Don Janssen: What is organic gardening?

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There are as many views on what organic gardening means as there are people. Some interpret it to mean old-fashioned, some believe it involves the use of homemade concoctions, others believe it means completely chemical-free gardening.

The basic meaning of organic gardening is that it relies on cultural practices and natural products rather than the use of synthetic or petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides. Crop rotation, cultural weed control and integrated pest management for insect and disease control are emphasized and implemented.

Organic gardeners tolerate small amounts of damage or imperfections. Weeds may be present in their lawn. However, they may also be enjoying dandelion greens for dinner.

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The clover in their lawn may have been planted to help provide nitrogen. Their apples may have some dimples or tracks through them. The sweet corn may have a section cut out where an earworm had been. The crabapple tree may be void of foliage because of apple scab or the lilac foliage white with powdery mildew. Maple trees may have red bumps on the underside of their leaves because of maple erineum gall. The trees may have a sticky substance (honeydew) being produced during the summer as a result of aphid infestation.

Fertile, well-drained soil is the basis for organic gardening. Fortunately, our good soils start us off on the right foot. However, we cannot garden continually in the same area without returning organic matter to the garden.

Compost improves the soil's physical properties. Composted animal manures as well as green manure crops also improve the soil.

Organic gardeners use fertilizers if the soil has a nutrient deficiency. The difference lies in the types of fertilizers used. Organic fertilizers such as bat guano, blood meal, bone meal, fish emulsion, cottonseed meal, greensand, rock phosphate and soybean meal are organic, naturally occurring fertilizers.

Weed control is accomplished through repeated shallow tilling. As weeds begin sprouting, the soil surface is where they dry up and die. As desirable plants grow, they shade out additional weed growth. Mulches are used to prevent weed seed germination and conserve water.

Organic gardeners select plant varieties carefully. Disease-resistant varieties are important, as is crop rotation and garden sanitation.

The most difficult area of organic gardening is insect management. Cultural controls such as hand picking, use of nonchemical insect baits, release of beneficial insects and organic pesticides help control pests that reach damaging levels.

Many people already implement organic gardening techniques without giving it a second thought. Popular terms for organic gardening today include sustainable agriculture, integrated pest management or plant health care. All involve proper site and plant selection, adequate soil preparation and supplying organic matter and fertilization. Pests are identified, populations are monitored and control is done at the proper life-cycle stage and time for the pest with the least environmentally harmful product.

Increased public awareness concerning long-term effects of chemicals has brought common-sense gardening practices back into the limelight to show the important roles they play in a successful garden, lawn and landscape.

Don Janssen is an extension educator with the Lancaster County Extension of the University of Nebraska Lincoln. He can be contacted by telephone at (402) 441-7180; by mail at 444 Cherrycreek Road, Lincoln NE 68528; or by e-mail at djanssen2@unl.edu.