Susan's Lawn Gardens

Susan’s Lawn Gardens is pleased to feature this article from today’s guest author, MUSHARF… one of the gardening experts at Infozabout.com, so we feel very comfortable recommending their work to our visitors.

Learn how to compost- the easy way.

by Musharf

It is becoming more and more obvious these days that we need to recycle as much as we can, and anyone with a garden has a head start and can make a great contribution. To many novice gardeners, including myself, this subject can be somewhat difficult to grasp; but in fact it is really straightforward – there are just a few very simple rules:

You need a compost bin, and the type you decide on rather depends on the size of your garden, but there are a couple of options:

A purpose built plastic bin purchased from a garden centre, not too expensive; and you just fill up from the top and a few months later, you can take compost from a small hatch at the base.
Alternatively, if you can wield a saw and some nails, you can make a wooden slatted enclosure, one metre square – or you can buy them ready made – and cover it with a piece of old carpet to keep the worst of the weather off.

What you can compost:

- all uncooked vegetable and fruit peelings
- teabags, tea leaves and coffee grounds
- egg shells
- dead flowers from the house
- and from the garden, soft prunings spent bedding plants, dead leaves, lawn mowings
- spent compost from hanging baskets or containers
- some dryer materials such as shredded paper, rabbit and guinea pig bedding.

The only thing you have to be careful about is to mix different types of material; if you have too many grass clippings in a big mass, they will turn soggy and slimy, or if there is too much paper and prunings, it will be too dry. So keep an eye on it, especially if you are using the wooden enclosure, and mix it with a fork occasionally.

What NOT to compost:

- all meat products and bones; bread, cooked food – these will attract vermin
- dog or cat waste
- woody material – which takes too long to compost
- weeds – these can ‘infect’ your compost with their seeds
- anything that is non-biodegradable, such as plastic.

And because you won’t always feel like taking a trip to the compost heap when it’s wet or cold or every time you peel vegetables why not keep a lidded container by the back door which you can fill up and then make the trip to the compost bin every one or two days?

Over a period of time – 3 months to 1 year, depending on conditions – all this matter will have broken down into lovely dark brown crumbly compost, which you can fork into your beds and borders. It makes an excellent soil conditioner and can be used as surface mulch, helping conserve moisture and discourage weeds.

You can also convert fallen leaves into wonderful compost. Rake up any leaves from your lawn – you may have to do this several times over the autumn – and collect them from the borders. Put them all into a black waste sack, sprinkle with water, put a few holes around the sack with a fork, tie the top, and leave it in a corner for about a year. What you end up with is known as leaf-mould.

Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips and hints, points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques, and insights pertaining to gardening and gardening implements, do please browse for more information at our websites.
http://www.infozabout.com

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Susan’s Lawn Gardens is pleased to feature this article from today’s guest author, Jeremy Bolton. He is an expert gardener, so we feel very comfortable recommending his work to our visitors.

Advantages of Using Organic Fertilizers

by Jeremy Bolton

These days, there is so much hype about organic fertilizers and its benefits. Most of us who have gotten used to chemical fertilizers are still skeptical whether facts are stretched too much to make it more appealing. Let us take a quick look at some of the advantages of using organic fertilizers so that you can decide whether it is really necessary to switch to organic fertilizer and organic gardening.

Long before the existence of synthetic fertilizers, plants obtained nutrients from decomposed organic matter such as bone, blood, fish and other organic waste, however it was the growth of farming and crop production that brought about so called “need” for synthetic fertilizers. As more research and studies have been conducted, the detrimental effects of chemical fertilizers are being made aware and more people and environmental groups are beginning to tout the advantages of the organic fertilizers that are readily available now.

Probably the most noteworthy advantage of organic fertilizers is the fact that they are mostly insoluble and therefore are slower to release nutrients to the plant.  This reduces the leaching effect that results from most chemical fertilizers that causes so many problems.  Plants can only uptake so many nutrients at a time and in most cases the plants will not uptake all of the nutrients from a synthetic fertilizer application. Additionally, the likelihood of burning plants due to the overuses is almost non-existent as the overuse of chemical fertilizers can result in the burning and even killing of plants and turf.

Organic fertilizers also help to improve soil quality.  Poor soil can only be improved through the introduction of organic matter, which is what organic fertilizer is.  The consistent use of chemicals creates plant life dependent upon synthetic fertilization as these fertilizers only work at the plant level.  Consequently you may see fluctuations in the vibrance and quality of the plant in between fertilizations.  Through the introduction of organic matter and resulting improvement of the soil and stimulation of soil microbial activity, an environment can be created to better support plant life and provide a slow and consistent flow of nutrients to the plant thus creating a harmonious balance between soil and plant.

The other part about using organic fertilizers is selecting the right one as there are so many.  Typically organic fertilizers will only be high in one of the 3 key plant nutrients, Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (NPK). For this reason it is important to understand the needs of your plant to help determine which organic fertilizer or combination of organic fertilizers you should choose to provide the necessary nutrients.  Or, you may simply want to add organic fertilizers to improve your soil quality, in which cases there are products better suited for that too.

No matter how you slice it, organic fertilizers are the only option for creating a long lasting and healthy plant/ soil environment that is ecologically responsible economically viable for the long run.

Jennifer Howerton is author of article written on organic fertilizer & natural soil conditioner. For more information, please visit :http://www.naturalenviro.com/Article.php?ArticleSKU=Organic-Fertilizer

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Susan’s Lawn Gardens is pleased to feature this article from today’s guest author, RON KING. He is an expert gardener, so we feel very comfortable recommending his work to our visitors.

Organic Pest Control – Pest Control Recipes
By Ron King

Eliminating Pests the Organic Way

We’re all looking for ways to live in a more earth-friendly fashion. But when it comes to gardening, it’s difficult to learn how to kill or prevent garden pests in a safe way. Organic pest control has made lots of headway, and we’re lucky to have many more effective options to resolve this problem.

Remove Them by Hand

Picking off grubs and other insects by hand is a basic way to eliminate your pesky problem. You can also build many types of barrier environments which entrap the insects. Plugging holes is also critical.

Read the rest of Organic Pest Control – Pest Control Recipes…

If the soil has lots of earthworms, then your lawn is healthy and vibrant.

If there are very few earthworms, it means one of two things… Either your soil is so nutrient poor that earthworms can’t survive, or pesticides have killed most of them.

Practicing natural, organic gardening lawn care can alleviate both of these problems. If you want a healthy green lawn that is earthworm-friendly, just follow these easy organic gardening lawn care basics:

Read the rest of What Is The Link Between Earthworms and Lawns…

What’s the secret to having the perfect organic lawn? Just combine organic products with these 3 traditional gardening techniques:

1. Enrich the soil with organic compost…

Grass thrives in loamy (crumbly) soil. Here’s a simple way to check for loamy soil…

Squeeze a handful of moist soil. Does it hold its shape? Now, poke or touch it. Does it crumble? If the answer to both questions is yes, then you have loamy soil.

If, however, it sticks together and barely breaks apart (if at all) when touched, then it has too much clay. Or, if it doesn’t hold its shape when squeezed, then it has too much sand.

Read the rest of Organic Lawn Care Techniques…