Green gardening is easier and cheaper by Judy Otto Gardening may seem a chore if we resort to time- consuming and expensive methods, tools, soil supplements, chemicals, watering equipment, and trips to the garden center for the materials to grow flowers and/or vegetables at home. But much of the time, we already have what’s needed. Compost is great fertilizer for your gardens, and does not require lots of work to make, not even a compost bin or frequent turning. Place compost materials between some shrubs that will screen the pile, keep dumping materials there, water it when you water the garden or lawn, wait a year. By then it’s compost. Almost anything organic can be composted. Solve two problems at once by scattering confidential papers one layer at a time among your food waste and those bothersome papers will become food for the gardens. Shredded paper also works if you must use a shredder. Paper towel and toilet paper cores make good “brown” material for the compost pile, as do bits of cardboard, and used paper towels, plates, and napkins, even dryer lint if the dryer load is all cotton. This “brown” material balances the “green,” or wet material, and adds nitrogen. Raised garden beds work better because the soil in them warms up faster, but they’re expensive and labor intensive to build. Pick up those pallets lying on curbs, put them on top of your garden plot, and fill with some of your own compost and garden soil. If you have lead in your soil, get some soil elsewhere and put a barrier under the pallet. The pallet slats make for great weed barriers and the openings, straight rows. Be sure to get raw wood, not treated. If you and your tulips, hostas, and the like are bothered by critters who like to munch on these plants, avoid the commercial chemical deterrents and instead lay down a border of rose, raspberry, or other bramble canes. None of us, critters included, like to get our feet pricked. Mulch for blocking weeds can be made from shredded leaves. And those are made with a lawn mower. No need to rake those leaves, bag them, and put them out for the DPW. Run the mower with bag attached over the leaves and dump the contents onto the garden beds or under the shrubs. Unlike tree bark mulch, this kind of mulch breaks down within the year and feeds the soil. When mulching, first put down newspaper or cardboard, wet it well, and spread mulch on to. This method requires less mulch and the paper will also decompose to feed the plants. Watering is made easier with rain barrels. A roof produces copious amounts of rain water, usually more than one barrel full. Most rain barrels can be connected to one another with short lengths of garden hose. Or attach a rain barrel to every downspout. You might just keep your basement dry and prevent the runoff of precious rain water to the sewers. Water from rain barrels is gravity fed, so set the barrels up on at least one layer of cinder blocks. Attach soaker hoses to the rain barrels and snake them through your garden. Then, when rain is scarce, just open the valves. These are but a few tips for easy gardening. Please post any that you might have to share. And enjoy the garden more than ever this year.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 02:57:55 +0000