Organic Gardening Center
garden center business vs. landscape design business?
I am thinking about starting an organic garden center business. I do not have any experience with retail. Another option that I am considering is to become a landscape designer. It seems like going the landscape designer route would be less risky than entering the retail world, but I have to say I am drawn to the garden center business. Any ideas, advice? What should I consider before making my decision? Any advice would be helpful and appreciated.
I would like to add that I feel fairly confident as far as gardening is concerned. I am planning on taking classes on landscape design.
Well, I applaud you first of all for wanting to open an organic center. Depending on where you live will determine the marketability. I would advise to start with the center and offer design/installation as well. That way you will cover both areas of interest and generate leads on both ends.
There are probably lots of designers/installers around you, but not many if any organic supply centers. You can do wholesale to public as well, and if you do it can be operated as a farming business as long as you are growing things yourself even if from plugs (if you can find a supplier of organic plugs) to save on taxes.
Organic Gardening Center
The Benefits Of Organic Gardening
More farmers are shifting to organic gardening since it’s very much less dangerous for people to consume. In fact, those who would like to produce their personal garden at house can do a similar thing by following the very same basics.
First, organic gardening doesn’t implement any fertilizers, nutrients or pesticides to make excellent quality crops. You can say that this procedure merely lets nature take its course since you count only on natural materials and rain water instead of tap water.
Any time we refer to natural supplies, one way would be to begin a compost heap by utilizing vegetables and other waste food. You can also add grass that has been cut by the lawnmower and then combined together and spread throughout the garden to help your plants to grow.
Another source of natural fertilizer is using maure. This can be purchased at your home and garden centers or you can order it by the truck load at soil centers
Believe it or not, earthworms are also useful in cultivating the soil so your vegetables or fruits might grow. This is since worms dig deep into the ground and aerate the soil. The aerated soil has higher oxygen levels and provides better drainage The worm excrement also acts as a great fertilizer that professionals say is five times richer in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium than other fertilizers
In any garden, the one factor you need to deal with is unwanted pests. This is the reason that pesticide sprays were developed but simply because they’re damaging to humans, organic gardening has to be accomplished with the assist of some of nature’s close friends.
A excellent example is really a toad simply because they’re known to eat a lot more than 10,000 insects in three month’s time. These contain armyworms, crickets, gypsy moth caterpillars, slugs and squash bugs. You could also use birds like the house wren that loves to feed on caterpillars and spiders.
The very finest part about having toads or birds close to is that you simply really don’t must purchase them. You just must generate the ideal environment to welcome them into your backyard.
Actually some back garden insects which you think are bad are in fact working for you. Take for instance the ladybug or the praying mantis. These creatures are protective of their territory and will devour anything that comes in their path. Ladybugs are especially useful in controlling aphids
Some plants can also be utilized to control the pest population. Planting some rosemary, sage or thyme continues to be recognized to repel butterflies whilst marigolds are an effective deterrent against nematodes. Chrysanthemums also contain a precursor, pyrethrin and can be planted amougst your plants to deter insects
But by far the most effective means of growing organic and natural plants all year round is via crop rotation. This means you rotate what you’re growing every couple of months.
By following such principles, you’ll understand that most of the leftover food after every meal and other garbage in your home does not go to waste. By including composting to your every day routine, you may be reducing the waste that contributes to the landfills and creating organic soil to put back into your garden.
About the Author
Want to learn more about organic gardening? Register for a free 7 day organic gardening ecourse at 101OrganicGardening.com Henry Greene is an avid organic gardener and wants to help others grow healthy fruits, vegetables and organic gardens for their own families. Discover how you can grow tasty herbs inside your home at 101OrganicGardening.com/articles
Starting a New Garden.?
I’m trying to start a new garden in my small patio, which at the moment is just dry soil where grass and some weeds grow sparsely over the surface.
The area is about 15×25 feet.
I have a couple of questions, I’d appreciate answers to either, or both, of them:
1) What is a good, organic (no chemicals) way of killing off the grass/weeds so that we can start some plots on the edges and cover the center of the patio with stone (we want to set down stone floor instead of using cement)?
2) We live in West Texas, near the New Mexico border, so our weather is really dry. What are good kinds of trees and plants (that aren’t cacti) that we could grow? We were thinking of some tomato plants, a fig tree, and maybe some flower beds as well as ivy around the fence.
1) Slow way – cover the entire area with black plastic, tarps or newspaper.
Faster way – horticultural vinegar – http://www.amleo.com/index/item.cgi?cmd=view&Words=bvg
though technically still a chemical but a safe, natural one
2) I can’t recommend plants but I can recommend good soil prep for less water usage. Add some compost to the soil and a water saver gel like SoilMoist or TerraSorb ( http://www.amleo.com/index/item.cgi?cmd=view&Words=01hgm ).
Cover your beds with a couple of inches of bark mulch and consider installing a drip irrigation system.
-Brian