It takes not only time but energy to make a garden look its best, but it's worth it when you see your garden lush and blooming. Here are 20 practical tips to turn you into a green thumb. Get ready to be brightened up!
1. Upcycle Toilet Paper Rolls
If you have stocked up on toilet paper recently, then you have plenty of ready made seed starters for your garden. Find a waterproof container, and align empty paper rolls in it. Then fill each roll with potting soil, and plant your seeds inside. When it's time, you can plant them directly into the ground. Even better, the rolls will decompose over time while your seeds sprout safely.
2. Build Up Teacup Gardens
Do you have vintage teacups collecting dust in your pantry, so why not take them out for a better use? They can be the perfect containers for teacup succulent gardens. Besides the cup, find small pebbles, potting soil and a succulent. Then place a few pebbles in the bottom, and fill it with potting soil. Finally add your succulent and you can enjoy all the fun that this tiny plant brings!
3. Fork Off, Uninvited Guests
To deter uninvited guests from entering your space, you can turn to plastic forks for help. Just stick it evenly near your plants with the pointy end up, you can get rid of them for good.
4. Brew Up Fertilizer Tea
Nothing is more annoying than weeds. They soak up the nutrients your plants live on, so it's important to get that back. Just pull the weeds, and steep them into a bucket of water instead of tossing them away. Then wait patiently for the nutrients to be released, finally pour the water onto your plants to supplement the nutrients. There's always a payback!
5. Sprinkle Soap Shreds Around
To deter hungry rabbits from ruining your plants, grate some soap with your food processor and sprinkle it among your garden beds. The smell of the soap will repel them while doing no harm to your plants. Remember to replenish the shavings after heavy rain.
6. Set Up A Beebath
To make your garden a hospitable environment for bees and butterflies to visit, you need to set up a beebath. Choose a shady spot first, then use a plant pot turned upside down as a base. Next set a shallow bowl on top of the pot, add a few marbles for the bees to perch on and fill it with an inch or so of water. Don't forget to replenish the water and clean the bowl regularly.
7. Space Seeds Evenly
In light of aesthetic layout and growing space of plants, you need to space seeds evenly. However, it's not easy without a specified tool, but your muffin tin can be a real lifesaver. Just press the bottom of it into your freshly tilled dirt and move forward to repeat the process.
8. Create Stylish Pot Markers
With so many similar plants in your garden, it's often hard to tell them apart. Therefore, creating pot markers is necessary. Write down the name of every plant on old wine corks and spear them on kebab skewers. Finally, stick the skewer into the ground near the matching plant.
9. Plant Your Soda Cans
Set aside some old soda cans in case you don't have a proper planter. To use a deep one, you need to fill its bottom with these cans before planting your shrub. In this way, you can save a lot of soil as well as leaving air pockets for your greenery.
10. Repurpose Old Sponges
The roots of plants are liable to rot with too much water. However, your old sponge will come into handy in this situation. Put it at the bottom of your pots, and they will soak up any extra water, plus they'll also allow for more air.
11. DIY A Watering Can
For a beginner who hasn't got a watering can, this simple tip will help you out. All your need is an empty milk jug and a needle. You can upcycle the jug by heating up the needle and poking holes in its lid. Then fill the jug with water, and you'll see water flow through it easily.
12. Gardening Tool Holder
It happens that you can hurt yourself on a pruner or a trowel if you store tools randomly. Even worse, it can also end up blunt. To save the trouble, prepare a bucket filled with clean sand and a bit of mineral oil. Spray your tool with oil and stick it in the sand after every use.
13. Easy Fertilizer Recipe
It may surprise you that Epsom salt can be used as an incredibly effective fertilizer for your greenery, because it contains magnesium that helps seeds sprout and absorb vital nutrients. Just mix two teaspoons of Epsom salt with one gallon of water per month. Then pour it onto the base of your plants and watch them grow.
14. Drown Slugs With Beer
Slugs can eat away your plants if you don't ward them off. However, you can tackle this problem with ease if setting a beer trap in your garden. Put a dish of beer in the place where slugs like to slither, then wait for them to drown. This will save you a lot of effort in the long term!
15. DIY A Spray Collar
Contact sprays are easy to use when you remove weeds, but it can be tricky to target them while not harming your desirable plants. Therefore, you need a spray collar. Remove the top and bottom of a milk jug or metal food can, and you will have one. Next time when you weed, try to place it over the weed before you apply herbicide directly into the top opening.
16. Homemade Weed Killer
In order to make your garden lush with greenery rather than weeds, you use weed killers. However, those harsh chemicals can damage your plants and the cost can be high over time. So why not make some natural weed killer? Simply fill a spray bottle with the mixture of vinegar, salt and a little dish soap, and you can see how the magic works.
17. Filter Water Not Soil
It's a real headache for gardeners to water their potted plants, because soil always flows out with the excess water. Don't worry, as a simple coffee filter can help you out. Make sure to place it at the bottom of your pot before you fill it with soil so that water can drain easily while retaining the nutritious soil.
18. Protect Plants From Frost
Seasoned gardeners will take precautions to avoid the damage resulting from a sudden frost. Instead of blanketing all your plants with a plastic layer, you can cover individual plants with cloches. Simply cut the bottom of a milk jug and place it over your fragile seedlings. Trust me, they will survive.
19. Effective Soil Boosters
If your food waste goes directly to the trash can, you are throwing away precious organic fertilizers for your garden. Everyday leftovers from eggshells and banana peels to coffee grounds are all perfect soil boosters. Simply put the kitchen residues in the soil and your plants will thrive over time.
20. Build A Raised Garden Bed
If you intend to build a raised garden bed to separate some plants from your yard, then this hack may give you some ideas. Find a few cinder blocks first, then line them up in a rectangle. Next fill each block with fresh soil, and you can plant your shrubs here.
Source: buzzaura.com