Organic Gardening

Pruning has a lot to do with flowering. For Mophead hydrangeas, cut out 1/3 of the thickest, oldest stems at ground level, leaving the youngest, healthiest canes. Prune tips of remaining young current growth by about 1/4, back to a pair of healthy fat buds. Water deeply. Hortensia and Lacecap hydrangeas flower on new stems that sprout from the previous season's growth. Lightly prune in winter back to just above a plump pair of buds. In frosty areas, do this after the last frost. Hydrangeas like morning sun or filtered light for the full day. The soil pH needs to be between 4.5 and 7.5 or plants will suffer dramatically.

shrubs found in russia

In a worm box composting system, you do not change the bedding. You let the worms eat it. Bedding is typically a high carbon substrate such as damp newspaper or coconut husk.
You put food in the box and cover it with the damp bedding. If it stinks, or gets to wet or is overcome by gnats you may want to sift out the worms and start over.
Perhaps every 6 months you should divide out your worms, sift out the worm castings/poop (dark black fertilizer) and restart the system. DO NOT ADD BANANA PEELS to your worm bin. They always have flies in them which will contaminate your box and make it nasty. You may also want to avoid orange and apple peels.

In the garden turn you compost into the garden at least once a year. Hint- grow tomatoes right next to your compost bin! RA, "the compost Guru"

Yes you can use vinegar to control weeds however a mixture of vinegar and water has to be mostly vinegar and the weeds have to be very young. If you are trying to kill Thistle the best time to use it is just before it rains and the Thistles have just been cut. Either way it's not nearly as effective as a herbicide is and you have to reapply continually. Also I would not recommend using this on your lawn as vinegar seems to be remarkably adept at killing grass.

brown matter would be any dried plant materials like dry leaves, straw, dry grass.

green matter would be grass clippings, kitchen scraps, vegetable and fruit peels, etc..

As a recipient of yard debris is a way in which a compost pit can be used. Yard debris typically ranges from deciduous leaf-drop to evergreen needle-casting, grass clippings, and shrub and tree prunings. It also will include outdoor furnishings which are made of wood, small-sized, and transportable.

Rain will not hurt a compost pile, unless it floods. In order for a compost pile to decompose and form compost, it is necessary to keep it from drying out. Rain will assist you in this activity.

Yes. The seeds develop inside the cotton boll. They are bred and sold by several seed companies under the name "cottonseed."

Oleander is poisous to humans, but not to the touch. You have to eat it or make a tea with it in order to be harmed. The most recent sad story I know was a family on a driving trip pulled over and roasted hotdogs on sticks cut from oleander. The smoke from that plant is dangerious too and, as I recall, the family perished. However, they're a hardy, attractive plant, and if you remember they're poisonous, you should be okay.

Yes, in small quantities. Most cat foods contain meat or fish as a primary ingredient, so if there's a lot of it in your compost, it will stink and attract nuisance animals.

Cat food is very high in nitrogen, so when you compost it, you should balance it with low-nitrogen materials like leaves or wood chips.

shrubs are smaller than trees. they have a woody stem and are less than six metres tall. the rose and hibiscus are some examples of shrubs. shrubs have a few stems that grow from the ground. unlike trees, the branches of shrubs grow close to the ground

Peat adds acid. So, if you need to add acid to your soil, you want to use something with peat. We added peat to our blueberry plantings. If you don't need the acid, then get the peat-free stuff.

Peat based compost,as the name suggests, contains peat. Peat free compost does not contain peat but some other organic matter. This excercise is driven by the Green lobby who fear that the planet will run out of peat and implode.

There are several ways to get rid of caterpillars, some are more beneficial than others.

The most common method people use is spraying their plants with insecticide. However the disadvantage of this is that it will also kill beneficial life, such as ladybirds/ladybugs. Insecticide can also stunt the growth of the plants. So it's not recommended.

An alternative to pesticides is neem oil. It won't stunt the growth of the plants, but again it can also kill beneficial creatures such as ladybirds and bees. Again, not recommended.

One of the most popular methods is using Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt powder. This powder is a live but plant-friendly bacteria that kills caterpillars and most other plant-eating creatures. It may however also kill some, but not all, beneficial creatures.

An effective but time consuming method is to patrol your plants regularly and pick off the caterpillars you find and relocate them elsewhere.

The most popular method is to make sure that you invite birds into the area. By placing bird feeders, bird tables and other items to attract wild birds, they will happily forage your plants for insects such as caterpillar. Of course the downside is that some birds enjoy eating seed from the ground, despite the plentiful offers on tables and in feeders (after all, beaks are designed for burrowing into dirt), so this is not a good method during seeding time.

Study and use the method of crop rotation. For example, if you grow tomatoes in one place in one year, relocate them to another place the next year.

You could also consider protecting plants by placing them in a protective box with polyester fabric to allow air, water and sunlight to the plants.

Some herbs are also deterrents to unwanted visitors. Lavender, mugwort, sage and peppermint for example expels most of them. Consider planting some of these herbs around your plants/crops.

Other than that, if you have the space to do so, a humane (but not always effective) method is to build a butterfly garden. Section off a portion of your land away from your main plants and grow the caterpillar's favourite plants there (dill, milkweed, sunflower, willow, red clover, verbena and lantana). This will attract the caterpillars to this section of the garden and keep them away from the plants you wish to protect.

It is always best to make sure you do your research on the caterpillars that visit your garden or crops before choosing a method, as some are endangered or can transform into endangered butterflies. Harming endangered species is against the law, whether they're eating your plants or not. In the eyes of the law, these protected creatures are more important than your plants.

Look out for ants too. Recently, it has been discovered that caterpillars often have "alliances" with ants. Caterpillars can be seen in ant nests and wandering around with a pack of ants for their protection, since ants have weapons (pincers) whereas caterpillars do not. Scientists have astonishingly witnessed caterpillars rewarding ants with food for protecting them and communicating with ants through vibrations on the ground.

The compostable, living material is broken down in compost bins and piles by the meeting of proper levels of air, moisture, and temperature; and to the regular turning over of the pile. Added to the proper environment is the role of microorganisms, and of macroorganismssuch as ground beetles. And there may be the introduction of composting worms. Any and all of these factors contribute to the decomposition of compostable materials into dark brown, fresh-smelling, organic matter-rich soil.

Roses, plums, cherries, meadowsweet, brambles, strawberry, hawthorn, applies, pears, service tress, and quinces. (Like a rose in shape or appearance)

The best organic waste is green things like grass clippings and leaves.

-Super Llama

Weedicides are commonly called herbicides. They are chemicals that control weeds to enter the field and compete with the crops and hence cause a direct effect on the crop. Some common herbicides are Metachlor, Nitofen, Round-up and 2,4-D.

Yes, vegetables can be grown in Miracle-Gro compost. The low-peat organic compost in question is edible plant-friendly in improving soil drainage, fertility, heat distribution, moisture infiltration/percolation and weed control. It promotes balanced, timely development that supports healthy produce and sustains strong immune systems against environmental pathogens, pests and stress.

peanuts fall under a legume family like the close relative the lentil

Nine thousand one hundred forty (9,140) is the number of organic farms in America. That total reflects publication in October 2012 of the 2011 USDA Certified Organic Production Survey by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.

The leaves make it difficult for new seedlings to grow. The leaves also have a lot of tannin in them. This might also effect growth.

The article attached has much more info on this subject.

There are two ways to make an eggshell fertilizer. You can simply dry out and crush the eggshells and then bury them in the dirt around your plant (a few eggshells is all you need). Alternatively, you can boil eggshells in water, let them steep for about 8 hours, and then use the calcium-enriched water to water your plants.

Yes. Just plant some of the oats harvested from the previous season, and they will grow to produce a whole new crop of their own.