Organic herbicides can be used in organic gardening and farming to weaken or kill unwanted plants, otherwise known as weeds.

Selective herbicides are used to manage weeds that are either growing in between rows of crops, or to kill moss and weeds in lawns. Non-selective herbicides are used in areas where no plants are wanted, such as a gravel path. They may also be used to destroy remains of plants after a crop has finished.

Most organic herbicides are non-selective, i.e. they destroy all plants, without leaving residues in the soil that would prevent another crop from being grown in the next season. Generally they will also not harm the worms, beneficial bacteria and fungi that are a vital part of the life of the soil. Many non-organic weed killers will harm these forms of life and therefore weaken the growing power of the land.

Although technically speaking an organic herbicide could be any weed killer that includes carbon, which is almost all of them, these days the term has come to mean herbicides that are approved for use on organic land. This can vary in different jurisdictions so if organic certification is important to you (for example if you are selling your produce as organic) you will need to check with the appropriate state agency.

Organic herbicides may be either natural substances, synthetic compounds or processes like burning and mulching.

Vinegar

Vinegar is often used as a weed killer. In concentrations of between 5% and 20% acetic acid it can be used to kill surface growth of plants. Most plants will not draw it down into the root, so they can regrow and will need to be treated again. Some plants need two or more treatments.

Vinegar or acetic acid is also used in most of the synthetic compound weedkillers. AllDown, Matran 2 and Xpress are examples of patent herbicides that contain acetic acid as one of the active ingredients.

Other Natural Weedkilling Agents

Other agents that are used in compound patent herbicides include clove oil, garlic, thyme oil, citric acid and plant extracts such as yucca.

Burning

Fire is a method of weed control that is used in some situations. The process of burning unwanted plants is something that has been done for centuries. It clears the land after harvest and has the advantage of producing ash which enriches the soil. It burns many of the seeds which can reduce weed growth in future years. It is also completely natural.

However, open burning on land is now illegal in many areas, because of the risk of fire spreading and/or because of the pollution caused by the smoke. Controlled burning is allowed in some countries with flame being applied to a small area at a time by tractor.

Infra-red heat treatment is another way of burning the finished crop which does not involve the dangers of flames. This is permitted in most areas.

Mulching

Mulching is the process of putting something over the ground to stop weeds from getting light and oxygen. This is an example of a selective organic herbicidal process.

All of the ground between the wanted plants is covered with plastic, canvas or other material and any weeds that sprout in the ground beneath it will not be able to grow. Putting straw between strawberry plants is a traditional example of mulching.

In a garden, and even in many organic farming environments, the most common form of weed management is simply to pull the weeds up by hand or with a hoe. This is the simplest way to control weeds. However, for larger areas of unwanted vegetation, organic herbicides can be useful.

Organic gardening for beginners is a hot topic right now as more and more people are getting into growing their own organic food. First let’s look at the benefits:

- it’s the very best way to put the healthiest, freshest and tastiest food onto your table

- it’s much more environmentally friendly to stop spraying your garden with chemical pesticides

- it gets you out into the fresh air

- it’s a fun hobby to have

- it keeps your backyard looking just great!

The first thing to do when you are planning your new organic garden is to decide what you want to grow. Most people start with vegetables because that is usually their reason for going organic - they want to eat their own home grown pesticide-free food. And it’s a great reason!

There are plenty of organic seeds available now. You can buy them at markets, nurseries or gardening stores, or online. Be sure to pick out vegetables that are suited to your garden. This means you need to check that they will grow well in your climate, soil type and the amount of sun or shade that you have in your backyard. You should also consider what time of year you need to plant them.

Seeds are normally started indoors in small containers or seed trays. You can buy special planting mix to help your seeds to sprout. Be sure it is organic and does not contain chemical fertilizers. Don’t forget to label your trays - often you will find that baby seedlings all look alike!

If you want to cut out the time taken to start your new crops from seed, you can buy small plants to put directly into your garden. This is a good option if you are starting later in the year.

Since you won’t be using standard pesticides you need to think about protecting your new seedlings from slugs and other pests. You probably know what pests are a particular problem in your area from your previous gardening experience. If you don’t, you can ask gardening neighbors.

Choosing plants that are less likely to be attacked by your neighborhood pests will give you a big advantage. You can also take steps to protect your plants while they are young. Depending on the type of plant and the pests that it attracts, you may want to use nets, upturned plastic bottles, or barriers.

It is possible to buy organic pesticides for some pests, but many organic gardeners prefer not to kill the insects that are part of the natural food chain in their local environment. Instead they will often encourage the natural local predators to come to their garden - in effect, inviting the hitmen of the insect kingdom into the backyard to do the dirty work for them!

When you look at the benefits, you will see that organic gardening for beginners is a great way to get all of the family involved in creating a wonderful environment in your backyard.

We are often asked the question: “Is my garden organic?” Many people are not sure exactly what is the definition of organic, and whether they can correctly apply it to the vegetables, fruits and other plants that they are growing in their garden, yard or small land holding.

The word ‘organic’ originally meant anything that contains carbon (in chemistry) or anything relating to living organisms or organs of the body (in biology). However, in farming, gardening and food production, ‘organic’ has come to mean food and plants that are grown and prepared without the use of chemicals or pesticides.

If you are growing food for sale, there are a lot of regulations that you must comply with before you can call your produce organic. These vary from state to state and country to country so we cannot include them all here. Generally, the land must be free of chemical pesticides, fertilizers and other treatments for a period of several years before it can be certified as organic. Your local agriculture office will be able to advise you about this.

Clearly, having an organic garden is not as simple as just avoiding using chemicals on your growing plants. You also need to think about the plants themselves, the soil that they are growing in, and what is happening on neighboring land.

For example, if you have a fruit tree orchard and you want organic fruit, you will not be able to achieve your aim if your close neighbor on the other side of the fence is spraying his orchard with pesticides. The wind will blow the spray onto your trees and it will get into the soil. Rain and living organisms will transfer the chemicals in the soil onto your land, and your trees will draw them up into their roots, trunk and eventually into the fruit.

Therefore, to have a truly organic garden, you need to have a pesticide-free barrier around your growing crops. If you have plenty of land you can easily accomplish this by not using chemicals on the surrounding land. If your yard is closely surrounded by neighbors, maybe you can persuade them to go organic too.

Organic plants must be grown from organically produced seed. You can find many suppliers online. If you buy your plants as seedlings, you will need to check that they have been sprouted and grown in organic conditions. This means using organic potting soil, fertilizers etc.

Instead of buying fertilizer, most organic gardeners use compost that they make themselves. You can pile up fallen leaves, plant matter, wood shavings, and kitchen vegetable waste either in a corner of the garden or in a specially designed compost holder. If you just have a heap you can fence around it to improve the appearance. Avoid putting any cooked food waste or meat on your compost - this can attract rats and other vermin.

Having an organic garden is a process or path that can take several seasons. Just like organic structures themselves, your organic garden will take time to get established. Keep taking steps toward what is natural in your garden and you will soon not need to ask “Is my garden organic?”

If you live in a dry and arid climate then your desert landscaping is going to take a little more planning than some other parts of the country. desert landscaping will have to work with a plan that includes only plants and trees that can survive with much less water than some other plants. There is no point in planting something if it can not sustain itself afterwards. So take some time with your desert landscaping plan and make sure that you have done everything suited to the climate.

You could spend the money to get better irrigation put in but the money will be great and the time will be all consuming. It is much simpler for your desert landscaping plan to just include plants that will thrive even in the hot sun all day.

What makes using desert landscaping friendly plants so great is that not only will these plants do well even in the hot sun they will also be able to thrive in poor quality soil. This is a much needed quality because places that have so much sun tend to have poor soil as well. So in essence you are killing two birds with one stone as they say.

Here are some wonderful plants that you can use in your desert landscaping:

Longwood Blue bluebeard
This is a shrub, it is deciduous and it will grow back each and every spring. It will always come back healthy and happy and this makes it perfect for desert landscaping. It is not a tiny shrub, it will grow to be anywhere between 3 and 4 feet high with a width of about 2 feet. This is a lovely plant to use in your desert landscaping as it is not only beautiful with its pretty blue flower clusters and silver foliage, it is also very fragrant.

Autumn Joy
This is a wonderful perennial that you can plant for your desert landscaping. With this choice you will have great leaves in pretty whorls. These leaves can be any number of different colors and can be bought to go with any desert landscaping design. This plant is the ultimate for desert landscaping because it can grow in rock gardens with ease. This lovely desert landscaping plant also has a unique and interesting flower unlike any other I have ever seen. These small flowers grow in clusters and they can be a few different colors and shades. The most common are yellow, orange and red and pink. If you plant these in your garden you will have butterflies around all of the time and they make for lovely entertainment on their own.

There are many new trends surfacing in gardening, and water gardening is one of the main new interests.  Water gardening can be in the form of waterfalls, ponds, fountains, all of which can be enhanced by rock work combinations and lighting, plants, and fish.  Water gardening doesn’t have to be a pond or natural water source either, it can consist of just a plastic tub, basically anything that can hold water.

The most important thing to consider in water gardening is probably the spot chosen.  Since plants and fish both need plenty of sunlight, places in direct light away from trees and bushes is the best place.  This will also help prevent leaves and debris from collecting in the water.

When planning for a water garden first decide the size you want.  This will depend on how much money you are willing to spend because water gardening can get expensive if you opt for a large garden full of plants, rocks, fish, and lights.  Also consider the size of our property, and the amount of time you want to spend with maintaining your water garden. 

When you choose what type of aquatic plants you wish to have, remember that the plants should only cover about half of the water.  Plants can be free floating, submerged, or marginal.  Which you choose is all a matter of personal preference.  Some plants are good for their scent, some provide more oxygen than others and will keep the pool health, and some are just beautiful. Fish are not only nice to look at but they are also very beneficial.  Fish help keep debris at a minimum and help in controlling larva and other insects.
     
One of the main difficulties in water gardening is keeping water clear of algae.  Algae problems are usually caused from too many nutrients in the water from feeding fish too often or from over fertilizing plants.  If ponds are made correctly and are maintained properly algae problems and control will be kept at a minimum. 
     
All garden pools regardless of size will need maintenance throughout the year. With proper planning you can ensure a healthy balance between living and decorative features of a water garden that can almost care for itself with simple maintenance inputs from you.
You can get rid of algae by reducing on the nutrients that cause the algae by cutting back on feeding and fertilizing, planting more plants, installing a filter system, or replacing existing water with fresh water.  There are some chemicals that can be used, like copper compounds, but overuse can kill plant life and fish.

Water gardening doesn’t take anymore time than regular gardening, but obviously isn’t near the same thing.  You may be the type person who couldn’t grow a flower if you tried but would be excellent at water gardening.  If you are looking for a way to occupy some time or to beautify your yard, water gardening is an excellent way.

Flower gardening is becoming more and more popular every day.  Flowers can brighten everyone’s day, they smell nice, and are a great hobby.  Flower gardening is simple, inexpensive, and loads of fun.  Flower gardening can be done for yard decoration, simply as a hobby, or even professionally.

There are some decisions that have to be made before even flower gardening can be started.  You must decide if you want annuals that live for one season and must be replanted every year, or perennials that survive the winter and return again in the summer.  When buying and planting, pay attention to what kind of flowers thrive in your climate as well ass the sun requirements.

When flower gardening, you must decide what type of look you want before planting.  For instance, mixing different heights, colors, and varieties of flowers together in a “wild-plant style” will give your garden a meadow look and can be very charming.  If short flowers are planted in the front of your garden and work up to the tallest flowers in the back you will have a “stepping stone style”.

You can order seeds for flower gardening from catalogues or buy them from a nursery.  Most people will go to the nursery and buy actual flowers and then transplant them.  After you have prepared your garden area and bought flowers, it is a good idea to lay the flowers out in the bed to make sure you like the arrangement and that they will be spaced properly.

One of the easiest processes in flower gardening is the planting/ if you have seeds just sprinkle them around in the flower bed.  For planting transplants dig a hole just bigger than the flower, pull the container off, and set the flower in the hole right side up.  Cover it with the loose soil and press down firmly, then water.
     
Maintaining a flower garden is even easier than planting one.  Although they might make it on their own, a bag of fertilizer applied in the early spring is a good idea.  Pinch back any blooms after they start to fade and keep them good and watered.  To save yourself work during the next season of flower gardening, rid your garden of all debris and spread out organic nutrients like peat moss or compost.  Don’t forget to turn over the soil to properly mix in the fertilizer and rake smooth when finished.  If you have perennials planted be careful not to disturb their roots in this process.
     
Flower gardening is as easy as 1, 2, and 3: simply decide what to plant; plant it, and water, water, water!  Flower gardening is undoubtedly gaining in popularity and gives anyone excellent reason to spend some outdoors and test out their green thumb.

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To make sure that your prized roses remain in the best of health, simply follow these tips.

1. Black Spots on Leaves

This disease is commonly known as black spot. Black spots appear as circular with fringed edges on leaves. They cause the leaves to yellow. Remove the infected foliage and pick up any fallen leaves around the rose. Artificial sprays may be used to prevent or treat this kind of rose disease.

2. Stunted or malformed young canes

Known as powdery mildew, this is a fungal disease that covers leaves, stems and buds with wind spread white powder. It makes the leaves curl and turn purple. Spray with Funginex or Benomyl to treat this fungal disease.

3. Blistered underside of leaves

Known as rust, this disease is characterized by orange-red blisters that turn black in fall. It can survive the winter and will then attack new sprouts in the spring. Collect and discard leaves that are infected in fall. a Benomyl or Funginex spray every 7-10 days may help.

4. Malformed or stunted leaves and flowers

This is caused by spider mites. They are tiny yellow, red or green spiders found on the underside of leaves where they suck juices. The application of Orthene or Isotox may help in treating this infestation.

5. Weak and mottled leaves with tiny white webs under them

This is caused by aphids. They are small soft-bodied insects that usually brown, green or red. Often clustered under leaves and flower buds, they suck plant juices from tender buds. Malathion or diazinon spray may help roses to survive these bugs.

6. Flowers that don’t open or are deformed when they open.

Thrips could be the reason behind this problem. They are slender, brown-yellow bugs with fringed wings that also suck juices from flower buds. Cut and discard the infested flowers. Orthene and malathion may also treat this problem.

Remember that roses are hungry feeders that require much fertilizer to become healthy bushes.

Pest control must be done with utmost consideration to safety; safety in terms of the plants, animals and humans. This holds especially true for those with vegetable and organic gardens.

The main purpose of growing vegetables organically will be defeated if they become tainted with pest control chemicals.

Here are a few long-term maintenance tips to make pest control less damaging and more environmentally friendly.

1. Use the physical pest control process.

This may be accomplished through picking grubs off by hand, creating barriers and traps and plugging holes. Snails can be found hiding in damp places under rocks and towrds the base of those plants with straplike foliage.

2. Apply biological pest control.

Encourage predatory insects such as green lacewings and dragonflies to feed on aphids and other pests that attack your plants. You can do this by placing a shallow bowl of water in the garden. Dragonflies especially will hover around water. Bacterial insecticides such as B. thuringiensis could also be used against caterpillars.

3. Only as a last resort should we turn to chemical pest control.

Organic pest control methods can be successful and the ingredients for many of the recipes can be found in the kitchen cupboards. If chemical sprays are really necessary, try and find the least-toxic. These include insecticidal soaps, horticultural oils, dehydrating dusts, etc.

4. Consider the use of safer pest control substitutes.

Recipes for alternative pest control include the following:

Against Green Aphids and Mites - Mix 1 tablespoon of liquid soap and a cup of vegetable oil. Dilute a teaspoon of this solution in a cup of water and spray on aphids and mites.

Against Cockroaches - Dusts of boric acid can be applied to cracks or entry points of these insects. Bay leaves on pantry shelves could also help in warding off these critters.

Make sure that the chemicals you use are made specifically for the insects you are targeting.

In deciding upon the site for the home vegetable garden it is well to dispose once and for all of the old idea that the garden “patch” must be an ugly spot in the home surroundings. If thoughtfully planned, carefully planted and thoroughly cared for, it may be made a beautiful and harmonious feature of the general scheme, lending a touch of comfortable homeliness that no shrubs, borders, or beds can ever produce.

With this fact in mind we will not feel restricted to any part of the premises merely because it is out of sight behind the barn or garage. In the average moderate-sized place there will not be much choice as to land. It will be necessary to take what is to be had and then do the very best that can be done with it. But there will probably be a good deal of choice as to, first, exposure, and second, convenience. Other things being equal, select a spot near at hand, easy of access. It may seem that a difference of only a few hundred yards will mean nothing, but if one is depending largely upon spare moments for working in and for watching the garden and in the growing of many vegetables the latter is almost as important as the former this matter of convenient access will be of much greater importance than is likely to be at first recognized. Not until you have had to make a dozen time-wasting trips for forgotten seeds or tools, or gotten your feet soaking wet by going out through the dew-drenched grass, will you realize fully what this may mean.

Exposure.
But the thing of first importance to consider in picking out the spot that is to yield you happiness and delicious vegetables all summer, or even for many years, is the exposure. Pick out the “earliest” spot you can find a plot sloping a little to the south or east, that seems to catch sunshine early and hold it late, and that seems to be out of the direct path of the chilling north and northeast winds. If a building, or even an old fence, protects it from this direction, your garden will be helped along wonderfully, for an early start is a great big factor toward success. If it is not already protected, a board fence, or a hedge of some low-growing shrubs or young evergreens, will add very greatly to its usefulness. The importance of having such a protection or shelter is altogether underestimated by the amateur.

The soil.
The chances are that you will not find a spot of ideal garden soil ready for use anywhere upon your place. But all except the very worst of soils can be brought up to a very high degree of productiveness  especially such small areas as home vegetable gardens require. Large tracts of soil that are almost pure sand, and others so heavy and mucky that for centuries they lay uncultivated, have frequently been brought, in the course of only a few years, to where they yield annually tremendous crops on a commercial basis. So do not be discouraged about your soil. Proper treatment of it is much more important, and a garden- patch of average run-down, or “never-brought-up” soil will produce much more for the energetic and careful gardener than the richest spot will grow under average methods of cultivation.

The ideal garden soil is a “rich, sandy loam.” And the fact cannot be overemphasized that such soils usually are made, not found. Let us analyze that description a bit, for right here we come to the first of the four all-important factors of gardening food. The others are cultivation, moisture and temperature. “Rich” in the gardener’s vocabulary means full of plant food; more than that and this is a point of vital importance it means full of plant food ready to be used at once, all prepared and spread out on the garden table, or rather in it, where growing things can at once make use of it; or what we term, in one word, “available” plant food. Practically no soils in long- inhabited communities remain naturally rich enough to produce big crops. They are made rich, or kept rich, in two ways; first, by cultivation, which helps to change the raw plant food stored in the soil into available forms; and second, by manuring or adding plant food to the soil from outside sources.

“Sandy” in the sense here used, means a soil containing enough particles of sand so that water will pass through it without leaving it pasty and sticky a few days after a rain; “light” enough, as it is called, so that a handful, under ordinary conditions, will crumble and fall apart readily after being pressed in the hand. It is not necessary that the soil be sandy in appearance, but it should be friable.

“Loam: a rich, friable soil,” says Webster. That hardly covers it, but it does describe it. It is soil in which the sand and clay are in proper proportions, so that neither greatly predominate, and usually dark in color, from cultivation and enrichment. Such a soil, even to the untrained eye, just naturally looks as if it would grow things. It is remarkable how quickly the whole physical appearance of a piece of well cultivated ground will change. An instance came under my notice last fall in one of my fields, where a strip containing an acre had been two years in onions, and a little piece jutting off from the middle of this had been prepared for them just one season. The rest had not received any extra manuring or cultivation. When the field was plowed up in the fall, all three sections were as distinctly noticeable as though separated by a fence. And I know that next spring’s crop of rye, before it is plowed under, will show the lines of demarcation just as plainly.