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Gardening Tips

garden global endeavour to provide the most useful and successful gardening tips for novice and experienced gardener's. Gardening is a hobby, and with every hobby, you will find in time that there are various tricks of the trade. The following gardening tips will arm you with the necessary tools and know-how for your garden.

If you know of any other useful gardening tips and you would like to share them with the gardening world, please contact us on webmaster@gardenglobal.com.

» Plastic plant labels that have been written on using permanent ink can be brought back to new, if they are soaked in a 75% bleach solution for a couple of weeks. Make sure they are thoroughly washed before using again. Alternatively, use a pencil to mark labels, these can then be used again by simply using a rubber (eraser) to remove the name. A GREAT gardening tip!

» Gardening labels made from coloured plastic bottles can be used for labelling different types of plants e.g. blue = hardy, yellow = trailers etc.

» To stop fencing boards splitting when driving nails, cut the head of a nail of the same size to that being used, put the nail in an electric drill and drill the boards where the nails are to be positioned, hammer in your nails, no more split timber in your garden.

» Slice your apples crosswise to evaluate pollination. There are five seed pockets with a potential of two seeds in each. If there are 8-10 fully developed seeds you are in good shape. If less, then the apple is not all it could be and you need to work on better pollination. Either you need more bees or a pollenizer variety.

» When growing sweet peas from seed, two-thirds fill pot with compost and water well, top up with dry compost and plant seed at about 1/2 inch beneath surface of compost. This way the seed with draw up as much water as required and will not rot away.

» An interesting gardening tip! To prevent slugs getting to plants in containers, smear outside of container with petroleum jelly or WD40.

» Grow varieties of plants that require little or no staking and plant closely so they support each other in your garden.

» Spray weeds which are well established in a rock garden and paving with a glyphosate herbicide. This kills the entire plant without having to dig them out.

» When gardening mix perlite in with the potting compost in patio planters and hanging baskets. It absorbs moisture when water is plentiful and releases it when the compost is dry.

» When planting container grown plants, disturb the roots as little as possible so that they continue to benefit from the compost they are grown in. Water as usual after planting.

» When planting bare rooted trees and shrubs, spread the roots out like an umbrella, twisted roots stunt growth. As you cover the roots with soil shake the plant from time to time to allow the soil to drop down well between them. Water well after planting in your garden.

» Important gardening tip: Put support stakes in before you plant a new tree to avoid the possibility of damaging the roots.

» Save wooden ice cream spatulas, lolly sticks or plastic knives to use as garden labels. Write on them with a ball point pen or waterproof marker. Very handy hint!

» An old hot water bottle filled sparingly with foam rubber chips is a handy kneeling pad for long gardening jobs.

» If tender buds or shoots become frozen, thaw them out slowly by spraying with cold water before the sun shines, otherwise they may get scorched.

» To avoid tender plants getting damaged by frost, listen to the weather forecast and protect delicate plants with newspaper or old clothes.

» To prevent snow damaging small conifers, when it is forecast tie the branches to the trunk with string, however, do not leave them tied for more than a day or two.

» As long as you don't mind how they look, old car tyres make a good temporary cold frames for new seedlings. Sow the seeds inside the tyre and place a piece of glass or clear plastic on top. The rubber absorbs the heat during the day and releases it over night.

» If you find handles of tools, mowers and shears uncomfortable to hold try buying a foam bicycle handlebar grip. Slip the grips over the tool handles, using washing up liquid or Vaseline if it proves difficult. If the handle in question is continuous try slitting the grip horizontally to allow it to be slipped over the handle. Pipe insulating foam may also work.

» Always buy strong, good quality gardening tools and look after them well. If you can afford it buy stainless steel as they will last a lifetime and are easier to clean. When choosing tools pick them up and try out for balance and weight.

» Before filling a strawberry barrel with compost stand a piece of drainpipe or cardboard tube upright in the centre and fill with pebbles. As you fill with compost gradually remove the tube releasing the pebbles. This will act as a central drainage system preventing the soil from becoming waterlogged.

» Hanging baskets need watering twice a day; to make this easier consider attaching them to a pulley system available from garden shops.

» Water hanging baskets by putting ice cubes on the top, moisture is slowly released as the ice cubes melt. Ensure these do not touch the plants as this may cause damage.

» If your hose springs a leak it can be temporarily repaired by inserting a cocktail stick into the hole. Snap the stick off as close to the hose as possible and wrap around with insulating tape or waterproof tape (if available). This should extend by about 2" each side of the hole. As the wood absorbs the water it will expand and seal the hole.

» An old wheel rim makes an ideal storage place for a garden hose when not in use. This can be hung on a garage or shed wall to keep your garden tidy.

» When feeding tomatoes with liquid feed this can scorch the leaves. To avoid this happening pour from the watering can using a piece of 1.25 inch drain pipe as a funnel directing the feed straight to the base of the plant, away from the leaves.

» To prevent peas being eaten by pests, fill a short length of guttering with compost and sow peas along the length as normal. Hang guttering out of reach of pests. When seedlings are 1"-2" tall, dig a trench in the garden and transfer whole length containing compost and seedlings into this trench.

» Put broken egg shells into a watering can, fill with water and leave overnight. This will extract the nutrients making an excellent and cheap plant feed.

» Bake egg shells in an oven to harden and then place around plants to prevent slugs damaging them. The slugs cannot get over the hardened shells. This is just another great gardening tip from garden global.

» To get rid of ants, locate their hill and sprinkle a liberal amount of talc powder around and on it. The ants dislike the talc and willmove their colony several feet. Just continue sprinkling with the talc until the ants are moved to where you want them. Boiling water poured into/onto the nest also works quite well.

» When planting morning glory seeds, the package directions indicate that you need to nick each one of the seeds to enhance germination. A quick and easy way to accomplish this is with a pair of fingernail clippers. Then place the seeds on a lightly dampened paper towel, fold the towel over and place inside a plastic zipper bag for a day or so before planting.

» Vinegar Gardening Tips
· Kills grass on walks and driveways.
· Kills weeds. Spray full strength on growth until plants have starved.
· Increases soil acidity. In hard water: one gallon of tap water for watering rhododendrums, gardenias, or azaleas.
· Deters ants. Spray vinegar around doors, appliances and along other areas where ants are known.

» Creating Mulch (to aid decomposition) Gardening Tips
1. Take 2 small containers of plain yoghurt and empty them into the pile.
2. Toss about a dozen night crawlers (a large variety of earthworm - plentiful in some areas) into th pile and let them go to work.
3. If you can acquire 1 litre of liquid nitrogen (I don't know how readily available this is around the world); this can be used on the pile.

» A good recipe for hummingbird nectar is to combine water and sugar in a 4:1 ratio (4 cups water and 1 cup sugar) in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook until all th sugar is dissolved. Cool thoroughly before using and store extra portions in a sterile jar in the refrigerator. This mixture most closely resembles the nectar of flowers.

Once again, if you think we've missed any userful or important gardening tips and you would like to share them with the gardening world, please contact us on webmaster@gardenglobal.com.

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