How to Maintain Your Edible Garden

Edible gardens have become more and more popular, as people want to grow their own organic food for economic and health reasons. But, Mother Nature and all her creatures love a garden full of tasty vegetables, too. How do you protect your plantings from hungry animals or the weather? Here are some tips for keeping your garden in good shape.

Wildlife

Deer, rabbits, raccoons and chipmunks can decimate your garden quickly. The best way of keeping them from your vegetables with a high fence to keep deer out, and a low fence, dug into the ground and with netting, to keep the smaller varmints from attacking your veggies. But, fences can be costly, and they are unsightly in some suburban settings.

There are commercial repellants that you can spray on vegetation, but they're only meant to cut down on the browsing, and are about 60% effective. An animal will ignore the repellant if it's hungry enough.

Choosing plants that are less palatable to the animals helps somewhat, too. "There is no plant that is wildlife-proof," says Stephen M. Vantassel, program coordinator for the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "But you can select plants that are less appealing. You could say it's the equivalent of we humans choosing between a hot fudge sundae and broccoli."

Weeds

Weeds can be annual and perennial. Since perennial weeds are spread through seeds and roots, you can dig the weeds up to get rid of them. Be sure to get all of the roots to ensure they will not grow back. Annual weeds should be hand-pulled before they are able to seed. Keep in mind that a garden might have both types of weeds. It's important to weed your garden regularly, as weeds steal nutrients and water from the soil, stunting the growth of vegetables. If left untended, they can overgrow and choke out many of the low-lying plants.

Weather

Every region of the country has a different climate. You should take steps to prevent a garden from getting damaged by the local weather. Have covers and shades available and ready to place over your garden in times of heavy rain or extreme heat and sun. In the Northwest we don't get the extremes in temperatures that some areas of the country do, but too much rain can drown the young plants.

Watering

Understand the watering needs of what you choose to grow and the soil you are using in the garden. Plant roots need oxygen to grow, and if you overwater the soil the plant can become too wet and get stem rot. On the other hand, if plants fail to get enough water, they will not bloom or produce fruits or vegetables.

When it comes to watering gardens and flower beds, you simply can’t beat the efficiency—and convenience -- of low-volume drip irrigation. By delivering water to plant roots where it’s most needed, drip irrigation keeps plants looking their best, reduces water waste through evaporation or runoff and keeps weeds from growing.

Source: www.totallandscapecare.com