[PDF]Organic Flower Gardening

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HOW-TO BOOKLET #3145

ORGANIC FLOWER GARDENING




TOOL & MATERIAL CHECKLIST




□ Organic Mulch

□ Organic Fertilizer

□ Spade or Shovel



□ Trowel □ Watering Can

□ Soil Test □ Soaker Hose

□ Rake □ Compost or Chopped Leaves



Read This Entire How-To Booklet For Specific Tools and Materials Not Noted
in The Basics Listed Above

What could be more rewarding than a yard packed with bright, beautiful blooms for months at a
time? Enjoy the pleasure of growing great-looking, healthy flowers without resorting to synthet-
ic chemicals and fertilizers. The key aspects of organic flower gardening include:

to Matching the plants to your site

to Buying healthy plants

to Preparing the soil for good growth

to Keeping plants naturally problem-resistant with proper mulching, watering, and fertilizing
to Using safe, effective pest and disease controls

Follow these guidelines, and your garden will be the envy of all your neighbors!
PICKING A SITE

Successful flower gardening starts with picking the right plants for your site. For a naturally
healthy, great-looking garden, don't try to grow plants in conditions they don't like. Sun -loving
plants — like bearded iris — will hardly grow or flower in a shady spot; while a dry, sunny site can
cause shade-lovers — like impatiens — to wither and die. Plants growing in the wrong place will be
weak and much more susceptible to pests and diseases. Choosing the site first, then growing the
plants that are best for those conditions can help you avoid many disappointments.

BUYING HEALTHY PLANTS

Plants and seeds are available from many sources: home centers, garden centers, roadside stands,
and even supermarkets. No matter where you shop, look for plants that are compact and healthy.





When shopping for plants, look for strong, bushy stems
and green, undamaged leaves. Avoid those with long, spindly
stems or signs of insect or disease damage. You don't want to
bring any problems home to your healthy garden!



To take a soil sample for
testing, brush any debris
off the soil surface and use
a trowel to dig a hole 4 to
6 inches deep. Then take a
^-inch slice of soil from the
side of the hole, and put
that soil into a clean plastic
container. Take several
samples from the same
planting area, and mix
them up in the container.




Check for leaves that are medium-green to deep-
green, a sign of good care. Inspect plants carefully
for any signs of insects or diseases, like damaged or
discolored leaves or stems. Weak, infested, or dis-
eased plants are no bargain at any price!

As you select your plants, don't forget that they
need to match die growing conditions you have
available. The label or display sign should tell you
how much sun and what type of soil and moisture
UTe plant needs. If you're not sure what conditions
it requires, don't buy a plant just because it's pret-
ty — if it doesn't like your garden, it won't look
pretty for long. Looking up plants in books or ask-
ing knowledgeable salespeople will help you buy
die best adapted flowers for your site.

PREPARING THE SOIL

Developing healtiiy soil is a critical part of growing
naturally healtiiy plants. Your soil will provide the
vital water and nutrients that your flowers need to
thrive and bloom. Take a few minutes to learn
about your soil so you'll be able to correct any
problems before planting time.

When you're starting a new garden, taking a soil
test is one of the easiest ways to discover what
your soil is like. It will usually tell you the soil's
pH (how acid or alkaline it is) and if it is lacking
any nutrients. This information will help you



decide if you need to add any fertilizers or amend-
ments, and how much. You can purchase soil test-
ing kits at your local Cooperative Extension
Service, or at many home or garden centers.

If you're in a hurry to start your garden, or if you
just don't want to "bother" with a soil test, you
can get away without it. But be cautious about
applying fertilizer, lime, or sulfur to untested soil,
since you may be adding nutrients your flowers
don't need. Keep in mind that too much fertilizer
can be as bad as not enough!

Wien you're starting a new garden, you'll need to
remove whatever is currently growing there — usu-
ally lawn grass or weeds. Skim off the sod with a
spade. Dig out any weeds, making sure you get
their roots as well. Removing weeds carefully at
this stage will help minimize weed problems later
on. Don't be tempted to dig or till the sod or
weeds into the bed — you'll create real headaches!
Many grasses and some weeds spread by creeping
roots that can sprout new plants. If you chop up
these roots, your flower bed will be full of new
grass or weed shoots that will look awful and pos-
sibly crowd out your flowers.



BUYING ORGANIC FERTILIZERS

With so many commercial fertilizers on the
market, it can be tricky to know what to buy.
Start by looking on the label for a series of
three numbers (like 5-5-5 or 4-1-1). These
three numbers refer to the percentages of
nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in the
product. In most cases, you'll want a balanced
or complete fertilizer — one that has roughly
equal amounts of those three nutrients (such as
3-4-3 or 2-3-4). For the most flowers, avoid
products with a high first number (like 8-4-4).
This means that the product has lots of nitro-
gen, a nutrient that will promote lush, leafy
growth but discourage flowering.



Once you've cleared the site, you're ready to dig
or till. Eitiier way, it's important to work die soil
when it's at die right moisture level. Take a hand-
ful of soil and try to squeeze it into a ball. If die
soil won't form a ball, it's too dry to dig; water the
area dioroughly and try again in a few days. If
water drips off your hand when you squeeze die
soil, or if die soil forms a tight ball, it's too wet to
dig; wait a few days to let die soil dry. If die soil
forms a ball tiiat breaks apart easily when you tap it
with a finger, it's time to get started.

First, spread 1 to 2 inches of organic matter (like
compost or chopped leaves) over die site. As it
breaks down, die organic matter will release a steady
supply of nutrients for your plants. This is also die
time to apply any fertilizers or amendments tiiat
were recommended in your soil test. If you didn't
take a soil test, apply a balanced organic fertilizer
according to die package directions. Dig die organic
matter and fertilizer into die top 6 to 8 inches of
soil, rake die area to remove any rocks and break up
soil clumps, and you're ready to plant.

PLANTING YOUR FLOWERS

If you're starting your flowers from seed, simply
scatter die seed evenly over die planting area. If
you're sowing small seed — like sweet alyssum or
poppies — mix die seed with a few teaspoons of dry
sand; die extra bulk will help you scatter die seed
more evenly. Cover witii soil to die deptii recom-
mended on die packet, or just press die seed into
die soil if die package says to leave it uncovered.
Keep die area moist until die seeds start to sprout,
dien gradually decrease watering over die next
week or two. Once seedlings are a few inches high,
tiiin diem to die spacing recommended on die
seed packet. Carefully pull or snip off unwanted
seedlings, or dig diem up and transplant diem to
bare patches.

Transplanting flowers growing in plastic market
packs or pots is even easier. If your plants are in
market packs, squeeze die bottom of each "plug"



and push die plant out. If die plant is in a pot, put
one hand on die soil at die top of die pot with die
plant stem between two fingers. Then turn die pot
over, supporting die soil with one hand; use your
otiier hand to pull off die pot. If it won't come off
easily, try tapping die pot with a trowel to loosen it.

Use a trowel or shovel to dig a hole just as deep as
die plant's root ball, and about twice as wide.
Center die plant in die hole, and fill in around die
roots witii the soil you removed. Water each plant
dioroughly to settie the soil around die roots and
encourage new root growtii. Keep the area evenly
moist for at least 2 to 3 weeks to get plants off to a
good start.

MULCHING, WATERING, AND FERTILIZING

Once you've planted your pot-grown flowers, or
your seedlings are 4 to 6 inches high, it's time to
mulch. Mulching is perhaps the most important
thing you can do to keep your flowers healthy and
vigorous during die growing season. A 1-inch to
2 -inch layer of organic mulch — like compost, grass
clippings, or shredded leaves — helps to keep die
soil from drying out and adds a steady supply of
plant nutrients as it breaks down. Plus, it will vir-
tually eliminate weeding, since it prevents new
weed seeds from sprouting.

A mulch will help to hold existing water in the
soil, but it won't add any during dry spells. If you
don't get any significant rain for a week or two,
pull aside die mulch and feel die soil. If it is moist
at die surface, wait a few days and check again. If
you have to dig down 2 or 3 inches to feel mois-
ture, it's time to water.

The best way to water your flowers is witii a soaker
hose or drip irrigation system; this will apply water
right to the roots, where it's needed. Plastic and
rubber soaker hoses are particularly easy to use:
Just wind die hose between plants and leave it in
place all season. When you're ready to water, just
attach die end of die soaker hose to a outdoor
faucet (or to a regular garden hose if die flower



When mulching your
flower garden, leave
a mulch-free zone a
few inches wide around
the base of each plant;
otherwise, the mulch
can hold moisture
around the stems and
encourage rot.




bed is far from die faucet), and let die water run
until die top 4 to 6 inches of soil are moist.
Watering witii a regular hose-end sprayer is not a
good practice. You probably will lose patience
before you've applied enough water to penetrate
die mulch and adequately moisten die soil. Plus,
tiiis kind of watering wets plant leaves, encourag-
ing the spread of diseases.

Fertilizing your flowers started back at die soil
preparation stage, when you added organic matter
and perhaps a balanced organic fertilizer. Many
flowers will thrive on this diet and won't need
extra nutrients. If you do want to give your plants
a mid-season boost, apply a handful of balanced
fertilizer around die base of each plant and scratch
it lightly into die soil. Or you can treat diem to a
dose of compost tea. To make compost tea, take a
shovelful of compost and put it in a burlap or clotii
bag to make a "tea bag". Put the bag in a bucket
or watering can full of water and let it sit for a
week. Dilute die liquid to die color of weak tea
and sprinkle it over your plants or water diem witii
it once or twice during die summer.




Aphids are small, pear-shaped insects that cluster on
leaves and shoots, sucking plant sap and causing distorted,
discolored leaves. Pick off infested shoots, or spray with
insecticidal soap or neem.




Tiny spider mites cause leaves to look pale or stippled.
Pinch off infested plant parts, or spray with insecticidal
soap or neem.



CONTROLLING PEST AND
DISEASE PROBLEMS

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, pests and dis-
eases may attack your flowers. The key to control-
ling these problems is spotting them early Take a
few minutes as often as you can (daily is ideal;
weekly is okay too) to really look at your plants. If
you spot insects or damage, try to find out what
caused it; correctly identifying the problem will
help you choose the most effective control. Some
of the most common problems, along with their
causes and controls, are covered below. Before try-
ing any control for pests, wait a few days to see if
the beneficial insects living in your garden will take
care of the problem for you. If pests are increasing
after a few days, then try a control measure.

Leaves or shoots are distorted or discolored:

Aphids are small pear-shaped insects that come in
many different colors. They often cluster on buds,
shoots, and leaf undersides to feed on plant sap.
Pinching off and destroying infested plant parts is
often an effective control. If pests get out of hand,
buy a commercial insecticidal soap spray and apply it
according to the label directions. Or mix up your
own spray by adding 2 teaspoons of liquid dish soap
(not detergent) to 1 gallon of water. Spray plants
every 2 to 3 days for 2 weeks. Commercial neem
sprays are also quite effective. (Neem is an organic
insecticide derived from the seeds of the neem tree.)

Leaves are yellow or pale, often with web-
bing on the undersides: Spider mites are tiny
(almost microscopic) pests that suck plant sap.
Pinching off infested parts and using insecticidal
soap or neem sprays (as discussed above) are effec-
tive against spider mites as well as aphids.

Leaves have holes: Caterpillars or slugs and snails
could be at work here. Look for silvery or shiny
slime trails, which are signs of slugs and snails.
These pests like to hide in cool, damp places during
the day, so you may be able to trap them under
upside-down fruit rinds set among your plants.
Check the traps each morning and remove and



destroy trapped pests. Some gardeners report good
success with beer traps: Sink a shallow container so
the rim is flush with the soil surface, and fill it with
beer. Every few days, remove the drowned pests.

If a caterpillar is the culprit, you may find it cling-
ing to the underside of the leaf, or to a nearby
stem. Look carefully, since these pests often blend
in well. If you find the caterpillar, pick it off (use
gloves if you're squeamish!) and destroy it. If there
are too many caterpillars to hand pick, or if you
can't find the culprit, try spraying plants with BT
(Bacillus thuringiensis). BT is a bacterium that is
harmless to plants, pets, or people but toxic to
caterpillars. Mix the BT concentrate according to
package directions, and use a sprayer to thorough-
ly coat plants; make sure you get the leaf under-
sides too. Damage should stop within 2 to 3 days.

Leaves have white or gray spots: Powdery
mildew is one of the most common diseases that
attacks flowers. Roses, zinnias, and bee balm are
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