Dear Dirt Doctor

Howard Garrett has converted gardeners throughout Texas and beyond to gardening the natural way without chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides. In this revised and updated edition of The Dirt Doctor’s Guide to Organic Gardening, he uses a question-and-answer format to present a wealth of new information on organic gardening, landscaping, pest control, and natural living. The book also incorporates valuable feedback and suggestions from gardeners who’ve successfully used Howard’s methods.

In this revised and updated edition of The Dirt Doctor’s Guide to Organic Gardening, Howard Garrett uses a question-and-answer format to present a wealth of new information on organic gardening, landscaping, pest control, and natural living.

Howard Garrett is a landscape architect, certified arborist, horticulturist, and organic practitioner in Dallas, Texas. He promotes his organic gardening program, The Natural Way, through his WBAP radio and Channel 8 TV shows, weekly column in the Dallas

Introduction: Basics of Going Organic Ten Reasons to Go Organic Basic Organic Program Balance of Chemistry, Physics, and BiologySoil and Bed Preparation Bed Preparation Planting in Solid Rock Mulch Peat Moss Treated Wood in the Garden or LandscapeCompost Basics Compost Questions Compost ChecklistSynthetic versus Natural Fertilizers Types of Organic FertilizersPest Control and Beneficial Insects Althea Rust Ants Aphids and Other Small Insects Armyworms Bagworms and Caterpillars Bees Beneficial Insects Borers in Trees Boxelder Bugs Brown Recluse Spiders Butterflies Chiggers Chinch Bugs Crickets Cutworms Fire Ants Fireflies Fleas Flies Forest Tent Caterpillars Grasshoppers Grubworms House Pests Mealybugs Moles Mosquitoes Nematodes Powdery Mildew on Crape Myrtles Rhino Beetles Roaches Scale Scorpions Slugs, Snails, and Pillbugs Soldier Flies Spider Mites Squash Bugs Tarantulas Termites Thrips Ticks Tomato Blight Wasps Webworms WhitefliesPest Control Products Baking Soda Cinnamon Citrus Oil Citrus Peelings Corn Gluten Meal Cornmeal Diatomaceous Earth D-limonene Dormant Oil Garlic Hydrogen Peroxide Lava Sand Molasses Nosema Orange Oil (D-limonene) Pepper Toxic Products VinegarLandscaping and Garden Maintenance Azaleas Bulbs Burning Leaves Detoxifying Contaminated Soil Earthworm Suicide Erosion Fall Is for Planting Flower Fragrance Foliar Feeding Fungi Gardenias Ground-Cover Choices Hollies Horseherb Hyacinth Beans Hyacinths Hydroponic Gardening Indian Hawthorn Ivy in Trees Lantana Living Fences Maintenance Mushrooms Nandinas Pansies Perennials Periwinkles Petunias Photinias Poison Ivy Ponds Roots and Pool Plaster Seasonal Color Soil Leveling and Armadillos Sprayers Steel Edging Vine Choices Vine Removal WeedsTrees American Elm Bald Cypress Bradford Pears Bur Oak Fungus Chinese Pistachio Chinkapin Oak Chlorosis Christmas Tree Care Drought-Tolerant Trees Lightning Damage Live Oaks Mimosas and Carpenter Ants Mistletoe Mulberries and New Trees Pecans Pines Post Oaks Pruning Redbud Transplants Royal Paulownia Shantung Maple Shumard Oak Sick Tree Treatment Staking Trees Stump Removal Sweetgums Transplanting Trees Tree Planting Tree Problems Tree Recommendations Tree Replacement Tree Root/Foundation Problems Tree Seedlings Trees in Rocky SoilHerbs Disease-Controlling Herbs Easy-to-Grow Herbs Herb Tea Pest Control Program for Herbs Begonias Echinacea Hibiscus Lemon Balm Oregano Passion Flower Roses Turk’s Cap Witch HazelVegetables, Fruits, and Other Food Crops Aloe Vera Banana Trees Companion Planting Hairy Vetch Onions Peppers Potatoes Rotating Crops Sweet Potatoes Tomatoes Veggie WashesWild Flowers and Wildflowers Wild Flower Shrubby Plants Wild Flower Trees Wild Flower Vines Common Wildflowers BluebonnetsTurf Choosing Which Grass to Plant Bermudagrass Seed and Cornmeal Buffalograss Fescue Fungal Turf Diseases Grass and Tree Roots Grassburs Grass Clippings Grass Removal Lawn Leveling Ryegrass and Other Cover Crops Sod Spring Weeds, Grass Planting St. Augustine Weeding ZoysiaIndoor Houseplants Potting Soil Bonsai Ficus TreesWildlife/Animals Armadillos Birds Butterfly Gardens Dogs and Cats Lizards Mice and Rats Snakes TurtlesAppendix Books and Other Publications FormulasIndex