Composting, natural weedkiller, organic mulch, biodiversity, green manure… these gardening techniques proposed by Henry Lavenduc, gardener in the Drôme. Here are some gardening tips to try right away.
1 – Double pruning for lavender
There are all sorts of theories about caring for lavender plants. The ideal is to prune them twice. Once after the first flowering, at the end of summer: don’t be afraid to cut a lot, but always leave some leaves, to prevent the plant from making wood. The second pruning is done in April, when the first shoots are already well formed. Then cut a few centimeters. The flowering will only be more luxuriant.
2- Resurrected!
If you think your lavender plant is near death, you can still try to revive it. Prune it vigorously in March or April, down to the wood. With a bit of luck, your lavender will have already regained color in summer. However, it will take a year to see it bloom again.
3- Colors in the shade
To color the shady areas under trees and shrubs, plant species that are resistant to drought, shade and poor soil. Examples: Primroses, Cyclamens, Arum italicum and Cardamines.
4- The butterfly effect
It’s easy to attract butterflies to your garden, provided you install the right plants – ficoids, milkweed, goldenrod. But you can also favor plants that promote their development. Some butterflies install their chrysalis in the stems of nettles. So take care to have some in your garden. Plant them in a plastic pot from which you have removed the bottom, in order to avoid their proliferation. The leaky pot trick can also be used for other plants that tend to be invasive, such as mint.
5- Prolonged flowering
Before the longest day (June 21), you can prune your late blooming perennials back 1/3 or ¼ of their height. Shortened will appear new shoots that will bloom later than normal. This way, your flower bed will stay in bloom for longer.
6- Divide the perennials
Beginning in April, perennials usually grow large enough to redivide. Pull the seedlings out of the ground with a spade and split them with a knife or with your hands. Replant the new cuttings, then give them water and a little organic fertilizer. You will thus obtain, this year again, new robust plants. When perennials get old, it is sometimes advisable to discard the oldest parts and replant only the young shoots. It’s their best makeover.
7- Invite a loner
The hedgehog is the ultimate slug eater. He will easily find his way to your garden or you make sure he can get under the fence and find proper shelter. A small plate of croquettes (or pâté) for cats and a few madeleines will also attract them. Don’t forget the water (never the milk!) by installing a stone in the center to prevent the container from tipping over.
8- Grow a flower meadow
A patch of flowery meadow is much richer in biodiversity than your close mowed lawn. Many insects come to gather pollen from these flowers , which are similar to those that grow in nature. Start by converting a piece of your lawn: 1 to 2 square meters are enough to quickly increase the biodiversity of your garden. For this, remember to sow in April.
9- Slug attack
From spring, slugs invade the gardens, devouring your favorite plants. To overcome these undesirables, there are now organic granules (eg Escar-Go at Ecoflora) to scatter around plants that slugs love, but which dry them out, while being safe for humans and animals. pets.
If you are a fan of grandmother’s recipes, you can try these: spread ground coffee (not decaffeinated!) on the leaves of the coveted species: the slugs will swallow it at the same time as the plant and will not resist caffeine… Pour dark beer into a container (plastic bottle, empty tin can) and place it near the plants to be protected, diagonally into the ground. The slugs, which love it, will drown there. Snails and especially slugs will no longer eat your leaves thanks to the eggshells, a natural barrier.
10- Go blackberries!
Picking delicious blackberries yourself under the summer sun is possible! But you have to be careful, because the mulberry trees tend to swarm. Place a stake to support the plants and assume that the more you prune, the more fruit you will harvest.
11- Sowing one day, flowers always
In April, the weather warms up slowly and it becomes possible to sow in open ground. The California Poppy Eschscholzia gives very good results. Rake the soil well, dig a trench and fill it with potting soil. Spread the seeds there and cover them with a very thin layer of sand (the seeds cannot be deeper than their own thickness). Tamp lightly and water with a delicate stream. When the plants come out of the ground, you can still prune them or move them. They will bloom profusely all summer and will reseed themselves. Not recommended for those who want to control everything in their garden!
12- Dead or alive?
When pruning, how do you know if a branch is dead or not? Cut off one end; if green appears, it is not dead yet and there is hope that it will recover.
However, if the wood is brown, dry and brittle, you can prune it without hesitation. Dead wood is unsightly and rot can easily lodge in it, which may eventually contaminate healthy branches.
13- Natural doping
Remove faded flowers as much as possible. In most perennials, this will stimulate the appearance of new flower buds. Similarly, when you pick the flowers of perennials with abundant production to make bouquets, you will stimulate their flowering…
14- The milestone of 5 years
After 5 years, the aromatic herbs lose their flavor and fragrance. So dig up the plant and keep only the outer parts to make new cuttings. These have indeed developed last and are therefore younger. Hoe the soil and place the rejuvenated plants in a new location. Success is guaranteed in most cases.
15- Plant his name
If you have a vegetable patch and small children, have them write their names in the dirt. On this track, sow watercress or any other plant with small leaves. When these come out, the name of your offspring will appear, all dressed in green.
Weeds in the garden – Source: spm
16- Kill the weeds!
In May, all vegetation experiences explosive growth, including weeds. To avoid this, cover the ground as much as possible. Practice “solarization” by covering the area to be weeded with a black plastic sheet, in summer. Do the same with stacked old boxes. You can densify your perennials, spread wood chips or plant ground cover species between plants and beds (periwinkles, wild geraniums , lady’s mantle). They have the advantage of growing quickly and look great when planted in large areas. The more they spread, the less you will have to maintain your garden.
17- Not so bad weeds
Do not pull weeds with stubborn roots (gouty grass, quackgrass, bindweed). Each piece of root rebuds indeed immediately!
If the grass has slipped between your perennials, dig up the whole plant, remove anything undesirable and then replant your perennial, after cutting the ends of the leaves (to limit its water needs and help the resumption of roots) and water thoroughly.
Thanks to their powerful roots, dandelion and ragwort loosen the soil and aerate it. The daisy, fleabane, poppy, clover, thistle, dandelion, nettle, bindweed attract bees, butterflies and many useful insects. Like mint, a very effective ground cover that smothers other weeds and warns the gardener of standing water in the soil. Mixed with each other, the weeds form an excellent compost, an effective green manure and can also be used to mulch the ground.
18- Combine to harvest better
Certain combinations of vegetables promote good harvests: chervil chases aphids from lettuce; celery and chamomile prevent the onslaught of midges in leeks; sage and thyme keep butterflies and caterpillars away from the cabbage; marigolds keep all insects at bay, given their unpleasant scent.
19- Arugula forever
The arugula is harvested until December. Sow the seeds 5 cm apart in rows 15 cm apart. Harvest the arugula using a small sharp knife. Cut the leaves from the base. It will regrow particularly quickly if you place it in a sunny, fertilized and slightly humid place.
20- Irrigation dam
Newly planted shrubs and small trees need a lot of water at first. Build a small dike around their trunk, with earth or pebbles so that the water does not flow directly.
21- Salad in a jar
You have little space, but would still like to grow your own salad? No problem ! Buy seedlings from a nursery (or sow them yourself) and transplant them into a large pot on your patio, balcony or garden. Be careful though: lettuce needs a lot of water and fertilizer (eg liquid fertilizer for houseplants). From around mid-June, depending on the weather, you can already garnish your plates with the first leaves of house salad!
22- Bird waterer
Do you like birds? You can easily attract them with the help of a water trough placed in the garden. They will drink and bathe in it. Please ensure that the basin is not too deep and that the edges are slightly inclined. Do not place it in direct sunlight or within reach of neighborhood cats. Change the water regularly to prevent the formation of algae. In the fall, do not cut the faded flowers of your garden.
You may attract other bird species. Goldfinches, greenfinches and titmouses like sunflower seeds, the redpoll loves evening primrose. The larger the menu, the greater the variety of birds. And since they also eat insects… If you have a berry bush in your garden, collect the berries and dry them to serve them to the birds in winter.
Plant a tree – Source: spm
23- Plant a tree
To plant a tree, dig a hole that is wide, but not too deep. It should be pushed firmly into the ground, and facing west or southwest. Then install the tree. Make sure its roots have enough room. Tie the tree and its stake, leaving a little play between the trunk and the support. Above all, the tree must not rub against the stake, this could seriously damage it.
Not a cat Neighborhood cats usually come and scratch in your vegetable garden, your planters, your pots and even your flowerbeds? Bury a few mothballs in the dirt. They will quickly calm them down!
24- For the holidays
If you’re going on vacation in July or August, when your garden is at its peak, here are some tips to help you find it in good shape when you return. Before leaving, mow the grass and spread the mowing in the flowerbeds. Thus, the soil will dry out less quickly. Give plenty of water to all your plantations and gather the balcony plants in a shady corner, in order to limit evaporation… and to facilitate the task of the good soul who will eventually come to water everything during your absence. Also remove faded flowers so that others can bloom before you return.
25- A winter blanket
In the fall, gather the dead leaves with a rake and spread them in the beds, around your perennials. This rug will protect them against extreme cold.
26- The return of the Dahlias
Long considered old-fashioned and reserved for grandmothers’ gardens, dahlias are coming back into fashion, which deserves some cultivation advice. From mid-April, place the tubers in peat chips. As soon as the first shoots appear, pot them up. In early May, you can take your plants out during the day. In mid-May, transplant them into the ground. Dahlias bloom from August to October. Of course, you can skip the first step and buy a potted plant from a nursery to put it in the ground in mid-May.
27- For a second flowering
Completely prune Geraniums, Bellflowers (Campanula porscharskyana) and Mantle of Our Lady (Alchemilla mollis) after flowering, leaving only the young heart of the plant. You will thus enjoy a second flowering. With lupins and larkspur, cut only the faded flowers, then break the stem so that water does not enter it (which causes the plant to rot). Perennials that you have stimulated in this way, however, will need more water and fertilizer.
28- Abyssinian scent
Do you like powerful smells reminiscent of holidays on the sand? Plant Abyssinian gladioli (Acidanthera)! Each bulb, buried at a depth of 10 cm in not too firm soil, will give a beautiful white flower with a purple heart. During flowering, the smell will spread up to two meters around.
In combination with, for example, wild geraniums, the result will be even better. Plant them in April-May, after the last frosts. During flowering, water them once a week, and every 15 days, give them diluted liquid fertilizer. This will considerably lengthen the flowering period. Later, when the stems begin to dry out, dig up the bulbs and let them dry in a “soft” place (eg in the cellar). Then peel them, cut the leaves and store your bulbs in a dry, dark place until the following year.
29- Hardy Summer Flowers
Ornamental garlic is planted in November. In spring, the leaves come out of the ground. In May, balls of small flowers form at the tops of the long, sturdy stems. Even withered, ornamental garlic decorates flowerbeds wonderfully. The ideal is to associate it with flowering plants of smaller size.
30- No mosquito!
A good way to keep mosquitoes at bay is to place lavender around or on the patio, in pots or in the ground. Lavender essence is not only used in perfumery. It is also used in the manufacture of mosquito repellent oil.
31- A walnut against flies
If you are invaded by flies, plant a walnut tree (Juglans regia)! In the past, it was sometimes even compulsory to plant this tree near manure heaps.
32- Rose disease
Always remove fallen leaves from roses, as they can transmit diseases to the plant. During the fall and winter months, you may not realize it, but if your roses get sick in the spring, the fault may lie with forgotten waste.
33- Prune spring-flowering shrubs
Spring-flowering shrubs include those that bloom until mid-June (eg forsythia). Their flowers grow on the branches formed the previous year (or years)… We even speak of “flowering on old wood”. Directly after flowering, remove old branches. This will keep your plant young and healthy.
34- Prune summer flowering shrubs
In the case of summer-flowering shrubs (eg butterfly bush, hybiscus). The flowers bloom on the branches that have formed in the previous months. We are talking here about “flowering on young wood”. For these species, prune all stems in the spring. In this way, the plant will remain vigorous, young and very floriferous. Also, if you keep growth under control, the lower branches will also remain productive.
35- Troubled Waters
Often, without knowing it, you create real breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Stagnant water, in particular, is conducive to their multiplication. Avoid storing water in a basin or barrel, for example. You can, however, introduce fish that will eat the larvae before they have time to develop.
36- Mulch the soil to protect crops
Comfrey is a plant naturally rich in nutrients that vegetables need for their growth. Use it to mulch your plants. You will save time on weeding, you will water less. It will be the same for fertilization: the comfrey while protecting the soil, will gently distribute its nutrients which will fully benefit the vegetables in your vegetable garden. Comfrey is also an excellent fly repellent.
37- Organic against diseases
Horsetail is terribly effective as a preventive treatment against cryptogamic diseases – fungi such as powdery mildew – of plants and soils. Horsetail is useful against damping off. To avoid this, soak your seeds in a decoction of horsetail diluted 5% in water. Use whole cow’s milk diluted to 10% to fight against the various powdery mildews
Rapeseed oils are effective against fungal germs and mealybugs. Apply them to fruit trees in winter. Take preventive action against the damping-off of seedlings by sprinkling the surface of the terrines with finely ground charcoal. Use clay (Bentonite or Montmorillonite) to control many orchard tree diseases. Dilute 20 to 50 liters of water to spray preventively on young foliage.
38- Use the hot bed
The hot layer is land that heats up naturally and on which the seedlings, under frames, benefit from ideal conditions. Place a first layer of 50 to 70 cm of horse manure. On top, add 20 cm of a soil-compost mixture. Then cover. The fermentation reaction that follows can raise the temperature to 70°C in 10 to 15 days. You have to wait until it drops to 25°C to start sowing. Generally, it occurs a few days after the peak.
39- I associate friendly plants
While it is essential to mix plants with different needs to promote good harvests and avoid impoverishing the soil, the rules of good neighborliness are just as important in an organic vegetable garden: some plants cannot stand each other and die when they are together, others, on the other hand, stimulate each other, protect each other from pests and then flourish optimally. Diversifying species and combining them wisely are the best way to protect your garden by letting nature take its course.
A few examples of successful companion planting: With their very strong scent, aromatic herbs, as well as marigolds and marigolds, protect vegetable species by confusing the pest detection system or by acting as a repellent (sage and rosemary repel carrot fly, rosemary repels cabbage butterfly, thyme scares away slugs, etc.).
Basil facilitates good growth of the tomato while improving its taste, foxglove promotes the resistance of plants by growing near them.
Planted at the foot of roses, lavender wards off their parasites, just like nasturtium, which repels whiteflies and ants and attracts aphids: all you have to do is cut its twining stems to get rid of these predators.
In the event of drought, vegetables with large vegetation (tomatoes, climbing beans, etc.) provide salads with essential shelter.
40- Alternatives to pesticides
The organic gardener has a veritable green pharmacy made up of common products that help plants resist parasitic attacks, the cause of many diseases, while respecting the ecological balance. Always keep on hand: Bordeaux mixture, a mixture of lime and copper sulphate, prevents and treats fruit tree diseases (mildew, blisters, cankers, etc.). The black soap in decoction, sprayed on the leaves of the plants, prevents the attacks of aphids, red spiders and certain mealybugs.
Pyrethrum powder, from a plant close to chrysanthemums, paralyzes parasitic insects. Bacillus thuringiensis, present in certain biological insecticides, is a bacterium of formidable effectiveness against caterpillars. Horsetail in decoction (or sold in powder in the trade) increases the resistance of plants to diseases caused by fungi.
Black soap has antibacterial and insecticidal properties. Add 5 tablespoons of black soap in 1 L of lukewarm water.
