Organic Gardening & Pesticide Alternatives

Gardening is good for your spirit and great for your lawn – but sometimes it’s not so good for the environment! Learn how to become an eco-friendly green thumb with these organic and pesticide-free gardening tips.

Caffeine Buzz
Coffee grounds are a completely natural way to provide soil with nitrogen, which it needs to fertilize veggies, flowers and grass. So save your coffee grounds and mix them with compost or garden soil. Not a big coffee drinker? Stop by your local Starbucks. They’ve started saving their grounds for green-minded customers.

A Salty Solution
Sometimes all it takes to get rid of weeds is a little common sense! Instead of using harsh chemicals, try sprinkling stubborn weeds that spring up on pavement and brick surfaces with salt. This method won’t work with hardy dandelions unless you pull off the head, sprinkle salt on the exposed root and then pour on a cup of boiling water.

No More Mildew
Many ornamental plants are susceptible to powdery mildew which covers their leaves with an undesirable whitish-gray fungus. Rather than using a chemical fungicide to rid your plants of this plague, try mixing one part vinegar with three parts warm water. Spray the solution on the leaves of your plants. Other natural preventing tips:

• Only plant in well-drained soil with proper sunlight
• Space plants out for proper circulation
• Don’t plant mildew susceptible plants like rose, zinnia and phlox in damp, shady locations
• Don’t handle or work with plants that are still damp from rain

Marvelous Mulching
Organic mulch is an eco-friendly gardener’s dream. Spreading a layer of mulch all over your garden can smother weeds, improve the condition of your soil, help with drainage and provide a natural fertilizer. You can buy organic mulch or save and use materials such as grass clippings (dried and bleached in the sun), straw, chopped leaves, ashes, pine needles, composted kitchen scraps and coffee grounds.

Compost How-to
Composting is another important component of an earth-friendly garden. Some quick composting tips:

• In compost speak, “green” materials are those that are rich in nitrogen. “Green” compost materials include grass clippings and kitchen waste.
• “Brown” materials are rich in carbon. They include dead leaves, straw and sawdust. 
• To make the most out of your composting project, mix both “green” and “brown” products together in your bin.
• Buy a commercial compost bin – find out if your city gives them away or provides a rebate incentive – or build your own using wood and/or wire mesh.

Always Aerate
An easy and chemical free way to revitalize your lawn is to aerate it in spring and fall. This allows for better drainage and increased oxygen. Rent an aerator, purchase or borrow a spiked roller or simply break out the spiked golf or baseball shoes.

A Bug’s Life
Bugs are not a bad thing! In fact, most bugs don’t do any harm in your garden at all. So instead of getting aggressive when it comes to pest control attempt to identify the new bugs you see by looking them up on the internet or bringing a sample to a local garden centre. If you do come across a bug that needs to be banished, hunt down organic pest-control products, which are easy to find these days. One to try: BT or Bacillus thuringiensis. This compound is biodegradable and all natural.