10 Gardening Tips & Hacks That’ll Change the Way You Garden
It’s time to dust off your gardening gloves and clear the debris from your garden. While keeping your home cozy inside is important, having a well-maintained garden offers you a pleasant and calm area to spend time with your family, and ensures you’ll have fresh produce to enjoy.
There are plenty of shortcuts in life. So why not use some garden hacks to improve your productivity when taking care of some of your most fragile friends — plants. Whether it’s your first time growing a garden or you’ve been a gardener since childhood, these gardening tips and hacks are a must.
Water pots after rain
Leaving pots unwatered because it rained is a rookie mistake in the gardening world. Unless it's a heavy downpour, a regular shower won’t be an adequate amount to satisfy a potted plant’s needs. They tend to dry out quicker than natural earth flowerbeds, so a potted plant should be watered, on average, every other day.
Line plant pots with coffee filters
Terracotta pots are on trend right now but their large drainage hole makes them messy accessories to have in your garden. Keep your patio tidy and avoid continuous cleanups by lining your plant pots with coffee filters. They’ll stop soil falling out the bottom while their porous nature will ensure water can still drain away.
Use coffee grounds to keep pests away
Coffee grounds are an excellent addition to your gardening routine. You can use them indirectly in your compost, fertilizer or mulch. Plus, they are a wonderful deterrent to add around your garden edge to keep critters away from your plants.
Keep eggshells for your garden
Once you’ve enjoyed your morning eggs, don’t waste the eggshells — they’re the perfect addition to your garden. Not only a free fertilizer and a great composting option, they also deter garden pests. Simply rinse them, crush them and spread them around the base of your plants.
Dust seedlings with cinnamon
Cinnamon is as delicious for plants as it is for humans. The brown spice works as a natural fungicide so dusting it over seedlings and young plants will ward off any harmful diseases. You could also make a cinnamon solution with warm water to spray on the leaves for double protection.
Make a DIY watering can
New to gardening and no watering can? No worries! Stock up on plastic milk cartons to use instead. Simply drill or pierce holes in the lid, fill the carton with water and you’re all set. Fill a whole bunch of empty bottles and you’ll be able to water the garden in one fell swoop.
Create self-watering bottle planters
Give yourself a break from constant watering by upcycling your empty water and wine bottles. Just fill it with water and wedge the bottle near the plant at least a few inches deep and water will gently seep out over a long period of time keeping the surrounding soil damp and moist. This hack is perfect if you’re away from home for a long stretch too.
Make a herb garden from shoe storage
Fill your outdoor space with a heavenly aroma by installing a hanging herb wall. Repurpose an old shoe organizer, attach it to a fence and fill each of the pockets with a different fragrant herb. You can pop potted plants in the holes or even plant seedlings directly into soil-filled pockets. Just make sure you add drainage holes.
Use white vinegar to kill weeds
Forget expensive weed killers and use white vinegar to kill weeds creeping through cracks in paths and patios. Fill a spray bottle and liberally apply to the offending plant. The weeds should turn brown and die within a few days. Do be careful though, the vinegar may harm your other plants so apply with caution.
Keep garden tools clean and sharp
Get crafty and make gardening a whole lot easier with this DIY hack. Create your own self-cleaning and self-sharpening garden tool holder by filling a terracotta pot with sand and mineral oil. The abrasiveness of the sand helps to keep tools sharp, while the oil protects them against rust and dirt.
