Are you new to gardening? Maybe you have some experience gardening, but feel frustrated with at all the “musts” or “must not” to dos in the garden. Today I wanted to share with you a few gardening hacks from some fellow gardeners. These tried and true tricks may be just the thing to help you with your garden this season.
Gardening Hacks and Tricks
1. Mason Jar Soil Test
This article from Preparedness Momma shows you an easy way to get a feel of the type of soil you are dealing with, when working in a new or existing garden. No need to send it out, or to buy a soil test, to figure out the basics.
2. Fill Large Containers with Aluminum Cans or Packing Peanuts
I’ve been doing this forever with summer annuals, which really don’t need all that root space. Large containers are quite stunning with their ability to hold many different plants, but the cost of filling them with soil and the weight to move it around is tough. You can even use the softer plastic nursery six packs (turned upside down) that the transplants came in.
3. Soda Bottle Drip Feeder
The Gardening Cook has a great post about how to submerge a plastic bottle into the ground, near your plants roots, to help water and establish new plants. I’ve done this with new shrubs and it works very well.
4. Garden Layout Trick
The Creative Vegetable Gardener has a great trick on how to determine the best size and layout for your garden. This hack will save you so much time and energy, and will make sure you have the garden you really want.
5. Using Pool Noodles In The Garden
The Thrifty Couple found great ways to use dollar store pool noodles to help in the garden,. Like this one where the noodle protects the top of the lattice, so the vines can easily grow over them and not get crimped or intertwined.
6. Easy Trick For A Sparkling Clean Pond
Try this easy trick shared by The Empress of Dirt for you backyard pond. A small investment of just a few dollars, with no chemicals or additives, will clear up your pond in no time.
7. How to Make Your Hydrangea Change Colors
This post by Garden Therapy will show you an easy trick to turn your blue hydrangeas pink, or your pink ones blue. A simple inexpensive solution to make sure your pretty shrubs are just the right color for you.
8. Fast Garden Makeover Tips
North Coast Gardening has some great tips on fast ways to spruce up the garden when you are short on time. I especially love the trick about “skirting” to quickly and easily shape up plants.
9. Rooting Lilacs From Cuttings
Flower Patch Farmhouse has a great trick on how to create the perfect environment for rooting semi-softwood shrubs such as lilacs. Now you can ask a friend or neighbor for a small cutting, from their gorgeous lilac, and grow one or many for yourself.
10. A Trick to Growing Vegetables
Home Garden Joy post on four easy to grow vegetables has a great tip for planting flowers, especially marigolds, directly with your vegetables, to attract pollinators while repelling pest, deer, and rodents.
Do you have any gardening hacks that help you in the garden?
Carole @ Garden Up Green says
Great tips I really like #2 and need to remember that, would be perfect for hanging planters to reduce weight. Number nine is another neat one because I do a lot of propagating. Was just rounding up all those plants this weekend for the move. I’m wondering if this speeds up the process? Normally I take cuttings in the fall and then wait to see what happens over winter and I’m normally pleasantly surprised by spring. I’m going to give this a try at some point. Could be an awesome project.
Patti Estep says
Hi Carole,
I haven’t tried #9 but there’s an empty aquarium sitting around here calling my name.
Thanks for stopping by,
Patti
Carol ("Mimi") says
Lots of good information in this article! Pinning for future reference. Thanks.
Sai Bharath says
It is great to read such good gardening post. I will definitely try some of the above tricks especially “Soda Bottle Drip Feeder” hope it will work. Thanks for sharing such great innovative tips and tricks.
Patti Estep says
Hi Sai,
So glad you liked the post. Yes, I agree the soda bottle trick is a good one. You can even just poke hole in the bottom if you want. I’ve done this. The theory is, you pour water into the bottle from above the surface and then it slowly releases water from the holes in the bottom to the root system below. Also, I usually place mine out at the drip line which is a little further out and not right next to the bush.
Have a great week,
Patti
Helen says
One of my favorite gardens was the one that was 1/2 a girly garden and 1/2 a man’s garden. It wasn’t so much the whole design of it, but there was a combination of the yellow hellebore, orange sedge, pink tulips and ‘Carmel’ Heuchera. It would only look good for a very short period of time, but the effect was impressive.