If you aren’t the most seasoned gardener (or even if you are!), you’re likely in search of some tips to make the whole process a little easier for you. Growing and maintaining a beautiful garden takes time and effort. So if you could learn some hacks to keep pests away, help your flowers to grow, and keep weeds from taking over, why wouldn’t you?!
Take a read through these 15 hacks to help your garden be the best that it can be this summer!
1. Plant Herbs
Not only are herbs amazing for use in the kitchen, but certain varieties will also help to keep pests away. Plant herbs like bay leaves, lemon balm, thyme, and fennel to deter flies, mosquitoes, aphids, and other bugs from your garden.
2. Coffee Grounds
If you drink coffee, you might be surprised to learn that your used coffee grounds can be sprinkled in your garden to keep pests out. All you have to do is sprinkle them around your flowers and in the soil!
3. Coffee Grounds (Again)
Speaking of coffee grounds, in addition to deterring pests, coffee grounds also act as a natural fertilizer. You’ll never throw out your used coffee grounds again now that you know these hacks!
4. Distilled Vinegar
If you want to kill off those weeds without using a harsh, chemical-filled pesticide, just use distilled vinegar instead. Just pour the vinegar directly on the weeds and they should stop growing without killing the other flowers in your garden.
5. Start A Composter
Having a composter not only helps to eliminate food waste, but it will also help your garden to flourish. Instead of tossing away any fruit, veggies, coffee grounds, or eggshells, invest in a compost bin that you can sprinkle on your garden as fertilizer once the food breaks down.
6. Eggshells
Speaking of eggshells, don’t throw yours out! Sprinkling eggshells throughout your garden will help to fertilize the soil, and it will also deter pests like slugs from eating your plants.
7. DIY Watering Can
Before you recycle those old milk jugs and pop bottles, why not get the most use out of them? Big pop bottles make for great watering cans when it comes to hanging baskets and planters, and poking a few holes into the lid of a milk jug will get you the perfect watering can.
8. Cinnamon
Cinnamon isn’t just useful in the kitchen. It actually has some anti-bacterial properties that make it great for preventing fungus and disease in your garden. Just sprinkle some cinnamon around your plants as a preventative measure against disease.
9. Wooden Palettes
The uses for wooden palettes are pretty much endless. You can use an old palette to make perfectly spaced-out rows of vegetables, herbs, and other plants!
10. Newspaper
Once you’ve completed your first weeding of the spring, sprinkle your garden with fresh mulch, then put down newspaper. Sprinkle on a little water, and the degrading process has begun! Although this will look a little funny at first, the newspaper will eventually disappear and your weeds will be gone for good.
11. Wine Bottles
If you have some empty wine bottles hanging around, why not use them in your garden? Simply fill a wine bottle with water and place it face-down in your planters. The soil will absorb the water as needed. This hack is especially useful if you’re going away for a weekend and don’t have anyone to water your plants.
12. Recycle Cooking Water
Whenever you’re boiling a pot filled with water and vegetables, don’t just toss the water when you’re done with it. Wait until it cools down, then sprinkle it in your garden. The water will be packed with vitamins and nutrients that your plants will soak up.
13. Plant Forks
If you have seedlings sprouting and don’t want your pets or other critters to stomp all over them, stick some plastic forks throughout the area. This won’t harm any animals, but it will dissuade them from trampling all over young flowers.
14. Coffee Filters
Before potting your plants, place a coffee filter on the bottom of each planter before adding soil. This will keep the water and dirt from leaking out of the planter and help the soil to retain moisture.
15. Epsom Salt
When transplanting flowers and plants, add a tablespoon of epsom salt to the bottom of the hole, then cover it with a thin layer of soil. This will help the plant from going into transplant shock and ultimately dying.
