Preventing Disease in Your Garden

An important part of being a successful gardener is preventing diseases and controlling any diseases that might occur . Whether you're a casual weekend gardener or a grower of championship blooms, keeping your garden healthy is important, otherwise all your work is a waste of time.

The best way to enjoy a healthy garden year after year, of couse, is to keep your plants as healthy and well cared for as possible. Healthy plants can fight off infections and resist damage by common insects much more successfully than unhealthy plants.

Unfortunately, there are a several of common plant ailments that are completely beyond even the best gardener's ability to control. The common bacterial infection known as fireblight, for instance, can easily penetrate plants if it rains at the right time of year. In order to prevent this infection, a gardener would have to be able to control the weather, and this is one thing that's certainly not going to happen.

In addition, some other common plant ailments can be difficult to detect at first. For instance, the mosaic virus, which often affects bare root roses, rarely displays any symptoms that would warn the gardener of its presence, usually until it's too late.

Here are a few important stems that will help you protect your garden from disease and keep your plants vigorous and healthy:

* Keep your plants as healthy and vigorous as possible by providing the recommended amount of water, fertilizer and sunlight. The staff at your local nursery or garden center will be happy to provide you with information on the specific growth needs of each plant you buy.

* Buy disease-resistant varieties of plants whenever possible. Seed packets and seedlings at the nursery are labeled to show their resistance to various common plant ailments.

* It's important to avoid damaging the roots as you transplant the seedlings because damage to the plant's root system is a major cause of disease and other issues that can prevent plants from reaching their full potential.

* When working in the garden, be careful not to injure the plants as you work. Always exercise caution when weeding, fertilizing, tilling the soil, etc. Damaged stems and roots are a leading source of bacterial and fungal infections.

* If possible, avoid working in the garden when the weather is very damp. Dampness can spread disease and fungus, and it's easy for the gardener to unknowingly spread infections among the plants.

* If possible, use either a drip irrigation system or a soaker hose when watering plants. These watering methods help to avoid getting water on the leaves and flowers. Standing water on plants is a leading source of fungal and bacterial infections. Furthermore, standing water makes it easy for infections to spread from one plant to another.

* Diseased plants should be removed from the garden immediately and replace them with hardier varieties. This will help prevent an infection from spreading.

* Any diseased plants should be disposed of immediately in the household trash. It is essential that you don't mulch the infected plants or add them to a compost bin. While many disease causing organisms are destroyed by the heat of decomposition in the compost bin, some will survive. It is always best to not take the chance that composted materials could reinfect the garden bed.

* Keep your garden clean. A clean garden is less susceptible to infection. It's a good idea to perform a thorough cleaning after every growing season. This includes removing weeds and dead plant parts, since some plant pathogens are able to survive the cold of winter.