We have been building raised gardens for a number of clients and Landscape Architects. The area needs to receive a minimum of 6 hours full sun - all day is best – for great crop results. We use a special blend of sandy loam enriched with compost and nutrients. And for clients who live where gophers, moles or other burrowing critters are a problem: the bottom of these beds can be lined with a layer or two of steel mesh Today’s trends in home vegetable gardens lean towards ORGANIC gardening—which really means using less or no chemical additives or pesticides. Depending upon your interests, the home gardener can create their own compost to feed the garden using vegetable matter from left over table scraps ( just make sure to not add animal tissues or fats to your compost pile). But compost piles may sound like a lot of work… luckily there are special organic blends of compost that you can purchase by the bag at the local home improvement store to keep your garden nourished.
A New Leaf crews use DR. EARTH products on our gardens with really superior results. This one for vegetable gardens is 100% natural and organic blends of fish bone meal, kelp, beneficial soil microbes. And DR. EARTH also markets Organic insecticides including a Fruit and Vegetable spray to control Aphids, Mealybugs and Scale.
Gardeners relied upon nature to repel insects prior to the development of commercial pesticides. Some of the easy garden tricks are to plant Marigolds which repel many insects, including the bright green tomato horn worm. The kitchen herb Basil is know to repel white flies and a few other winged insects. To rid your garden of Snails or Slugs, an excellent organic pesticide is Diatomaceous Earth. This powder created from ground up shells of diatoms won’t harm you or visiting birds but destroys the soft bodies of slugs and snails.
