Caring For Your Garden

Garden maintenance is a necessary chore, but it can be very manageable and not at all difficult. Keep in mind that you will need to supply an equivalent of about one inch of rain per week during the growing season for optimum growth. For comparison one inch of rain computes to about 28,000 gallons per acre or 900 gallons spread over a 30 ft. by 50 ft. garden area. Give the garden a real good soaking once a week rather than a light watering more often. Light sprinkling will do little if any good. Improper watering is the single biggest reason for garden failure.

As in every garden, keeping ahead of the weeds early will save you a lot of work later in the season. Marking the rows of newly planted seeds will help you to not disturb them while you are hoeing. Weeds will rob your plants of water, nutrients and light as well as harbor insects and nematodes that will infest your garden in following years. As soon as the soil can be worked in the spring you can start to weed. The best time to weed is after rain or watering. Hoe shallowly to remove the weeds so as not to disturb plant roots that lie near the surface and leave the soil in a loose friable condition. In small gardens, hand weeding and applying mulch is a good method. Remember a clean garden is a healthy garden.

Mulching with organic materials such as partially decomposed hay, straw, grass clippings,and newspaper is extremely effective because the mulch not only controls weeds, and conserves water by keeping the soil from baking and will also add humus and nutrients to your soil. Apply the mulch 4 to 5 inches deep when the plants are about 6 inches tall which will do the trick.

Your garden is under constant siege from various diseases and insects. So defensive tactics such as hand weeding and picking the obvious insects are best, but if you are not sure exactly what is ailing your garden contact your extension service or your garden center for the proper treatment.

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