Successful gardening does not happen immediately. Rather, it’s a step-wise process that requires a mixture of experience, patience and direction. Heritage crops, which have long histories in West Virginia gardens, are an excellent way to start the garden season.
Lawn, Gardening & Pests News
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A Note From The Dean
Dear WVU Extension community,
Basics of Garden Fertilization
As the season continues and gardens grow, they undergo processes that use nutrients from the soil. Choosing the right type of fertilizer for your garden allows you to replenish lost nutrients and ensure optimum growth.
Gardening with Limited Water
Depending on where you garden, water may be a limited resource. Or perhaps you wish to be more resource conscious and reduce waste. Regardless, there are strategies for you to use in your garden that can significantly lower your water needs.
Seed Saving Basics
Many homeowners can probably remember seeing their grandparents save seeds from the garden to plant the following year. This practice skipped a couple of generations, but now that people are more interested in growing their own food, seed saving is popular once again.
Methods That Prevent Garden Pests
When insect pest control is necessary, try the safest alternatives first. Removing insects by hand or pruning infested plant parts are often the simplest and safest ways to prevent the buildup of pest populations and their damage.
Creating a Pollinator Haven in your Yard and Garden
Pollinators are vital to the reproductive success of more than 75 percent of the world’s flowering plants. Hummingbirds, moths, bees, beetles, flies and butterflies are some of the common pollinators found in West Virginia.
Trellising Made Simple
An ideal way to conserve space in the garden is to train vegetables, flowers and fruits to grow upright using a trellis. In addition to saving space, they allow more light for photosynthesis; higher quality crops; less disease and insect damage; easier harvesting; and more fruit crops that require pollinators for cross pollination.
Container Gardening
Have you ever tried traditional gardening, only to have your garden fail year after year? Or maybe you don’t have the best space or enough time for a full-size garden? Container gardening could be just the solution you’re looking for.
Square Foot Gardening
Would you like to grow vegetables but don’t have the time or space for a large garden? You might want to consider square foot gardening.