Organic Gardening Advice For Planting

You may have noticed I don’t usually plant in straight rows.

I prefer a much wilder garden.

I do still group plants together but more in various-sized clusters than straight rows.

Here’s an example:

*A quote by Woody Allen

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I love digging in a garden and I also love walking through a forest.

Most people think of forests and gardens as two separate things, but forest gardening combines the best of both worlds.

In this video, I show you the mini forest garden I’m developing that’s only about 2000 square feet (you can do this in a small area).

Feel free to ask your questions down below… Read More

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I use mycorrhizal inoculant in my organic garden almost every time I plant and seed. I wouldn’t plant without it.

Over 95% of plant species form symbiotic relationships with mycorrhizal fungi. The fungi provide nutrients and water to their host plants in exchange for carbohydrates and other goodies.

In fact, many plants will trade more than 50% of their carbohydrates with these fungi and other microbes.

Mycorrhizal fungi greatly improve soil characteristics, and are among the most important microbes that form relationships with plants.

If you’re looking for gardening advice on GMOs, I have 2 tips. We’ve known for over a decade that genetically-modified organisms wreak havoc when unleashed into the environment.

And yet The New York Times is still being a good corporate spokesperson, muddying the facts and leaving much room for doubt about whether or not these problems exist (or just practicing good, unbiased journalism, depending on your point of view).

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I didn’t have a planting width photo, but I thought this tree was cool

Planting trees and shrubs is easy once you know a few principles. I know you want to give them the best chance at flourishing that you can.

You’ve just spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on these plants, so it makes sense to spend a little bit of time planting them correctly in your organic garden.

When I was a young landscaper, I planted a lot of trees. If the root ball was 36 inches wide, I probably chose a planting width of about 40 inches.

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Planting balled and burlapped trees is easy once you know how to do it. I have already talked about Planting Trees In Pots, and the technique is the same with b&b.

The worst is when the burlap is wrapped around the trunk and tied tightly with string. This may be okay at the nursery, but not in the ground.

Burlap is often treated with copper sulfate or other synthetics because it stays intact longer and keeps a tight root ball. We don’t want that in our organic gardening arsenal.

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Planting trees in pots is easy once you know how to do it.

But should you leave the pot on?

The garden center may tell you to leave the fiber pot on when you plant. They may tell you to take off the lip and the bottom, but that’s generally all.

What you use instead of bone meal for plants depends on how much effort you want to put into this, but the cost isn’t much and neither is the time.

There are 3 products I generally use when planting in my organic garden.

I’ve already discussed the risks of using bone meal.

These alternatives are in order of importance, in my opinion, so if you just want to keep it simple, use the first.

Update: 3 years after writing this article, I decided to start selling these products, since I’ve used them so successfully myself. I’ve put links to them down below so you can learn more.