Many types of fungi serve a valuable purpose in the garden.  They contribute to healthy soil and they have a symbiotic relationship with plants that allows both types of organisms to thrive.  However, some fungi are harmful in the garden.  These destructive types, called pathogens, invade healthy plant tissue, weakening the plant and slowly killing it.  In fact, the most prevalent cause of plant disease is harmful fungi.  One fungal condition that you should know about is botrytis, commonly referred to as gray mold.  Here are some tips on identifying and controlling this disease. Gray mold can strike a wide variety of flowers, vegetables, and fruits.  It is widely seen in cool and damp climates.  The disease is characterized by a tan, gray-brown, or gray fuzzy mold that shows up on plant leaves and stems.  There may be brown blotches surrounding the moldy areas.  Fruit and vegetables are also susceptible, often exhibiting tan blotches that turn into rough gray mold.  The fungus usually starts on old plant material or fruit and spreads to healthy growing plants, causing the tissue to rot.  The spores are spread by the wind and by splashing water. Many new varieties of ornamental plants and vegetables are resistant ...

Even if you don't consider yourself an organic gardener, you may still choose to adopt growing methods that have the least harmful effect on the environment.  The first step towards gardening in an eco-friendly way is to build up the health of the soil using natural materials.  This is important because good soil produces strong plants that are less susceptible to disease and insect pests.  Improving the soil is something that should be done every year, because each crop and planting depletes the earth of nutrients.  Here is some advice for achieving rich, fertile soil in your garden. Test the soil Soil testing is becoming a more commonplace practice, even among hobby gardeners.  This procedure will tell you the levels of essential minerals and the amount of organic matter in the soil, as well as other useful information.  When you know what the soil needs, you can take the correct steps to bring it back into balance.  There are many mail-in soil testing services available to gardeners.  You can also look in the phone book for local soil testing companies.  Garden supply centers often sell home test kits that let you assess certain important soil qualities such as the pH level. Get air ...

As an enthusiastic gardener, you put a lot of work into growing plants for your own pleasure and use.  The problem is that a yard bursting with healthy plants, flowers, and food crops is downright irresistible to many animal pests.  Mammals such as rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, and skunks are common backyard visitors even in urban areas.  You may even see foxes, bobcats, deer, and coyotes if you live closer to the outskirts.  As much as you appreciate wildlife, you probably don't want animals ravaging your garden and eating up this year's harvest.  Here are some tips for keeping wildlife pests out of the garden. Put up physical barriers.  This strategy will work better for some animals than for others.  For example, a tall fence will help keep deer out but will be no obstacle to climbing mammals like raccoons.  If you attach chicken wire to the bottom of the fence, burying it one foot deep into the ground, it will deter some smaller animals and burrowing rodents.  As an alternative, plant thorny plants or prickly hedges around the garden beds.  Roses, barberry, holly, or gooseberry bushes will work for this purpose. Set up a sprinkler with a motion detector so that animals ...

You may think the only thing you need to worry about when buying sunglasses is the style of frame or the color of tinting.  But actually, there are other important characteristics of effective sunglasses that need to be considered. Ultraviolet radiation can harm all parts of the eye, including the eyelid skin, conjunctiva, sclera, and cornea.  That means that the whites of your eyes need protection, too.  Here are some things you'll need to keep in mind when you look for sunglasses. Ultraviolet Light Ultraviolet, or UV, radiation is that portion of the light spectrum that is beyond the shortest wavelength of visible light (which is violet).  It can damage the human eye, which is why sunglasses are important.  There are three types of UV light: UVA, UVB, and UVC. UVA light is somewhat controversial - experts differ in their opinions regarding its role in harming the eyes, although it is universally accepted that UVA rays are what accounts for skin damage.  If you are concerned about preserving your eye health, however, you may want to err on the side of caution and consider getting sunglasses that also block UVA light. UVB light is the main culprit in eye damage done by ultraviolet light.  UVB ...

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 ...