As common as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and other garden aids are, they have a huge negative impact on both our climate and living organisms, including humans, around such areas. These chemical-based artificial supplements may bear great results for your garden or lawn at first, but in the long run, they will cause a lot of damage that you may not have anticipated.

Chemical-based fertilizers and pesticides were introduced to have better and higher-yielding crops. Today, however, the practice is not only limited to large fields and has made its way into smaller gardens and lawn setups too. What most people don’t realize, though, is that these chemicals are extremely harmful over time. For example, chemical-based fertilizers can alter the natural soil pH, making the soil more acidic over a period of time. At first, it may seem that your garden is blooming, but after a little while, you will realize that your garden has started to wither.

However, nature has always been about keeping a balance in the ecosystem, and so, a lot of natural elements offer us to aid in making our gardens flourish. The best part is that there are no harmful side effects, not to the soil nor the humans and other important organisms.

Here we have compiled a list of non-chemical remedies for treating lawns and gardens affected by chemical-based fertilizers. You can start employing these remedies as either a proactive measure or a reactive measure.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is a common household item used for various purposes around the household. Similarly, this amazing solution made out of apples, yeast, and sugar also provides numerous different benefits to your garden.

Even though apple cider vinegar is acidic, this particular organic compound can help fertilize your soil instead of disturbing its pH balance. However, you should create a diluted solution and pour it directly into the soil. If leaves do come in contact with this solution, make sure you cover them from sunlight and spray them with clean water to rinse away the vinegar. If you buy raw and completely organic apple cider vinegar, the pulp (or mother, as it’s called) present in the solution will help your plants with their nutritional requirements, hence resulting in a blossoming garden.

Not only this, but apple cider vinegar is also effective in keeping away all kinds of different nuisances from your garden. If you put out a solution mixed with water, you can take care of the fruit flies in your garden. Spraying bits of the same solution around your garden can keep your pets, such as dogs and cats, away from your garden. Moreover, it acts as an effective pesticide for slugs and snails that might destroy your plants.

Moreover, there are certain plants that require acidic soil to grow in. If you have these plants around, you can use apple cider vinegar to safely decrease the pH of your soil to make it more acidic. You can find apple cider vinegar here on CaHerbanLife’s online store.

Epsom Salt

Epsom salt is one of the many naturally occurring mineral salts. Even though its name contains the word salt, it is quite the opposite of what the common table salt is. Epsom salt is made up of magnesium, sulfur, and oxygen. When introduced into the soil, it can have amazing benefits for your garden, and it doesn’t even leave a chemical residue!
Epsom salt is rich in magnesium, which promotes the intake of nutrients in plants. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are crucial for plant growth. This is what makes Epsom salt a great fertilizer, as it aids the uptake of all the nutrients naturally without causing any chemical reactions that would be harmful to the soil. Magnesium and sulfur are two of the key elements for photosynthesis in plants, a process through which plants make food. Not only this, but it also helps with fruit and flower production in your plants.

However, it is important to note that excess can harm your plants to a certain extent. The safest practice is to water your garden with Epsom solution just once a month. You can find different Epsom salt products here on CaHerbanlife’s online store.

Coffee Grounds

It is safe to say that coffee grounds are found in almost every household around the country. What you may not know is that used coffee grounds are great fertilizers as well as an effective pest repellant!

Coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, and potassium. All of these are crucial to plant health and growth and are the basic building blocks. Scattering your used coffee grounds around the soil can enrich the soil with nutrients that can then be absorbed by the plants. However, dry out these coffee grounds before use, or else there is a chance that mold might develop.

Eggshells

Eggshells are pure calcium, a nutrient that helps your plants grow. Crushing eggshells and adding them to the soil can benefit your garden tremendously. Eggshells under the soil start to decompose, and as the calcium breaks down, the plant intakes it.

Another benefit of spreading eggshells over the soil bed is that they will repel any slugs that may be creeping around in your garden. This will, in turn, save your garden from a lot of damage.

Banana Peels

Among other green waste from our kitchens and homes, banana peels have high quantities of potassium, and they decompose rather quickly in the soil. Potassium is another crucial nutrient for the healthy growth of your plants. It strengthens plants’ roots and makes them resistant to disease. Banana peels also contain phosphorous, which is an important nutrient for the growth of plants. Moreover, the calcium found in banana peel enables the process of breaking down nutrients in the soil like nitrogen and improves their supply to the plants. There are different ways of using banana peels as fertilizer. You can simply put these peels under the soil, and they will automatically decompose. Or you can infuse banana peels in some water by keeping the peels in water for a few days, at room temperature, or in your refrigerator. Then remove the banana peels and mix the strained water with regular water used for watering plants. Use this water for your garden and see the results.

Green Waste Compost

The easiest and one of the most effective aids for your garden is compost made out of green waste from your kitchen. Compost is basically made by decomposing organic waste, your kitchen waste like fruit leftovers, vegetables that have gone bad, vegetable and fruit peels, yogurt, and many other general organic compounds that go into your waste.

All these different compounds put together form compost which is rich in all sorts of organic nutrients that are important for the growth of your plants. You can even include banana peels and eggshells in the mix. Although making compost requires some time and effort, it is a highly rewarding activity. Not only can you help the environment by reducing waste, but you can also see you’re your plants benefit a great deal from this.

There are a lot of different methods in which you can avoid harmful chemicals. We hope that you will find these non-chemical remedies for treating lawn and garden helpful. Here’s to a beautiful, blossoming garden!