Just one of the beautiful vistas that you see at the Boerner Botanical Gardens
I have been attending Master Gardener Classes for the last few weeks and have enjoyed meeting fellow gardeners while learning a lot of new information. Also, it turns out that gardeners bring really great snacks to share with their friends!
In the last few classes we have covered:
- General Gardening Practices
- Plant Pathology (Diseases)
- Entomology (Insects)
In each category I knew some of the material from just being a long time gardener. However there are always things to learn — new ideas and methods aimed at getting a better result with less fuss. Some tips were as simple as choosing plants that were disease resistant and better suited to my particular environment, thereby growing stronger plants better able to ward off diseases and discourage pests. We were given lists of common plant diseases and how to deal with them. We talked a lot about avoidance (keeping pathogens away from your plants), eradication (removing diseased plants) and sanitation (keeping your garden, work areas and tools clean) as a fundamental means of disease control. Crop rotation was another way to avoid problems. For instance, simply by moving your tomatoes to a new area, you can avoid soil borne diseases that are waiting to infect this year’s crop.
Our teachers stressed trying to circumvent issues by earlier intervention and taking steps to solve the problem before pests or diseases got out of control. We learned about biological control (using beneficial organisms) to manage pest populations and how many broad spectrum pesticides actually kill both pests and beneficial insects and may not be your best answer.
Finally, we learned about pesticides and herbicides which are available and useful as a last resort. The classes stressed taking time to identify the disease or pest in your garden and then choosing the appropriate chemicals instead of just using whatever you happen to have on hand. I thought that was great advice as it helps protects both the planet and those live in your environment.