Healthy Yard & Garden Strategies

Gardening can be a rewarding hobby or a frustrating chore. How you view it depends not only on the problems you encounter but on the strategies you use to tackle those problems. The more you know about your garden, the better your choices will be. Applying some or all of the following strategies will result in a healthier garden, help attract and keep beneficial insects, and most importantly, help keep pest problems outside your garden gate.

• Grow suitable and disease resistant plants
• Garden in raised beds
• Practice crop rotation
• Practice garden diversity by interplanting and companion planting
• Build healthy soil
• Provide habitat for beneficial insects
• Pay attention to your garden
• Know a friend from a foe
• Consider a threshold of acceptable pest presence

Healthy Soil

Nutritious, water-retentive and well-drained soil is the foundation for a healthy garden. Build healthy soil by... (more to come)

Whether you are planning a new garden or restoring an existing garden’s health, it's best to start with the soil. Select organic soil that has the right balance of nutrients and the correct pH (acid/alkaline) level for the plants chosen. The use of organic fertilizers made from seaweed or compost is a good start to replenish lost nutrients in existing garden soil.