Spring has sprung, fellow denizens of the great town of Stouffville. And what a spring it is – great weather, lots of sun, and the grass is greener than ever before. Yes, with spring here, we people of Stoufville can now enjoy all the things that were taken away from us during winter – our yards, our parks, our trees, our grass and of course, our gardens.
Homeowners, gardeners and landscapers everywhere are going to be starting up their gardens once again. And why not? It would be better to get a jump on the gardening season, considering it tends to be fairly short. However, there are some things that the average homeowner, gardener or landscaper has to do before they start up their garden.
First off, they need to make sure that their yards are clear, as in they need to do a spring cleanup. Spring cleanups have been discussed on this website before, and it mostly involves getting rid of all the debris left behind by winter. Once the debris is gone, then one can move on to the next part – getting their garden bed ready.
But what should be done first? Should the plants be picked out? Should one buy all the tools one is going to need for the season? What about accessories – how is one going to look good while gardening if they don’t have the right accessories?
The answer to the previous question is none of the above. Before any homeowner, gardener or landscaper out there starts their garden they should choose what kind of fertilizer they are going to use.
Today, we’re going to look at all the different things one can put in their dirt to make a decent fertilizer for their plants. These are things that are pretty easy to come by, and shouldn’t take all that much effort for the average homeowner, gardener or landscaper to acquire.
1- Grass Clippings.
Usually one doesn’t pay all that much mind to grass clippings. They are just a product of another chore – mowing the lawn. In fact, most people either just leave the grass clippings on the lawn or rake them up and throw them out. Well, we’re here to tell the average homeowner, gardener or landscaper NOT to throw out their grass clippings, as they make great fertilizer.
Not only do grass clippings make great fertilizer, they also make a very good weed blocking mulch. Using a half an inch to an inch of grass clippings tends to be a great way to keep pesky weeds out of one’s garden. Also, they are very rich in nitrogen, which is great for one’s soil and even better for the average homeowner, landscaper or gardener’s plants. In fact, nitrogen is an ESSENTIAL nutrient for plants, so adding grass clippings to one’s garden is not just a great idea, it may even be one that is essential.
2- Manure
We’ve all heard about using manure as a fertilizer, and there’s a reason why. It’s one of the best fertilizers out there, if not the best. It’s full of all sorts of nutrients that are essential to plants, including that most coveted of all nutrients – nitrogen.
But here’s a twist most people don’t expect – too much manure can actually be bad for plants. Yes, the best fertilizer, the one that everyone has heard of, can actually be bad for plants. Why? Raw manure actually may have too many nutrients, and can be acidic towards plants. The solution? The best thing for the average homeowner, gardener or landscaper to do is to use composted manure, or a kind of toned down manure. It tends to have less nutrients, and thusly won’t burn one’s plants.
3 – Fallen Leaves
This may be a little bit hard to get a hold of in the spring, fallen leaves tends to be more of an autumn thing. However, if there happen to be some left over from the winter, then these fallen leaves are perfectly usable as fertilizer.
Not only do these things have nutrients in them, but they’re also good for a couple of other things in one’s garden. Namely- they attract earth worms, they retain moisture and they are great for making heavy soils lighter. The best part about fallen leaves is that they tend to be pretty versatile too. One, should they choose, can mix the fallen leaves in with their soil. Or, they can use the fallen leaves as a mulch in order to keep pesky weeds from growing in their garden! Yes, fallen leaves are great… let’s just hope there happen to be some left over from fall.
4- Banana Peels
A lot of homeowners, gardeners and landscapers love bananas. They are a great source of potassium and a great snack for on the go. However, their peels also make some very good fertilizer!
Why? Well, we mentioned it before – bananas (and their peels) tend to be a great source of potassium. Believe this – potassium isn’t just great for homeowners, gardeners and landscapers, it’s also great for their plants!
Specifically, should one be planting roses it’s almost crucial to use banana peels, because roses are a big fan of potassium. All one needs to do is bury the peels next to where they are planting roses, and those flowers should pop up like no tomorrow! As they grow, the bananas should be buried near the top layer of soil, as the potassium will get closer and closer to the top of that flower. And after that, they can just be kept in the garden. Hey, what else can those peels be used for besides adding to a garden?
And so, this article about the best fertilizers for one’s home garden has come to an end. Today we learned all about the different things one can add to a garden to make their plants grow – grass clippings were first, and we learned they are full of nutrients. Also, they make a great mulch. Another thing that is full of nutrients plus makes a great mulch are fallen leaves. Let’s just hope there’s some left over from fall. We moved onto what most people think of when we think of fertilizer: manure. However, we learned that we should use composted manure, as raw manure may be too acidic for our plants. Finally, we learned that banana peels are great for our gardens as well.
It’s going to be a great season, fellow people of Stouffville. But let’s make sure that it’s a great season by choosing the best fertilizer for our gardens!
