like, which means providing them with food, water, and shelter. Begin by planting things that appeal to beneficial insects. They are attracted to flowers that have abundant supplies of nectar and pollen. Dill, carrots, calendulas, zinnias, sunflowers, basil, thyme, sage, asters, yarrow, marigolds, parsley, and artemisia are a few of the cultivars that can be used. Flowers that attract butterflies will also bring in the beneficial insects. Many species prey on harmful insects only during the larvae or immature stage. The adult beneficial ...- Bookmark :
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How to Use Companion Planting for Pest Control
Gardeners have long been aware that certain vegetables and herbs have protective qualities in the garden. They seem to fend off harmful pests just by their proximity. This interesting effect is particularly noticeable with food crops. Vegetables can be protected from the most damaging pest threats by planting them close to specific types of vegetables or herbs. This strategy, sometimes known as companion planting, is a very sensible way to enhance the health of individual plants and the garden as a whole. Here are some tips for using companion planting to control pest insects. Before the gardening season begins, make a list of the items you want to grow. Try to match them up with a protective plant or herb. Then you can map out a garden that mingles different plants in a way that will reduce insect attacks. Generally speaking, diversity in the garden helps reduce potential threats from all types of pests and disease. That's why cultivating a wide variety of plants is so important to organic gardeners. Every garden should have onions growing in it, if only for the onion's general usefulness as a pest repellent. Plant with cabbage, carrots, corn, potatoes, and tomatoes to help repel potato beetles, ...- Bookmark :
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Helping the Earth - Plant a Garden in a Container
For anyone that does not have the time or even the space for a normal full sized garden but enjoys gardening very much, you may want to think about container gardening. This is a very good option for people who have limited space and wish to grow an assortment of different plants. Container gardens may not look the prettiest, but they are a very practical solution that many can use to their advantage. You can decide to grow some vegetables that you may wish to eat or even just plant some flowers in your container garden. With container gardens you must first find a container to grow the plant of your choice in. You can find many decorative styled ceramic pots or nice looking containers of many kinds to grow your plants in. The size and shape of the container you wish to use is completely up to you, but anything from large cans of food to washtubs can be put to use for this purpose. Moreover, the size of the plant will also determine how large of a container you need, so if you are growing a pumpkin you will need to find a container that will fit accordingly. The ...- Bookmark :
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Gardening Tips - Chives
Gardeners from around the world grow many different plants in many different places. Some of the more common types of gardens are windowsill gardens, in ground gardens, or gardens on terraces. Among the various different plants that people usually grow in their gardens, there is one in particular that sticks out the most as being a gardeners favorite, and that would be chives. Many people grow chives for various reasons but one thing for certain is that this plant has many amazing qualities about it. Chives are surprisingly very resilient to any harsh weather conditions that may occur. Even very frigid temperatures during the winter does not kill them and whenever spring time rolls around they sprout up from the ground. Because of the advantage chives have they can be very easy to grow. Because of this, it is very easy to grow a large number of them or just a few depending on how much you wish to grow. They are a very healthy plant to eat which also makes them highly desirable to grow since they are rich in vitamins and minerals. Another great thing about chives besides how healthy they are is that they are absolutely delicious ...- Bookmark :
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How to Start a New Lawn with Grass Seed
When you build a new lawn, you have a few different ways to get grass plants into the ground. Although laying sod might look easier to do, starting a lawn with seed has its own advantages. With a little effort, anyone can obtain an excellent result. Here are some tips for starting a new lawn with grass seed. The first and often most important advantage of grass seed is the cost. As you might expect, grass seed is much less expensive than sod. A second advantage is that you have greater choice in the varieties of grass you can use. There's another interesting benefit of using seed to create a lawn. Many organic gardeners choose to mix a little seed from non-grass plants such as clover and white yarrow into the grass seed before sowing. These beneficial plants build up the soil and contribute to the lawn's health when grown along with grass. One of the disadvantages of using seed is that weeds will inevitably sprout along with the grass, no matter how hard you try to start with a weed-free soil. And of course, grass seed doesn't produce an instant lawn the way that sod does. You will prepare to build the lawn ...- Bookmark :
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