11 Tips Every Gardener Should Know
Gardening can be difficult at times, here are some helpful tips to better your gardening experience.
1. Dirty Nails?
Before you go out gardening, rub your fingernails across a bar of soap to seal up every crevice of your nails. After you are done gardening, use a nail brush to scrub away the soap and viola! Your nails are like new again.
2. Markers For Your Plants
Use flat faced stones to write and label each of your plants and then place them at the base of each plant. If you want to get creative with it, paint designs on the rocks before you label them.
3. Make Any Shovel Non-Stick
Are you tired of pesky soil sticking to your shovel? Before you go out, spray your shovel with Teflon lubricant and the dirt will wash right off. No more mess!
4. Transporting Your Plants
Line the back of your car with tarp and put a small step ladder down. Use the slots in the ladder to place your potted plants and there you go. No-spill transportation for your plants!
Photo: http://rd.com/home/gardening/gardening-tips-for-beginners/
5. Keep Animals Out
Tired of those pesky animals getting into your garden? Place plastic forks throughout the soil and watch them work magic.
6. Fertilize Your Plants
Don’t throw out the water you use to cook your vegetables in! Save it, wait for it to cool down, and pour it over your garden to “fertilize” it. The vegetable water has nutrients in it your garden thrives off of, so you are killing 2 birds with 1 stone by re-using it.
7. DIY Garden Bed
Cinder blocks aren’t just for construction. If you don’t want to make your own garden bed, this is the quick and easy fix. The little holes in the block are perfect for separating your herbs from the rest of the bed.
You can either stack them on top of each other or lay them down one by one in a square or rectangle.
http://www.miraclegro.com/smg/goART3/Howto/how-to-build-a-cinder-block-wall-miracle-gro/31000014?locale=en_US
8. Save The Rain Water
Instead of letting all of your rain water run down the gutters and off into no-man’s land, gather it for your garden!
9. DIY Weed Killer
If you don’t want to use harsh chemicals around you home, this is the perfect recipe for you. This week killer works magic on any weed you do not want around. Be careful around plants and grass, it will kill them if it gets too close.
+1 gallon of white vinegar
+1 cup of table salt
+1 tbsp liquid dish soap (I prefer Dawn)
10. Re-use Your Egg Shells
In order for your garden to thrive, it needs constant nourishment. One way to do this is to grind up your egg shells in your blender and spread them over your garden. This gives them calcium they desperately need.
11. Grow Sweeter Tomatoes
Sprinkle baking soda over the soil and grow some juicy sweet tomatoes. The baking soda is a base so it counteracts the acidic tomato. Make sure to not put the soda on the plants, just the soil.
