Next in our series is the ‘organic’, native gardener. They love to garden however they don’t use any artificial fertilizers, pest killers, weed killers. They also don’t use manure, compost, water or a hand weeder. They understand that organic gardening is difficult, slow, and you don’t get the best results but they are committed to gardening that way (and enjoy letting everyone know how hard it is). They like to use natives whenever possible because that is what grows best in the Pacific Northwest but they don’t really notice the conditions that ferns, salal, and mahonia like best. Instead they follow the example of many city municipalities and plant them in the full sun or put a Western Red cedar 5 feet from their front door never thinking about the ones in the back yard that are 100 feet tall. It looks so cute when it is small (see Gardens Gone Wild for results of that).
Help!. I want to be organic but don’t know how.
1. Decide why and how organic you want to be. Dyed in the wool organic gardeners are often that way after they have control over their piece of earth. Sometimes it takes lots of digging out and renovation to create an organic garden space. If you have invasive weeds it may be so frustrating you will give up. Start in an area that has a good base to start from, or create a manageable smaller area to start with. As you get into it you will learn (that’s a good thing), and expand on it.
2. Be sure and use all the sources you can to get good plant growth. This includes water, manure, vegetable based fertilizers, compost, and mulching. If you have happy plants you will be happy. Follow clean gardening practices by cleaning tools and preventing contamination from non-organic things.
3. Think about organic pest control. No I don’t mean a pellet gun. Introducing ladybugs, nemotodes, and praying manthis into the garden help. Sticky traps for aphids, and beer traps for slugs will also do the trick. Deer fencing, and bird netting help keep larger plant predators away.
4. Ask, Ask, Ask. It is amazing what other people know and have overcome. People don’t know that a farmer controls thistle by cutting it off before it goes to flower and it will die. Solutions can be found in many books and on line but getting to know other gardeners has other far reaching benefits.
5. Natives should be put into native situations. Look at nature and see where the plant grows naturally. If you drive along a highway where the timber has just been cut out you will see lots of struggling plants Vine maples exposed for the first time to direct sun, crisp and prematurely red, ferns brown and curling are examples of wrong plant wrong place.
Now I realize there are gardeners that garden with natives but are not organic, and organic gardeners that don’t use exclusively natives. I know many that want to be as ‘green’ as possible and contribute to the world around them by careful gardening practices and these two things go hand in hand.
