Diseased plants are a common sight in any garden. Diseases tend to occur because of – adverse environments(drought/humidity), pathogens(virus, bacteria, and fungus), and sick plants(a host). To maintain a healthy garden, you need to prevent these things.
If you follow specific tips available on platforms like Green Grass Plot, you can take care of your home garden like a pro. Here, they are:
Carefully Check Plants Before Purchase
Never buy a diseased plant for your garden. But how to understand which is a healthy plant? Read magazines, nooks, and catalogs to learn how a health plan looks.
If a plant has rotten stems, dead spots, and insects, don’t buy it as those issues can spread to healthy plants. Examine the tops and roots of plants. Position your hands on the soil layer so that the stem is between your fingers. Invert the pot slowly and shake the plant lightly. To lightly detach the roots from the pot, tap the pot’s edge.
Remember, roots need to be mostly white, strong, and spaced over the root ball. If you notice mushy/dark roots, don’t buy the plant.
Utilize Composted Yard Waste
All elements in a compost pile don’t decompose at the same pace. Certain materials can be decreased enough to use in your garden. Composting leads to high temperatures for an extended time duration that kills pathogens inside the elements.
Infected plants which are uncomposted can cause diseases in your garden. When you are unaware of the compost pile conditions, don’t use yard waste under reactive plants and add potentially infected debris in your pile.
Monitor Bugs
Plants’ insect damage is much more than cosmetic devastation. Bacteria and viruses mostly enter your plants via a certain type of opening caused by bug damage. Certain insects tend to function as a transport for viruses to move from a plant to another. Aphids are one of such carriers.
Thrips pass impatiens necrotic spot virus from one plant to another, which has become a critical issue for commercial producers. Leafhoppers and many other plants spread a disease called Aster Yellows.
Clean Garden in the Fall Season
Experts at Green Grass Plot recommend that the fall is the perfect season to clean your garden, even if you live in a location with a moderate climate. Cleaning during the fall season eradicates the current diseases in your garden.
Such diseases cause debris and dead leaves and attack leaves that grow in spring. Once you clear away dead leaves from your garden every fall, you can significantly reduce roses’ black spots, daylily leaf streak, and iris leaf spots.
Apply the Right Fertilizer
Use the most appropriate fertilizer for plants as the wrong fertilizer application burns roots and decreases plants’ capabilities of absorbing water. Due to this effect, plants become more prone to heat, cold, and drought. Leaf spots highly affect nutrient-deficient plants. Healthy plants can protect themselves from diseases.
Conduct a soil test to find out the soil nutrient levels and then feed your ants accordingly.
Bottom Line
Proper maintenance of your home garden is essential to make it look like a healthy patch of green. It may be possible for you to hire pros every time, but you can take complete care of your garden by following the tips mentioned above.
