Keep Critters out

Your garden is no place for critters. You may enjoy a leisurely stroll with the family cat, but you won't be amused with his leavings. Dogs can trample a seed-bed faster than anything short of the neighbor's children, especially if you are out walking with the cat. Wild animals from deer to raccoon can do even more damage, because they are intentionally after your produce.

The most effective way to keep wayward wildlife from your garden is to erect a fence. Fencing materials are certainly not cheap, but a well-constructed fence will serve for years. Woven wire, poultry netting, or welded wire will keep out most neighborhood pets and pests. The bottom of the wire should be buried below soil level if rabbits are a problem. Foil persistent gophers by lining planting beds with fine mesh fencing. A fence up to 8 feet high is necessary to prevent deer from jumping over. Leave approximately the top 18 inches of the wire unattached to any support. This wobbly fence discourages such climbing critters as raccoon, porcupine, and opossum.

In lieu of expensive fencing you may first want to try some of the many intriguing animal repellents available. Forget the store-bought solutions and whip up your own thrifty alternatives. Here are a few suggestions:

® Hair clippings from the local barbershop scattered around the garden scare off critters that fear the ominous odor of humans. A few articles of really smelly dirty laundry, left about the garden at night will also deter many wild animals, including deer, raccoons, and rabbits.

® A sulfurous odor can be created by cracking a few eggs and letting set until pungent. The strong scent repels deer.

® Dried blood meal scattered around plants keeps away deer, ground squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, and woodchucks.

® Hot peppers, garlic, vinegar, and water mixed with a squirt of dishsoap and pureed in a blender deters large nibblers as well as insect pests from tasting any garden fare on which it has been sprayed.
® Ammonia. Ironically, the nasty smell of rags soaked in ammonia repels skunks and rats.

® Beer. Set out a shallow tray of beer to lure and drown slugs. To be truly frugal, use cheap beer.

® Repellent plants. Gopher spurge, (Euphorbia lathyrus) repels gophers, with varying degrees of success. Castor oil plant, which is highly toxic, also repels them. Both have some effectiveness against moles. Plant garlic, onions, or ornamental alliums to deter woodchucks. Plant garden rue to discourage cats.

Protect against Birds

For the most part birds are very beneficial to the garden. They are wonderful insect predators, especially in the spring when they need a supply of protein to feed their young. But hungry birds also can take a toll on freshly sown seeds, tender seedlings and luscious fruits and berries. You may need one or more of the following controls:

® Netting is an important barrier to birds and some small animals. It is an absolute necessity with expensive berry crops, such as blueberries and strawberries. To keep greedy beaks away from berries, support netting on a framework several inches from the plants. Peeled poles or scrap lumber make inexpensive, rusticlooking frames. Handled carefully, netting will last indefinitely.

® Plastic berry baskets, panty hose, cheesecloth, salvaged window screening, and other no-cost finds also work to create handy bird deterrents. Fasten any of these to a wire tomato cage for an individual plant protector.

® Wire or fishing line, stretched between row markers over newly planted seeds, makes an inexpensive bird repellent. As birds approach for a landing they are snagged by theunseen lines and quickly retreat to safer ground.

® Scarecrows are cute but ineffective. Don't spend a cent on one.

Encourage Beneficial Organisms

The use of beneficial organisms in the home garden is hardly new. If you think of Adam and Eve as the original garden pests, look at the effectiveness of one snake. Actually, snakes are wonderful, free rodenticides. They patrol for ground-level mice, shrews, bugs, and slugs. In return they need an accessible water source, maybe a nice, flat rock on which to sun themselves, and not to be run over by a lawn mower.

Bats are another fine addition to any garden. Bats consume many times their own weight of flying insects over the course of the gardening season. Persuade them to roost near your garden by putting in a little bat condo. Commercially made bat houses are available, or construct one yourself.

Birds are valuable bug-eaters. They will reward your thoughtfulness with years of dedicated service. Provide them with a bird bath, some cover in the form of bushes or trees, a small house or two, and perhaps a free meal every now and then.

Toads are underappreciated assets in the garden; they guzzle bugs daily. Encourage their presence with a damp, shady spot for them to hide in during hot, dry weather. A board propped up over a puddle is toad heaven.

Predatory and parasitic insects prey on other bugs for free, and unless you garden in a vacuum, they usually come with the garden. Be careful not to annihilate them with broad-spectrum chemical pesticides.

Beneficial organisms, from barely visible mites to 6-inch-tall praying mantises, are available to work in your garden. You can purchase them, but your money would be better spent encouraging existing, native populations. The trouble with many store-bought bugs is they are disloyal, and will probably leave.

Plant flowering herbs, such as thymes, mints, rosemary, sage, and dill for beneficial adult insects to eat. Or entice them by interplanting your crops with daisies, petunias, cosmos, nasturtiums, marigolds, and sunflowers. Provide a water source. The lingering dew on plant leaves is often sufficient; the constant moisture provided by drip irrigation is ideal. Most important, don't spray pesticides. Welcome the beneficials that occur naturally in your garden.

Disposing of Pesticides

Many states set up regular hazardous waste pick-up stations at designated times and places. Always dispose of unused pesticides, as well as paints, solvents, and other chemicals, at designated stations. Most disposal sites provide an exchange service on site. If you need a pesticide or other chemical, you can pick up someone else's castoff for free. Contact your local state department that handles hazardous waste disposal for details of procedures in your area.

Use Pesticides Conservatively

Sometimes a barrier isn't the answer. You wouldn't want to drape a cover over a rose bush or shimmy up an apple tree with a bolt of cheesecloth. There are situations when you need to spray a pesticide.

Many plants look or produce much better if kept on a regular spray schedule. Fruit trees in particular yield more fruit if maintained this way. This should be an important consideration in the decision to plant home fruit trees.

What you spray depends on several factors, one of which is your budget. Chemical pesticides are expensive in more ways than one. Research has determined toxins, once commonly used in the garden, can cause a range of ills from birth defects to cancers. Accidental ingestion by pets and children occurs every year, with tragic results. Toxins also wipe out beneficial insects, such as bees and ladybugs. And misapplication of chemical pesticides often results in plant damage.

As with the misuse of chemical fertilizers, the biggest problem home gardeners have with pesticides is over-application. Always follow label instructions to the letter. These are not mere recommendations, they are lawit is illegal to misuse pesticides.

Each product lists what insects it is effective against and on which plants it is safe to use. A general pesticide with a wide range of applications, such as Orthene or diazinon, will handle most problems of home gardeners.

Organic pesticides, such as botanically derived rotenone, pyre-thrum, ryania, and sabadilla are good substitutes for environmentally concerned gardeners. They pose less threat of environmental damage because they break down quickly, and will not leave any long-term residues. Other examples of non-toxic pesticides are horticultural oil sprays that coat and suffocate small bugs such as scale, and diatomaceous earth, which kills bugs at or beneath ground level when worked into the soil. Many organic pesticides, unfortunately, kill indiscriminately, wiping out pests and beneficial organisms alike.

Some of the most promising pest-control products are ones that cause diseasegenerating pest-specific disease organisms that spring to life like sea monkeys when mixed with water. They only harm the bug for which they are intended. Some examples include several forms of the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), marketed under various brand names and effective at battling caterpillars and Colorado potato beetles; Nosema locustae, sold as Grasshopper Attack, which is a grasshopper disease that prevents successive generations; and Bacillus popilliae, or milky spore disease, that wipes out Japanese beetles.

Physically preventing bugs from touching your plants

One of the best methods to prevent insect damage is physically preventing bugs from touching plants. Several methods work well depending on the plant and the insect. All methods mentioned are very effective and reasonably inexpensive when done properly.
Row covers are sheets of spun-bonded polypropylene that can be draped over food crops to eliminate insect problems. They are lightweight enough to drop directly onto most crops, or you can create a frame for the covering by bending PVC pipe or bamboo sticks. (Cheap tip: You can even grow useful bamboo stakes yourself.) The fabric stands between the bug and its meal. It allows most available sunlight and water to pass through freely and protects from wind, hail, slight frost, and windborne weed seeds, as well as bugs, birds, and small animals.

It is critical to cover the crops early, before bugs get to them, which is when planting or transplanting them. A sprinkling of inexpensive diazinon or diatomaceous earth raked into the soil will kill any current soil-dwelling inhabitants. This is important for direct seeded melons, a special favorite of cutworms. Leave enough slack in the fabric to allow for the eventual growth of the plants, and anchor the fabric along the edges with dirt or planks. This is very important, because not only might it blow away but also the idea is to prevent bugs from getting to the plant, and they crawl through the smallest spaces. Lift the cover occasionally to monitor a plant's progress.

Covers are most convenient for plants that will not flower for harvest, such as carrots or broccoli. Covers will work for plants that flower, such as cucumbers, as long as you remove the covers in time for pollination to occur.

Treat these fabric covers with respect to get your money's worth. Work cautiously around them, a careless swing of the hoe will tear the fabric. Never walk on them, always go around. Don't drive stakes through them as anchors. Fabric anchored by stakes will not always keep out bugs anyway, and the stakes will cause rips. Cut the fabric down to a size you can handle easily. You will run less risk of damaging the fabric while you are working with it. Above all else, fold or roll up fabric covers at the end of the season and store them. Don't just drop them in a pile on the floor of the garden shed, since mice find them irresistible for winter housing.
and organic protection, use a stem collar. Stiff paper or cardboard are often recommended, but one of the best and cheapest substitutes I have found is a plastic drinking straw. Salvage used straws, and cut them into 1 1/2-inch long pieces. Slit the pieces up one side, pull the plastic apart and fit around the stem of each transplant. Push the plastic down into the soil, and you have a plastic barrier no cutworm can chomp or climb.

Stem collars protect tender transplants from cutworm damage. Cutworms are underground caterpillar-like bugs. They will devastate beans, broccoli, cantaloupe, and a vast array of other plants with equal zeal. They are especially prevalent in new gardens freshly dug from sod or areas filled with weeds. A dash of diazinon or diatomaceous earth will eliminate those present at application. But for continuing

Rotate Crops

Many diseases and soilborne insects that attack plants remain in the soil even after you harvest the crop. They wait there to reinfest susceptible plants. If you plant the same crop or a closely related one in that site a disease or insect will probably attack the new planting. Prevent this needless loss by rotating your crops each year. The practice costs nothing and could save a lot.

Crop rotation requires only a little planning. If you plant tomatoes in one bed this year, then don't plant tomatoes or a related crop in the same bed for the next two years. If possible, it is best to let at least three years pass before planting where the same or related crop grew before.

Integrate and Interplant

It is the nature of disease organisms and pests to take the easiest route. What could be easier than moving down a row of your favorite host plants and attacking one after the other of them? Organic gardeners have known for generations a way to confound many pests, especially those that prefer one particular crop over others, and it doesn't cost a cent.

Interplanting mixing and mingling different species of plants in a garden bordereffectively confounds many types of pests. It slows the progression of diseases when the plant next to an infected one is not susceptible to the disease-causing organism. For pests, the turbulent scene of mixed textures, colors, and odors, jams their plant-seeking radar.

Weed out the Competition

The first line of defense is to kick the competition when it's down. Don't allow weeds to get a foothold. Not only are they unsightly, weeds are real enemies of any gardener. They rob the soil of water and nutrients meant for cultivated plants. Many harbor diseases or serve as alternate hosts for pests. If allowed to grow, they may shade plants from sunlight, block air circulation around foliage, or crowd out crops entirely.

Rather than battle established weeds and the problems they create, get them before they get you. One tactic is to spray a pre-emergent herbicide, which kills weeds before they emerge. Another weed combatant is a heavy, water-permeable fabric that acts as a weed mat, laid out between landscape plants. It physically blocks weeds from sprouting. It's not cheap, but the time and money you save over other forms of fighting weeds may make it a good choice for your garden. A similar tactic is to put down a thick layer of mulch.

Young weeds are easy to scrape away with a hoe. Cultivate carefully around tender, young plants to avoid damaging roots. Use a scuffle hoe or toothed-wheeled weeder to tear out weeds while they are still small. When all else fails, get down on your knees and yank up weeds by their roots. It's good exercise and a well-weeded patch leaves any gardener with a real sense of accomplishment.

A Healthy Environment

So much of the information already discussed contributes to your plants' overall health. The best site, proper planting, and transplanting, using resistant varieties, adequate watering, drainage, and nutritional support all help keep plants in optimum condition. Healthy plants have an edge. They are less susceptible to physical stress, attack by disease, or infestation of pests. In fact, studies show insects recognize and prefer ailing plants.

The best way to manage your garden is to keep a watchful eye on plants. Take time to notice any which may be particularly susceptible to problems. Watch for puddling after rainthis signals poor drainage which could suffocate roots. Look for unusual growth patterns, spots on leaves or stems, curling leaves, or anything that looks out of the ordinary. Glance around the plants for any evidence of pests, but realize that unless they are causing actual damage you may not need to take any action.

Make sure plants are not overcrowded; occasionally thin or divide them as necessary. This is especially important for good air circulation around perennials and shrubs. Damp, stagnant air trapped near foliage often leads to disease.

Animal droppings for compost

Many gardeners buy compost starters to get a pile fired up. These are basically high-nitrogen products that may or may not work, depending on what else is in your pile. Fresh green weeds, with a little soil clinging to their roots, or a shovelful of soil or compost, tossed at intervals into the pile will suffice. But for a great, cheap pile activator, try alfalfa. Toss in handfuls from bales (old or rained-on bales are the cheapest) or use an alfalfa meal product. Horse feed, rabbit food pellets, even some brands of cat litter, are almost pure alfalfa meal.

Pets, except dogs and cats, can contribute significantly to the nitrogen content of a compost pile, some will even do the work of turning
If you live in an area where it is possible, and you like animals, keep a pet rabbit or some chickens. Rabbit waste, collected in a bucket beneath the hutch, is high in nitrogen, a fact attested to by the urea odor. But emptied routinely into the compost pile, you avoid the odor, while adding its riches to the pile.
Chickens are even better than bunnies. Toss your compost materials into an enclosed chicken run and let them turn it all into a homogenized, highly nutritious blend. Every few weeks rake out the run and add to the compost pile. Chickens will also produce fresh eggs for breakfast, and they love to eat garden bugs!

Ready, Set, Compost!

You can make composting as easy and cheap as that leaf-dropping tree. All you need are the ingredients and as much time as you are willing to devote to the project.

For the sake of appearances, or ease of handling, you may wish to enclose the pile in a bin. My favorite siding for this job is a 10- to 12 1/2-foot length of 48-inch-wide hardware cloth, 1/2- by 1-inch mesh. It is sturdy enough to be freestanding, forms a circle of perfect dimensions for composting, and won't leak any small pieces of the pile. Bend over a few of the wires on one edge to form hooks to attach it to the other edge in a cylinder. It's cheap, easy to use, lasts forever, and stores almost anywhere. Lumber scraps and chicken wire, salvaged concrete blocks, or bales of straw arranged together will also serve the purpose.

The dimensions of the pile affect how quickly it breaks down. Research has determined that the pile must be at least 3 feet high by 3 feet across in order to have enough mass to retain the heat generated in composting. As the microbes work, temperatures can reach 140°F inside the pile. These high temperatures kill weed seeds and disease organisms. Piles about 4 feet by 4 feet will work fine, but piles much larger than 5 feet around take a lot of work to keep actively composting. Larger

piles require constant turning to keep oxygen supplied to those busy microbes.

There are no hard and fast rules for building a compost pile. Gardeners generally recommend layering nitrogen materials and carbon materials with a bit of soil, with finished compost or activator sprinkled throughout the pile as it is built. The first time you turn the pile this neat arrangement is shot. The most convenient way to compost is to toss in whatever is available at the moment. Weeds go in when you pull them, soil, and all. Toss in eggshells, coffee grounds, and melon rinds after breakfast. Throw cornstalks on the pile at the end of summer.

You can add many items whole to the compost pile, and they will degrade fine. But larger items, such as cornstalks, hedge trimmings, and spent broccoli plants, will break down much more quickly if chopped into smaller pieces first. When they are cut into pieces there is much more surface area on which the microbes can work. Reduce large pieces by running over a shallow pile of them with a lawn mower, hacking with an ax, or throwing them in a chipper/shredder.

Keep the pile moist as you add materials to it. An occasional sprinkling with the garden hose provides the microbes with water they need to survive. Don't let piles get dripping wet, however, as precious plant nutrients will leach out. Cover your pile during rainy weather or if it is within sprinkler range.

Turning the pile provides aerobic conditions for you and the pile. You get the exercise, and the pile gets a fresh supply of oxygen for those hard-working microbes. If using a bin, disassemble it, grab a fork, and start working. Turn the outsides of the old pile into the center so they will be exposed to microbial action. Sprinkle the pile with water intermittently as you turn it. The more frequently you turn the pile, the more quickly the compost will decompose.

What Does It Take to Make Compost?

The good news is that anybody can make compost. Actually, compost will make itself without anybody. Consider a maple tree near a fence line. Each year it sheds its leaves, and some of those leaves are blown against the fence where they pile up. In time, the bottom layer of those leaves is no longer recognizable as leaves, but transformed into a dark, sweet-smelling, crumbly soil.
All organic matter rots. You can speed up the process by combining different types of matter, ventilating the mix to add oxygen, and keeping it moist. When you control the circumstances, the process speeds up considerably. You can make compost in weeks, not years.

In terms of composting, gardeners consider organic matter primarily a carbon-based material or a nitrogen-based material. Microbes burn approximately one part of nitrogen for every twenty-five parts of carbon they digest. So you need at least one part of nitrogen material for every twenty-five parts of carbon material. More nitrogen material is fine if you have it. Materials high in nitrogen, such as alfalfa meal, blood meal, or urea, act as pile activators by jump-starting the microbes into action. Which materials are nitrogen and which are carbon? In general the easiest way to tell is that materials higher in nitrogen are green and those higher in carbon are brown. Other ingredients add phosphorus, potassium, and trace minerals. Egg shells, wood ashes, banana skins, melon rinds, orange peels, stale bread, apple peels, potato skins, pea pods, and tea leaves are great for composting.

There are a few things that, although they are organic matter, do not belong in a garden compost pile. Leave the following out of the compost pile:

• Weeds that have gone to seed. The seeds may survive.
• Obviously diseased or insect-infested material.
• Any meat, grease, or fat. It stinks and attracts vermin.
• Cat and dog feces, which may transfer parasites to the garden.
• Grass clippings or weeds that have been treated with weed killers. Chemicals may persist and poison the garden.
• Pine needles or large branches. They don't harm the pile but take years to decompose.

Why Compost?

Let's answer this question not only from a frugal point of view, but from that of plant health and a healthy global environment as well. Yard and garden waste account for 17 percent of the trash that finds its way into our landfills. Kitchen waste makes up another 8 percent. Combined, kitchen and garden waste account for one quarter of all the garbage we throw out. By composting, you save money used to dispose of waste, including bags and cans, as well as your time spent collecting it. And the environment also wins. You also get the world's best free fertilizer, compost. Not a bad return.

What makes compost so great? It is very rich in nutrients derived from plant and animal matter. Unlike many store-bought soil amendments, it contains trace elements. Compost is rich in humus, and you remember that great stuff.
The process of composting helps purify the end result by killing many seeds and harmful organisms present in the raw ingredients. It's the closest thing gardeners have to spinning straw (and weeds and manure and eggshells and more!) into gold.

How to Fertilize Frugally

The method of application depends on the type of fertilizer. Sprinkle granules around the base of plants, scratch into the soil, and water thoroughly to dissolve. Shovel a layer of compost or manure over the soil at the base of the plants, and scratch in with a hoe. This method is called side-dressing.

You can apply some fertilizers, including compost and manure, in liquid solution. Apply liquid fertilizers either to the soil or leaves. This is called foliar feeding. Plants can absorb nutrients in solution through their leaves as well as their roots. In fact, they absorb them more quickly this way. Apply these products through a sprayer or dissolve in a watering can and apply by hand. The second option is cheaper, but takes longer.

Is it possible, you may ask, to apply compost or manure as a liquid? The answer is, yes, if you brew a batch of fabulous, free ''tea." Scoop some compost or manure into a bagtry using an old pillowcase, old pantyhose, gunnysack, flour sack, or any bag made of porous fabric. Tie off the top and set in a 5-gallon bucket. Use larger containers if you need more fertilizer. Fill the bucket with water to the top of the bag and let it sit for a day or two. Nutrients from the compost or manure leach into the water, which you then use to water your garden or to foliar feed.

For lawns, a spreader broadcasts fertilizer evenly over the surface of the grass, liquid fertilizer applicators that attach to your hose are also available. Either one is a fair investment. Fertilize woody landscape plants by broadcasting the product throughout the lawn and just outside the drip line. If landscape plants are growing through the lawn, however, punch holes with a soil probe or soil auger attached to an electric drill, and put the fertilizer into the holes. This prevents burning the grass with an overdose of nitrogen. Make the holes 1 to 2 inches across and about 8 inches deep, spaced about 2 feet apart. Avoid placing them close to tree trunks as this process could damage roots.