When measuring a soil’s pH level, it is important to take samples from various points in your garden or farm. The pH level of one particular small plot of soil can vary depending on the presence of rocks or other elements. Measure the pH level at various points on your land and take the average of all of them to have a better idea of your soil’s overall pH level.

There are a few different ways to test pH levels in soil. The most accurate but also most expensive route is to use an electronic pH meter. This is a device that is inserted into the soil and gives an accurate digital reading. If you want to do things a little more old school, you can use litmus paper. The downside of this method is that it doesn’t give you an exact pH reading, it merely tells you whether your soil is acidic or alkaline. Another method that produces the same two-toned result is the use of a barium sulphate testing kit. With this method, you mix a sample of soil with the barium sulphate and add water which changes color based on the soil’s acidity or alkalinity.

Advanced organic gardeners are able to make a strong educated guess regarding the pH level of their soil by making observations. The presence of yellowing leaves on plants is common of soil with too high of a pH level. The presence of the types of plants themselves is also indicative of your soil’s pH level; most plants can only grow when the soil is within a particular range on the pH scale. For example, the presence of a heather plant indicates a pH level of around 4.5 to 5.0 since this plant cannot thrive outside of these acidic conditions.

The decomposition of organic compost creates humus which acts as glue for your soil. The sticky residue of decomposed organic material helps soil hold more moisture and stay together. You can use compost as a fertilizer for your garden or lawn.

Just about any organic scraps can be used as compost. Chances are you’ve thrown something in the trash just today that would be perfectly suitable for organic compost. Coffee grounds, egg shells and fruit and vegetable scraps as common items used in organic compost. You can also use leaves from trees, weeds, and wood scraps.

The main things to avoid using in an organic gardening compost are ash, pet or human waste, and leftover cooked food. It is important to use a good combination of ingredients with nitrogen and carbon in your compost. Some ingredients high in nitrogen include plant residue like grass clippings and skins or waste byproducts of fruit and vegetables. Typical compost ingredients high in carbon are fall leaves, straw, or cardboard.

Your compost pile should contain far more carbon than nitrogen. It is recommended to maintain a 25:1 or 30:1 ratio of carbon items relative to the amount of nitrogen items. Keep holes in the your compost pile container to allow for air flow. Soon, bacteria will take over and begin decomposing the ingredients in your organic compost. A staple for making your own compost is grass clippings (which have a 20:1 carbon:nitrogen ratio) mixed in with some dry fall leaves (which have a 55:1 ratio).

Most food-bearing plants prefer a soil that is just slightly acidic in the range of 6.3 to 6.8. Crops such as potatoes and strawberries thrive in even more acidic conditions. Plants such as blueberries and cranberries need a soil as acidic as 4.5 to 5.0 in order to grow. Few food crops require a basic soil with a reading of over 7.0, but some flowers such as lilacs can flourish in even a chalky soil.

The main thing that affects soil pH levels is rainfall. Rain drives away basic elements magnesium and calcium while replacing them with the acidic elements aluminum and iron. Heavy rainfall creates a more acidic soil, so soil pH levels should be checked following a heavy rainfall or long drought.

To increase or decrease the pH level of your soil organically, there are various elements you can use. Nitrogen and phosphorous, which are common ingredients in organic gardening fertilizers, increase a soil’s pH level. Other elements that work in this way include calcium, lime and magnesium. In the event that you need to increase the acidity (decrease the pH level) of your organic gardening soil (not uncommon in times of heavy drought), metals such as copper, iron, aluminum, manganese, zinc and cobalt are useful. Symptoms of a soil that is too basic are the yellowing of leaves. This is a sign of a nutrient deficiency which calls for lowering the soil’s pH level.

There is a difference in the way soil reacts to phosphorous and nitrogen. Excess phosphorous is stored in soil where nitrogen evaporates. For this reason, organic gardeners will always need to supplement their crops with nitrogen, but phosphorous will not always be necessary if enough have built up in the soil. In order to fertilizer your organic garden, you’re going to need to do a little math. For example, a common organic gardening fertilizer recommendation could is 100 pounds of each nitrogen and phosphorous per acre. Let’s say organic gardener Jim has a quarter of an acre of plants he needs to fertilize. This means Jim needs 25 pounds of nitrogen and 25 pounds of phosphorous to put into his soil. If Jim is using a the fertilizer blend fish meal, he’ll be putting about 9% nitrogen and 2.5% phosphorous for each pound he puts into his soil. So if Jim puts 250 pounds of fish meal on his crops, he’ll get about 22.5 pounds of nitrogen and 6.25 pounds of phosphorous.

So as you can see, if Jim applies this fish meal fertilizer, Jim’s job is not done. He still needs 2.5 pounds of nitrogen and 18.75 pounds of phosphorous. To achieve this, Jim can supplement his fish meal fertilizer with bone meal, a fertilizer high in phosphorous but fairly low in nitrogen. Bone meal is 22% phosphorous and 3.5% nitrogen. If Jim adds 80 pounds of bone meal to his crops, he’ll add 17.6 pounds of phosphorous and 2.8 pounds of nitrogen. When added to his fish meal fertilizer, this brings his total phosphorous to 23.85 pounds and his total nitrogen to 25.3 pounds. While that’s not exactly 25 and 25 pounds of each, it’s close enough that Jim’s crops will thrive beautifully.

Bone meal is really the only organic fertilizer high in phosphorous (it has 22% while most others have no more than 2 or 3%). For this reason, all organic gardeners will need to use bone meal on their crops. Fertilizers high in nitrogen in addition to fish meal include dried blood (13%), and animal hoofs and horns (also 13%).

Garden Photography Tips

Sometimes on a sunny day people ask me why I am not outside snapping pictures. Actually, I kind of avoid taking photos in bright sunshine. Those fine days are good for other things, like going to the beach, but less suitable for taking pictures in the garden. The idea that sunny weather is the best photo weather is a common misconception, perhaps based on the thought that “more is better”. More light equals better pictures? No, not really.

And why is that? It is because in the direct sunlight you get very strong contrasts between light and shadow. Our eyes adjust automatically to that but a photograph is likely to suffer. Expect washed-out highlights and/or very dark shadow areas. Also, backgrounds are likely to become more busy and distracting in direct sunshine.

So, give me an overcast day and I will seize the opportunity to make nice flower shots in that soft and pleasant light, which brings out the delicate beauty of those flowers.

But what if you just can’t wait for that perfect weather? Perhaps your flowers are at their best right now and you want to capture them before they fade. Hang on, I will give you some tips on how to get around the sunshine.

I am going to share with you some of the secret photography tips that the professionals use to make great shots even in the harsh sunlight. And you don’t need all those expensive gadgets used by the pro’s either – I will tell you how to make them yourself from common houshold items.

It doesn’t matter if you have a simple point-and-shoot camera or an advanced digital SLR, you will get better pictures of your flowers in any case. Even the most advanced digicam is dependent on the quality of the light to bring out the best in a subject.

First Tip: Be an Early Bird, or a Night Owl
I have made my best flower pictures just before sunset, in that soft golden light. Pink roses seemed to glow, while the foliage appeared very dark. The result was a set of excellent flower shots, with roses shimmering against a subdued greenish black backdrop.

If you are an early bird you can go out in the morning and capture the moments when there’s still dewdrops on the petals of the flowers… or perhaps lingering drops of rain from that shower during the night.

Second Tip: Bring In Your Own Clouds
If you can’t wait for those clouds to roll in, then make your own overcast day. Here is how to do it: you filter the sunlight through some diffusing material, such as wax paper, white garbage bag, white T-shirt, or other light-colored cloth – or even better: a light-colored umbrella! You need an area of maybe 12 to 18 inches square to shade a large enough area for shooting a closeup of a flower. To make a diffuser you can carry around (if you don’t have a suitable umbrella), you can take whatever other loose material you have and secure it to a wire coat hanger (bend the lower part of it until it forms a square), then use the hook as handle.

Hold the diffuser (or even better, have someone hold it for you) between the sun and your subject. You now have the equivalent of what the professionals call a “soft box”, and it creates a nice soft light where the shadows are no longer so harsh and distracting. Try making the same picture with and without the diffuser, and notice the difference.

Third Tip: Make a Solar Eclipse
Sometimes you may want to completely block the sun, rather than just diffusing the sun’s rays. Then use some opaque material, like a piece of cardboard, to make a shadow. This is useful in situations where you have a stunning flower set against a distracting, busy background. Then hold the cardboard so that it shades this background, effectively darkening it and making it less visible. Adjust the exposure to make your subject correctly exposed – then the background should come out much darker, making your subject (the flower) stand out.

Fourth Tip: Use a Sun Foil
There may be situations when you feel there isn’t enough light on your subject – for instance, a little flower growing close to the ground where the light doesn’t quite reach it. Then you can use a reflecting material to shine extra light on it. Do do this, take for instance that piece of cardboard you used as sunblock above, and glue a sheet of aluminum foil on it (or use a mirror). Then hold it so that it reflects the sun’s rays on to that dainty little flower you want to bring out better.

Again, it helps to have an assistant do this for you; or put the camera on a tripod so you don’t need to hold both camera and reflector at the same time. To add a warm cast, use a gold-colored or copper-toned foil.

Fifth Tip: Zoom in To Fix the Background
Assuming you have a digital camera, as most folks do nowadays, you certainly have a zoom lens. Being able to zoom in (or zoom out) is useful in many ways, and in the context of making flower pictures it is particularly useful to zoom IN. Again, the reason is you may have a problem with a distracting background.

A telephoto setting (ie. a long focal length), which is what you get by “zooming in”, has the advantage that it doesn’t show so much of the background. You might say it enlarges the background so that there is room for only a small piece of it within the image area. For the same reason, it also makes the background appear more blurry – assuming you are focusing on something that is closer to the camera and there is a certain distance between that and the background. Therefore, zooming in on a flower is often an excellent way of getting rid of something distracting that shows up behind it.

Sixth Tip: Try Backlight To Add Some Drama
This is another creative way of making use of that sunny day. Instead of having the sun behind you when shooting a picture, like it’s commonly suggested in beginner-level photography books, try shooting into the light! However, place the camera so that it captures your subject with the sun behind it, avoiding having the sun shine directly into the camera.

By doing this, you can create a dramatic glow of light around a flower; and if the flower petals are somewhat translucent you may get a beautiful stained-glass look. Experiment with different exposures since the camera’s automatic metering is easily fooled by backlit conditions.

About the Author:

Kai Virihaur is a long-time fan of Photography. He first made pictures using a “Brownie” camera at age 10, and went on from that to shooting pictures with professional SLR equipment. He has exhibited his photographs in art galleries in the U.S., where he lived and worked for five years, and in Sweden where he now resides.

Nowadays, Kai is using digital photography technique only. He says that working in the darkroom with noxious chemicals was rather demanding although the results could be exciting. Digital photography is so much cleaner, and more fun.

Kai is especially interested in ways of making better and more interesting pictures, and now runs a blog – A1 Photo Tips – where he shares the knowledge he has gathered over the years with other photo enthusiasts. On that blog, he publishes new photo tips several times per week.

If you have bugs in your garden, find out what they are. The same is true about plant diseases. There are many books, field guides and garden websites to help you identify your insects, and someone at your local nursery may be able to help with local pests. You may find that the “pests” in your garden are not doing any harm at all!

In fact, over 95% of the insects in your garden are either beneficial or cause no harm. Some, like bees and butterflies, are vital to the fertilization process for plants. Most ant species simply collect weed seeds and insect eggs and are known as “nature’s vacuum cleaners.” Centipedes prey on slugs and snails, dragonflies eat mosquitoes and aphids, and the common ground beetle feeds on cutworms. Lady bugs, spiders, lacewings and even some types of mites are also natural “pest control” species that should definitely be welcomed into your garden.

Broad-spectrum insecticides often kill the good insects. For instance, Malathion, a common mosquito-killer, kills the mosquito-eating dragonfly population as well! As an organic gardener, you do have safe, natural options to control pests. In fact, many of them can be made from common household products.

Methods to Control Pest Insects

The first thing to remember is to spot-treat the problem, rather than trying to spray and treat your entire garden. Second, good ol’ water is one of the most effective weapons.

Select a control measure that targets the pest. Use the insect’s own biology against it. An insect cannot become resistant to its own biology, and you will win this battle every time. For instance, use a natural bait that is poisonous for ants that you know they will carry back to their nest and feed to their queen. This won’t kill them right away, but if you are patient, you will find that the whole mound will be dead in a week or two. One suggestion is to find out what they like (sugar? grease?) Then take the ingredient and mix in some borax – not too much, or they’ll either detect it or die before reaching the colony.

Home-made Insect Sprays

These home-made organic pesticides are just as effective and a lot less toxic to the environment than those that are available commercially. In fact, many are completely non-toxic.

Basic Oil Spray:

1 cup of vegetable oil (soybean, corn or canola)
1 tablespoon dishwashing liquid.

Place oil and water in a jar or empty ketchup bottle. Leftovers can be kept in these containers for later use. Take 1 tablespoon of oil mixture from above and add 2 cups of water. Mix the solution in a spray bottle and spray the plant with the problem infestation. As oil and water don’t mix, shake the spray bottle often to keep the solution well mixed. Repeat every 10 days.

Alcohol Oil Spray

To increase the effectiveness of the basic oil spray, add some isopropyl alcohol to the mixture. This mix is lethal to many insects.

1 cup alcohol
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 quart water

Mix ingredients together and place in spray bottle. Spray on infested plants as necessary.

Basic Soap Spray

Soap spray is the most common of all homemade sprays. It works best on soft- bodied insect such as mites, aphids, whiteflies, thrips and many others. It works by penetrating the cell membranes and causing the insects to dry out. Soap is less effective on fast- moving insects, because the spray must come into contact with them. Soap is safe on all edible vegetables and usually leaves no residue on plants.

2 tablespoons dishwashing liquid
1 gallon warm water.

Mix and use as a spray.

Insect Repellents

Many problem insects can’t stand certain plants and spices, and will avoid them at all costs. Here’s a few examples:

Garlic and hot spices

All bugs hate strong odors and spices, and garlic and hot pepper is the most effective. Simply take some garlic powder, or hot pepper juice or flakes, mix it with water and spray. Careful though, too much will harm your plants.

Cornmeal

Sprinkle corn meal around the base of your plants to repel several types of pests, such as cutworms. Cornmeal, worked into the soil, also attracts a type of fungus that kills disease-causing fungi.

Beer or Yeast

Mix beer or yeast with water and create a pitfall trap such as a shallow cup sunken into the ground to attract and drown snails and slugs.

These is just a few of many natural solutions to control your pest problem. With a healthy organic garden, you’ll have a lot of beneficial insects and birds helping you out, and rich, natural soil will mean healthy, strong plants that can better resist insects and disease. Sometimes you will need to intervene to control an escalating problem. Just make sure that the insects that you are killing are not the beneficial ones!

Article by Ena Clewes and Chris Molnar, contributors to Goorganicgardening.com. Find more tips and recipes on natural pest control in Ena’s organic gardening ebook.

Written by: Organic Gardening Staff Writer – Copyright Organic-Gardening.net all rights reserved

When it comes to hydroponics, many people have mistakenly thought that it was non-organic but this is not true. Water is organic, as is the nutrients that are used and the fertilizer can also be adapted to be organic so you can easily have organic hydroponic gardening.

What is Hydroponics?

Hydroponics is a Latin word that when translated basically means “working-water”. Hydroponics refers to a method of gardening that is safer for the environment. Using indoor gardening methods, water and lighting, etc. plants are grown. This method of growing plants without soil has been dated back as far as the 1600s but has really become more popular recently. People have been growing in water since before they began planting in soil.

Hydroponics progressed over the years but with the invention of plastics, it really took off again. The creation of plastic was a huge step forward for hydroponics. This is because it allowed you to use plastic for the pots and it made the entire process a bit easier so more people are willing to try it over traditional soil planting.

You know that your plant needs nutrients to survive. The key to hydroponics is how you feed the nutrients to the plant. In addition to water and oxygen your plant as needs large amounts of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and sulfur. Some other nutrients that are needed in smaller amounts are iron, manganese, boron, copper and zinc. Your plants can also use molybdenum and chlorine but in such small supplies that they usually get it from the water or from the other minerals so you don’t really have to worry about adding these.

What is Organic Gardening?

Organic gardening typically refers to gardening that uses on organic methods. Something is considered “organic” when it comes from the earth. For example, animals and plants are organic. Anything that comes from animals such as fecal matter is also organic. So anything that used in organic gardening needs to be organic and not artificial. Since water is organic, you can use both hydroponics and organic or semi-organic gardening in the same garden.

In addition to nutrients your plants also need oxygen and nitrogen to live and be able. It also has to have a proper pH (potential Hydrogen) balance. When you use hydroponics in addition to organic fertilizer and other organic gardening methods, you can have healthier, better plants.

Mediums and Anchorage

Since the plants are not grown in soil, water and nutrients need to be absorbed somehow. The medium is used for anchorage to let the plant soak up the nutrients. The most common types of mediums are Heydite and Rockwool. They are both made of rock but there are some differences in the two. Which is better really depends on who you ask and what types of plants you are planting.

Your growing media can also be vermiculite, perlite (pearlite), peat, coco-husk (coir), straw as well as other organic materials. You can use organic fertilizer from many different sources including cow, chicken, pig, and sheep manure, seaweed, bat guano, fish emulsion and entrails, urine, bone and blood, as well as many other natural sources. The problem with organic fertilizer is the obvious; that you must consider any possible health concerns.

Transplanting

You will be happy to know that it’s easy to take plants from soil and transplant them to a hydroponic system. You can pull the plants out gently and then rinse the roots in cold water. Next you just spread the roots in the bottom of the hydroponic pot and fill it with your growing product.

It is never too late to begin organic hydroponic gardening. You can transplant your soil based garden to hydroponics today. Or you can begin your own hydroponic garden without much trouble at all. If you are looking for a safer and more environment friendly method of gardening, then you should try hydroponics. It can also be a lot of fun for you to study this ancient method of gardening. It is fairly simple to begin but at the same time you can spend a lot of time learning more about it and perfecting it.

Published: August 24, 2005

Written by: Organic Gardening Staff Writer – Copyright Organic-Gardening.net all rights reserved

If you want to grow medicinal herbs, you will create a garden the same as you would for flowers or other herbs. Then you just need to know which herbs to plant and how to take care of them. When they are ready, you will then cut them, prepare them and store them for use. So how do you do all of this?

You need to choose which herbs you want to buy and then you can go to a local gardening or supply store and get them to bring home to plant. When planting your herbs, you should be sure to dig a hole for each one and allow enough room for the roots without bending them. Be sure you water them as needed and weed them when needed. The exact care of the herbs will vary according to what type of herb you have.

There are also some that are annuals, biennials and perennials. This will affect the care of the herb and when and how you grow it. When the herb is mature, it is ready for you to cut and prepare for use. You can dry out medicinal herbs the same way you do cooking herbs either by hanging them upside down in bags or by using an oven. Then when the herbs are completely dry you can store them for use.

Medicinal herbs are often used by placing the leaves in water for tea. Again, this may vary according to the type of herb that you are using. So what different types are there and how do you know what to use them for?

Types of Medicinal Herbs

The types of herbs you want depend on what you are planning to use them for. There are many different types and it’s likely you want several different ones. Below is a guide to tell you what different herbs do and to help you in choosing the ones that you want.

Valerian, Passion Flower, Skullcap and Chamomile will all help you get a good night’s sleep.

Sweet Annie, Baikal Skullcap, Barberry, Meadowsweet, Marshmallow, Licorice and Ginger all help with the digestive track and digestion.

Saw Palmetto, Pygeum bark, Horsetail, Pipsissewa, Echinacea and Marshmallow helps with male prostate health. St. John’s Wort helps with emotional well being and concentration. Reishi helps support the immune system and milk thistle helps the liver.

Helonias, Black Cohosh, Chasteberry, Dang gui, Partridge Berry, Angelica, Ginger and Licorice help with women’s health. Hawthorn, fresh Motherwort, fresh Skullcap and fresh Cayenne are used for cardiovascular health. There are even more herbs out there that help your health for you to find out about but these are some to get you started.

Using Medicinal Herbs

We have mentioned how one of the most common ways to use the herbs are to make them into teas so just how do you do this? Well, fresh herbs are best for making teas but if the type of herb is out of season, you can use stored herbs as well. To prepare the tea you need to boil water over the fresh stems, leaves and flowers of the herbs for several minutes.

If you are making one cup, you can place the dried herbs in a cup (about 1 teaspoon of herb) and pour boiling water over it just as you would with another type of tea. You can drink hot or you can allow it to cool if you prefer this way. This method is called an infusion.

However, if you are dealing with an herb’s roots, bark, seeds or other hard parts, you should do a decoction instead. To do a decoction you put one teaspoon of dried herb (or three of fresh) for each cup of tea you want to make. You should use a glass or enamel saucepan. Do not use aluminum. Add your water and bring to a boil. Mix and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes. You should keep it covered while simmering so you do not “burn out” all the essential oils and nutrients. Now you can strain into a cup and enjoy.

Published: August 25, 2005

Written by: Organic Gardening Staff Writer – Copyright Organic-Gardening.net all rights reserved

In Japanese, “bonsai” means tray planting but it has changed quite a bit since it’s beginnings in Asia. The tree and the pot form one single unit that has shape, color and texture that compliment each other. Bonsai is more than just planning a tree in a pot and letting it grow. The tree has to be shaped to the desired image.

Growing, pruning and training each branch of the tree will lead it to the desired shape that is visually appealing to you. You will have to work carefully and meticulously to achieve and then maintain the desired look for your bonsai tree. If you do not take proper care of your tree, not only will it look bad but it will die.

A successful bonsai tree is considered a horticultural masterpiece. It is a popular hobby that takes a lot of time and patience but is very rewarding when pulled off. It is a pleasing hobby to undertake. It is actually more diverse then you may think. Since coming to the West, there are now more techniques and styles to learn.

There are five basic styles of bonsai although they can also be very different. The five types are:

• Formal upright
• Informal upright
• Slanting (windswept)
• Semi-cascade
• Cascade

Each style has its own beauty and serenity. There are different basic principles to each style. There are also outdoor and indoor bonsais and you need to position your tree in the proper place and remember to care for it every day as needed.

Watering depends on your climate. You need to keep it moist and not let it get dried out. In summer you probably have to water every day but you can go every three days in winter unless you are in a very dry climate.

You also want to feed your bonsai so that it will grow healthy and strong the way that you want it to. To do this you need to apply a fertilizer of some type. There are different types on the market such as the pellet style like Osmocote. These are slow released so you do not have to feed as often. In fact, most can last a couple of weeks.

You should typically feed your bonsai from early spring to late summer but it can vary depending on your location. You should use a balanced fertilizer with a low nitrogen content year round and you will want to use one with little or no nitrogen in autumn.

Most fertilizers will have all three of the essential nutrients the tress needs (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium). You can get feed from bonsai nurseries and they will contain the NPK ratio on the package. You can also find more information including directions on feeding and caring for your tree from a bonsai nursery.

Published: August 24, 2005

Written by: Organic Gardening Staff Writer – Copyright Organic-Gardening.net all rights reserved

Water gardens in most climates need to be at least two feet deep. If you are in a colder climate, you can provide about 12″ to 16″ of water below the freeze zone. One of the most important steps in creating your pond is to choose the right location. So how do you know where to put your pond?

Where to Put Your Pond

You probably want your pond close to your home so that you can enjoy it fully and you will be able to see it year round. You will also be able to see birds, butterflies and more that will be attracted to your water garden. You will also want to be sure that you put it somewhere so that rainwater runoff will not down into the pond.

Depending on the layout of your backyard, there may be some landscaping required to get this done. But it’s important that rainwater doesn’t get into the pond because it may have chemicals, fertilizers, etc that will kill life in your water garden. You also want to be sure you don’t put your pond too close to tress or leaves and other debris will get into the water.

If you want to have water lilies then you also need to have your pond where it will receive sunlight each day. About four to six hours of direct sunlight will be needed. If you are only going to have fish in your pond, than it is okay for you to put it in the shade. If you are planning on having a lot of fish in your water garden, you will also want some kind of water circulation with a pump. You might also choose to have a water filtration system although it is not necessary. You can look into the different types of biological filters that are available.

How to Build your Pond

When building your pond you need to know what size it is going to be. You can do this by using a rope or something similar to stretch across to see how big you will make the pond. The biggest mistake that do-it-yourself water gardeners make is to make the pond too small. If you have Koi, it should be at least 3 feet deep to accommodate the large fish. In fact, a larger pond will be more stable anyway.

You also need to remember that a finished pond is going to be about 30% smaller than the first mapped out plan is going to look. So go bigger or you will end up with a pond that is too small. You are going to dig the whole for your pond and then apply the lining. Then you are going to apply any pond filter, skimmers, etc to the proper level and location.

Next you are going to put the pond underlayment and the rubber pond liner. Now if you are going to have streams flowing from your pond, you can excavate them now. Now you connect the pond liner to the pond skimmer and place the coping stone. Next you are going to want to do the edging of the pond. Depending on the type that you have, you will have different types of edging. The next step will be to add a de-chlorinator to remove any chlorination that may be in the pond. You should then add plants as soon as possible. You will also add packaged bacteria to balance the life in the pool and fish should be added a few at a time to keep the balance right in the pond. Adding too much at one time may cause them all to die.

Now you have a beautiful water garden. If properly maintained it will continue to grow in beauty over time. Once you establish a proper balance in your water garden with fish, plant life and bacteria, it will maintain itself very well. If you also have filters, you will not have to do anything else except change the filters and remove any debris that might fall into it. Otherwise, the water garden will be pretty self-sustaining.

Published: August 24, 2005

Written by: Organic Gardening Staff Writer – Copyright Organic-Gardening.net all rights reserved