Natural / Organic Choices

Tagawa Gardens’ commitment to sustainable gardening shows throughout our store from plants we grow to the products we offer to help you achieve a healthy, productive garden..

Start with the basics: soil.  We offer Foxfarm, Roots Organics, Espoma®, EKO™ and Happy Frog, in several different formulations and sizes.  Worm castings are an excellent organic soil amendment and new research from The Ohio State University is showing that worm castings have and insect repellent action as well!  Colorado’s humus-starved soils benefit from generous addition of organic compost—check out Nature's Yield Compost!  

Our selection of organic and organic based fertilizers is impressive.  Many of our staff garden organically and have personal experience with brands including Age Old Organics, Daniels®, Espoma®, Foxfarm, Mile Hi Rose Feed and Gro-Rich, the organic lawn fertilizer we most often recommend.

We are delighted that our community is searching out organic pest solutions—and we carry many options to make your gardening safe and sustainable.  Organic repellents for insects include Dr T’s Natural Rx and Bonide’s Mosquito Beater®.  The organic larvicide Bt (bacillus thuringensis) works wonders against mosquito larvae as well as the plague of indoor gardeners: the fungus gnat!  Neem and horticultural oils are the mainstay of rose care.  The old faithful, copper fungicide, inhibits powdery mildew.

One of the biggest improvements in organic pest management has been the development of the active ingredient spinosad, which works against more than 100 insects.  Look for on the label of Captain Jack’s Deadbug Brew™.  Tagawa’s gardening experts will help you choose the right product for the specific bug that’s bugging you. 

Remember to spray insect repellent at dusk or dawn, when foraging honey bees are absent.  This is especially important while your fruit trees are in bloom.

Bigger critter got you down?  Ask our staff about organic deer, rabbit and vole repellents.  How Pepper Wax by Bonide® will give wayward squirrels and other varmints a mouthful they’ll remember!  Organic gardeners will be pleased with Messina Wildlife’s series of repellents based on fragrant oil extracts: Rabbit, Deer, Squirrel and Animal Stopper.

Let’s not forget one of nature’s best-loved pest solutions: the ladybug!  Ladybugs are voracious eaters of aphids which can plague aspens and roses along the Front Range.   We carry live lady beetles seasonally.  Ask at Dick's Corner about ordering other beneficial insects that can be ordered through us and shipped directly to your door! (Preying Mantis, green lacewings, etc.)

This growing season, consider using corn gluten to prevent weed seed from sprouting in the first place—it’s organic and it’s effective!