Organic Pre-Emergence Weed Killer

Until recently, most pre-emergence weed killers have been chemically produced, like Ronstar and others, but now we have a great organic alternative, and that is Corn Gluten Meal.

Corn weed blocker is made from corn gluten. It is a 100% natural weed suppressor, and slow release granular nitrogen fertilizer, so you get more bang for your buck!

For information about how it works, and how to apply it, go to: Organic Pre-Emergence Weed Killer

Make Your Own Rooting Hormone With Willow Water!

The active ingredient of many commercial rooting products is Indolebutyric Acid (IBA), a natural plant hormone. Although store-bought rooting hormone powders now use a synthetic version of IBA, you can try the real thing by making a batch of willow water.

Here's what you do:

1. Get a handful of willow twigs (any Salix species will do)

2. Cut them into pieces a few inches long

3. Soak the twigs in a few inches of water for a day or two; then remove the twigs.

4. Use the willow water to soak cuttings in overnight, or to water flats of newly started cuttings, or to help transplants.

Now remember since this method isn't very exact, the strength of the willow water can vary depending on the time of year, the number of twigs, the concentration of hormones in the twigs, and the amount of time that the twigs were soaked. You will, however, still get a solution that will help your plants root.

For more gardening tips feel free to visit: www.weekendgardener.net

Time To Compost Your Lawn

Now is a good time to compost your lawn. If you have never done this, you have to try it, because it does so much more for your lawn than fertilizer.

In addition to having important nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, as regular fertilizers do, compost often has trace elements.

A few other benefits to using compost are:

1. It won't burn your grass out if you accidentally put too much on

2. It won't stain your concrete or brick walkways

3. It won't smell if you're actually still using old manure-based fertilizers

4. It works fast

How To Compost Your Lawn - is a complete tutorial with step-by-step instructions