Plant Gardens 101

For mineral utilization AND nitrogen fixation, one just cannot go past lucerne. This legume has extraordinarily deep roots and brings up a lot of trace elements. I mainly use lucerne in the walkways, as a good way to utilize what is basically fallow soil. I cut it from an early stage, just as flowers form, and continue to do so from then on.

Being penultimate to flowering, then being denied the chance, forces the plant to become biennial. This then affords an in-situ supply of nitrogenous mulch for the beds. Lucerne, being attractive to aphis, acts as a food source for ladybirds, also as a shelter belt for beneficial insects.

I have tried using clover as a living mulch, nitrogen fixer, but found it to be far too invasive, to the point of rapaciousness as it practically took over the garden. The old adage ” One year’s seeding, seven years weeding” holds well for the variety of clover I chose (Subterranean clover). This stuff actually buried its own seed! I kid you not – I have actually witnessed the process. (more…)

For nitrogen fixation, with very few exceptions, beans are best and indeed, all leguminous plants.

Beans, in particular, are compatible with most plants, although the allium family is highly antagonistic. Try it. Plant beans next to garlic – and watch them sulk.

In the legume family, that of broad-beans, or fava-beans, is probably the best nitrogen supplier I have ever seen. There are certain periods throughout the plants growth, where, not only can you SEE the nitrogen nodules, but, they are actually able to be weighed. (more…)

You have a number of choices, here. A compost bin, box, tumbler, trench or heap – all will work, its a matter of personal preference. Let us look. Compost Bin. This can be made out of just about anything; discarded 44gal. drums are good, provided they are clean of petro-chemicals; plastic cherry-bins are ideal. For the most part, it needs to be big enough that you could climb into it. Cut off the top and bottom – keep one of these for the lid. Make a number of ‘breathing-holes’ around the shell – these can be either cut or drilled through. A plastic rubbish bin will do. Once again, cut off the bottom, make holes in the side – then turn it upside-down, so that the wider opening sits on the ground. The idea of no bottom, is to allow the insects, worms and micro-organisms which help degradation of your waste materials the freedom to migrate into and out of your compost. Compost Box. This can be made out of anything you have to hand, be it old pallets, bricks, or spare lumber. Bales of hay work quite well – the hay ultimately becoming compost itself. Plastic Composters. There are a number of plastic composters available, stand alone units and tumblers. These are made of a special grade plastic that ‘breathes’. (more…)

Organic-Gardening-Where it Went Wrong

Organic-Gardening-Part 1 – The Other Side Not so long ago, many people believed that Organic Gardening , meant – chanting, naked under a full moon, with candles and bells. Thankfully, these-days, common-sense and a little less of ‘old wives tales’ and ‘voodoo’ prevails. Organic gardening, is about utilising and observing the laws of nature, in order to produce healthy, strong, pest and disease resistant plants, that look and taste better, too. What it is not, is banning of all chemicals and hugging trees, although this is available to you should you wish. (more…)

Xeriscaping literally means “dry”-landscaping. This form of landscaping is designed to use plants that are not overly reliant on water. Also, conservation of water resources, these days, is of the utmost importance when one takes climate-change into consideration. Xeriscaping, being a more efficient use of water to take care of your garden, has become popular in areas that are naturally dry and areas that are prone to drought (Australia being one example). In America, much of the land west of the Rocky Mountains is considered semi-arid, prone to drought and therefore, a good area to consider applying xeriscape principles, rather than continuing to struggle with the the european design. By applying the principles of xeriscaping, it is possible to enjoy the benefits of a beautiful landscape without running up enormous water bills or spending a great deal of time, trying to prevent your garden from turning up its toes due to lack of water. Xeriscape systems generally use 50 to 75 percent less water than traditional european style gardens. (more…)

A herb or vegetable garden can make a very attractive addition to any landscape. Herb and vegetable gardens, be they stand alone or, incorporated into the overall landscape, can be just as attractive as many of the common annual and perennials found in most gardens. An added bonus, is the fact that you can eat most of them as well. This is called an “edible landscape”.

Stand alone herb and vegetable gardens, are just that. An area is set aside purely for the cultivation of these plants. In this article, we are talking about the landscaping aspects, where these plants have a specific role, mainly as an attractive feature – with the bonus of being edible. Stand alone herb and vegetable gardens can be made into any shape and or size. The important thing is to keep in mind how it fits in with the rest of the landscape. Generally speaking, if this is to be a show-piece, then nice lines and an overall neatness is to be desired. Certainly this can be achieved by bordering the garden with largish rocks, however, this can be a problem if the garden is laid in the middle of a lawn. The encroachment of the lawn (especially if it is couch, twitch or kikuyu), will grow under the rocks and you will have a constant battle to keep the lawn out of the vegetable garden. A better solution would be to border the garden with landscape logs, such as railway sleepers, or heavy treated planks. This way, at least you can trim or spray the edges periodically to address the encroachment problem. Yet another way would be to make the lawn of chammomile. Non-invasive and although a lot of work to get established, once it’s up and running, it’s just glorious. Smells wonderful and has a calming effect on most people. (more…)

A weed is an unwanted, nuisance plant and the bane of gardeners everywhere. Whether gardeners like it or not, weeds must be attended to lest they take over the garden. They are fast growing, prolific reproducers and generally can colonise places where nothing else will, or can grow. In nature, there are no weeds, just plants, their role is to rapidly colonise any bare earth. They are in fact, the earths protector. Weeds tend to bring trace elements to the surface that are benefical to other plants after the weeds have gone. But, gardeners, farmers, and councils, don’t like them. For gardeners and farmers, this is easily understood, as these opportunistic plants compete with crops and gardens, for space, sunlight, nutrients and water, also harbouring pests and disease. Councils think they are ugly and untidy – such are the delicate sensibilities of humans in general. At the moment, we will be concentrating on the effects of weeds on gardeners.

Although there are many ways to control or keep out weeds – weeds happen. When weeds do occur in your garden or landscape, although it is always best to get them when they are small or young, we are not always able to do so. Some weeds, given the right conditions, are able to proceed from germination through to reproducing themselves within a week! Luckily, this is not the norm. Generally, weeding is best done by hand. If you are able to get them when young, they can be easily taken care of by chipping with a hoe on a warm day, pricking them out with your fingers, or smothering with a layer of mulch. (more…)