How to address three challenges in organic gardening

Three big issues come to mind when organic gardening is discussed.

How should we deal with fertilizer, weeds and insects and other pests?

Here are tips we gathered from people on the front lines: organic gardeners themselves.

Fertilizer

•Lasagna gardening sounds almost miraculous, but Christine Laske of Arlington Heights says it works. Here's her strategy: She knocks down a bed of weeds, covers them with layers of newspaper, piles grass clippings scrounged from her neighbors, not to mention shredded credit card offers and vegetable scraps from her kitchen. Do this in November, and you have rich earth by mid summer, she says.

•The Morton Arboretum uses compost tea, which is compost steeped in water. You can then spray it on plants, and fans say this gets more benefits where needed than plain compost does.

•Everyone we talked to says leave your grass clippings on the lawn or you are wasting nutrients. And chop up your leaves in the fall and use them to mulch your gardens.

•Use only compost made with plant material, not manure, said Linda Blane of Rolling Meadows, who has been gardening organically for 30 years. She does work manure into her vegetable garden in the spring or fall, but composting with it can burn plant roots.

•Organic fertilizers are made from fish, but Blane prefers liquid kelp because her husband and neighbor complain of the odor with the others. Fans say any smell dissipates quickly.

Weeds

•Cover the ground so weeds don't have a chance. This is something Laske is trying for the first time this year. For example broccoli needs space and takes a while to come up, so she sprinkled spinach between the plants.

•You've heard this advice from Donna Smith of the Morton Arboretum before: Pull or at least top off your weeds before they go to seed. And while dandelion leaves are great in a compost pile, don't put the heads there, even if they haven't gone to seed yet.

•Everyone we talked with says healthy plants can fight off weeds, insects and disease. And that means compost, compost, compost, they say.

Insects

•Linda Blane often sprays insects off plants with her garden hose. And last year she and her grandson knocked green Japanese beetles off rose bushes and into a bucket of soapy water two or three times a day. Insecticide soaps are also touted.

•Laske is trying companion planting. For example, hyssop next to cabbage is supposed to deter the cabbage white butterfly. Cucumbers do well with radishes and nasturtiums.

•Blane does not plant as many vegetables as she once did because growing vining vegetables and fruits year after year attracts certain insects, which also hurt green beans. Laske is trying methods like planting squash later or covering it during the two weeks the little white butterflies are flitting around.

•Try organic remedies first, such as baking soda and dish detergent for mildew on phlox and lilacs, said Blane.

Cute pests

•Diane Bolash, who lives in Arlington Heights and is a member of two garden clubs, Arlington Heights and Prospect Heights, would have you dig up a bit of your lawn and plant three shrubs to provide shelter for bunnies. Yes, she knows rabbits might ravage your lettuce, but you could save the crop with fencing or try planting a few older cabbage varieties in another part of the garden for Peter Rabbit and his friends.

Etc.

•Mike Nowak, veteran gardener and host of a gardening show on WCPT 820 AM, isn't the only one who urges you to read the label whether you are using synthetic or organic products. "I tell them to read the label and use all the search engines," said Nowak. "Google is your friend."

•Biodiversity, which benefits insects and birds, can be as simple as planting three kinds of plants instead of two, says Bolash. She points out that the violets some people think spoil their lawns provide food for butterflies.

•Nowak wants everyone to understand the soil food web, which is the community of organisms that live in the soil and how they interact. One place to check it out is the U.S. Department of Agriculture at soils.usda.gov, and search for "soil food web."

- Deborah Donovan