>>>This post is in partnership with Garden Collage
You know how the internet is constantly slapping you in the face with rage-inducing news stories, and political tirades, and people who have perfect abs, and lists of 500 Things You’ve Been Doing Wrong Your Whole Life, and it kind of bums you out?
Well not today, gang. Today we’re going to visit a little spot of internet sunshine called Garden Collage.
Garden Collage is a brand new lifestyle gardening site that focuses on bringing the modern garden into your life, whether your garden is as big as a farm or as small as a few plants on the fire escape.
There truly is something for everyone here, no matter if you’re a master gardener or totally green on the scene. (Gardening joke!)
Plus, it’s so pretty! I could scroll through the pages all day, just admiring the photos. But you’ll find plenty more than that. Such as …
… DIY projects, travel recommendations, interviews and investigative reports, tested and true products, children’s activities, and much more.
I was surprised at how comprehensive and beautifully organized it is, being a brand new site and all. I’d say my favorite part is the “On The Road” travel series. I just read The Hidden Magic of Joshua Tree Park, and now I really, really want to visit. And get some tacos.
So if your internet-weary eyeballs could use a vacation, take them over to Garden Collage. And definitely be sure to check it out if you are even remotely interested in gardening and nature. I happen to know that plenty of Better After readers are, which leads me to part II of this post: 50 Gardening Tips and Tricks You Need to Know!
Last year I wrote a post about my vertical garden system, and I asked readers comment with their best gardening tip. It was such a treasure chest of great information that I weeded through them all (gardening joke!) and picked out my favorites. Then I compiled all these wonderful tips from my wonderful readers into one handy list. I thought now would be the perfect time to share it.
Enjoy!
Use chamomile tea to control damping-off fungus, which often attacks young seedlings quite suddenly. Just add a spot of tea to the soil around the base of seedlings once a week or use it as a foliar spray.
My tip is to put newspaper down before adding mulch or dirt around plants and it will prevent weeds from coming up for the season.
Use egg shells around your plants to ward off slugs.
Use LOTS of mulch to cut down on weeding!
Put down weed cloth and then mulch over it. You can cut the weed cloth where you want to plant something.
My tip is to sprinkle Diatomaceous earth around to keep away unwanted pests.
My tip is don’t go pesticide crazy! You may be frustrated with bugs munching on your plants but when you kill them, you can also kill the bees and good bugs that help your plants.
My best tip is when you are removing the grass to create a new planting space, don’t waste time installing a layer of the black plastic weed preventer. I use preen instead and I love it. I sprinkle it on the new area I am going to plant in then cover with mulch after you plant and sprinkle it over the mulch once every month during the summer and it cuts down weeks tremendously!
When repotting or reusing any dirt at all I always add a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. It keeps my plants vibrant and my soil clean, the pepper repels most tunneling insects!
I keep a pretty lightweight flower pot (medium size) near my gardens. If I’m walking around the garden and see a weed, I pick it and drop it in the pot. When it is full, I dump it. This isn’t for full-on weeding, just pulling that random one as you’re walking by. I’m more likely to pluck the offender if I’ve someplace handy to deposit it!
My hubby bought me a timer that attaches to the spigot outside that I use to water the garden. You then attach the hose to it, turn on the water and set the timer. When the timer goes off, it stops the water from flowing. It’s great, especially for my absent-minded self!
If you have outdoor plants that you may not see daily: pay attention to the weather. If it rains regularly for a while you’ll get spoiled on not having to water them then a dry spell hits and suddenly all your plants are dead or near death!
Water in the morning or early evening so roots don’t rot and plants remain hydrated through the heat of the day.
Use a watering globe! ‘Set it and forget it’ type of watering.
The soaker hose has been my best gardening friend. It saves time, keeps water off leaves which prevents disease, and creates good root systems by deep watering.
My grandma taught me to water things slowly so that the soil gets wet about 2″ inches down. I used to only water until the ground looked wet enough and I never understood why it would take her hours to water her garden. But now I get it and the plants appreciate it!
I drilled holes in 2 liter soda bottle and buried them in between plants to use as an irrigation system. The neighbor kids love helping me water and I love teaching them.
I put a coffee filter in the bottom of my outdoor pots before adding the potting soil and plants. It keeps the dirt from washing out the drainage hole when I water.
One of my favorite watering tips is to fill a bottle (I like to recycle decorative glass bottles) with water, quickly invert & put the opening down into the soil of your containers. The water drips out slowly keeping it moist for longer periods of time in the summer heat.
I have a reminder set on my phone for every other day in the morning to water the plants. During the summer I set it for everyday. Seems so simple but it works.
I love to grow lettuce inside in the winter next to a window. Fresh, homegrown salad all year long
I learned that after cutting an onion to keep about one fourth to one half an inch of the root and bury it under just enough soil to cover it and keep it watered. In no time you will have green onions coming up. I had to try it to believe it! I did this in a container as I live in an apartment.
Pick your produce frequently to encourage the plant to grow more. This is my first year growing Pattypan squash, which are meant to only grow about the size of a golf ball though they are also good at a much larger size. I learned that unless you pick the squash as soon as they’re ready instead of lazily waiting until the last minute, the plant will only grow a few at once.
If you plant corn, remember it needs to be watered everyday … I mean lots and lots of water.
We’ve found that tomato “tables” work MUCH better than those wire cages. It’s basically a pair of chicken wire panels suspended about a foot off the ground on either side of the plant… so it looks kinda like a short coffee table with a chicken wire top and a plant growing through the middle of it. The plants spread out across the “tabletop” which keeps the tomatoes up off the ground and away from bugs and slugs, and it’s easy to pick them because they’re not tangled up inside a cage.
My tip is to switch the areas you plant tomatoes from one end of your garden to the other every year (to reduce the probability of disease). Also, cut the lower the branches of the tomato plant off, and cover the soil around the base (as far out as the longest branch) with hay or newspaper. Not only will the newspaper keep the tomato plant moist, but you also keep your tomatoes healthy by avoiding dirt splashing up on them (which can give them spots).
Plant marigolds around your tomatoes to help keep them pest free.
Daylilies! They are so easy to tend, are naturally disease resistant and multiply quickly so that you can spread them around for more color or share with friends. They are colorful and bloom almost all summer.
Cut down peony bushes in the fall. This gives them the full summer to grow/store food.
Mint is easily transplanted from cuttings. Just remember to plant it in a contained area, or it will spread all over your lawn. It does smell nice when you mow it, but the mowed mint isn’t so pleasant to walk on.
Orchids can grow “babies.” You can cut them off and replant them and get a new orchid for free!
Most herbs can be grown indoors on a kitchen windowsill. Using colorful pots, bowls, etc… can add color and decor, and the herbs are easily on hand to cook with.
Instead of digging up delicate perennials every year, add two or three inches of mulch on top of them to keep the roots from freezing over winter.
I trim down mums three times throughout the summer to make huge, full, almost bush-like plants in the Fall. The end result produces so many flowers! I love seeing the splash of color as the rest of my plants and bushes and trees begin to die away. And how do you know when to trim back the mums throughout the summer? It’s easy! Do it right around the three main holidays…Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day.
I saved my poinsettia from last Christmas and learned that I can get it to bloom again by putting it in dark for 16 hours a day, starting 40 days before I want a bloom!
Buy used pots at the thrift store and paint them. You can also use empty wine bottles as watering globes. They are free, well … after the wine is gone! Keeps my plants green in the hot summer months without me having to water so much.
An old kitchen colander found in a thrift store or flea market makes a great outdoor planter. Built-in drainage! Just line it with landscape fabric first to prevent soil from washing through.
My tip is fish emulsion – I get the best crops when I use it as fertilizer for my tomatoes.
For natural fertilizer, put banana peels around your rose bushes.
Coffee grounds! I save them during the week, and sprinkle them on my houseplants and outdoor plants every weekend. At work, I use the actual leftover coffee to water my plants, and they look amazing!
I search out low maintenance plants like hostas, day lilies, astilbe and Autumn Joy sedum for my outdoor plantings. They all look great and aren’t super fussy so I’m not a slave to the gardens. Ask at your garden center for easy care suggestions or Google it!
I learned once that onions and strawberries are companion plants: plant them together and you will get amazingly sweet strawberries and delicious onions! I tried it and it was the best crop I’ve ever tasted!
When you buy rotisserie chickens at the grocery store, keep the plastic containers they come in — they are great for starting seeds, just like mini-greenhouses!
Placing unscented newborn diapers at the base (under the dirt) in hanging baskets and flower boxes keeps the moisture content up and they don’t dry out as easily.
Do a little work in the garden every day, so it doesn’t pile up so much!
Make your own compost for free! In the fall, set up a compost bin and then look for a local horse rescue. They are usually happy to give away manure! Cart home as much as you can and then use your own leaves, neighbors leaves, leaves from Craiglist, bags of leaves found on the side of the street, where ever you can get them and, mix with the manure. If you can’t get enough leaves, have your friends and family give you their shredded paper. Once or week or so, go out and turn the pile and add water if needed. Compost needs 1 part green (manure), 3 part brown (leaves or paper) and moisture. Come spring you should have a wonderful pile of all natural compost to throw on your garden!
I always enjoyed walking through our gardens in the early morning with a cup of coffee before I went to work. I would dead-head and pull a weed or two that popped through the mulch and this always seemed to keep the gardens neat. And I think my days always started out better spending that time looking at all the beauty. We have moved to a home with much smaller gardens and I no longer work outside our home, but I still have my coffee every morning appreciating the beauty and keep ahead of the work with a little dead-heading and weed pulling…
We recently started using a manual lawn mower and love it! The yard is always so well clipped, the grass grows slower and more evenly, and the overall evenness of the grass is equal throughout.
My tip is to remember to clean your tools after every use.
Experiment! You will learn a ton … just don’t give up. Keep trying! I learned that here mints and basil will spread like wildfire so keep those contained in a pot … not right in the ground (unless you want it everywhere!)
Here’s a glimpse of my vertical garden, which I finally set up after living here for nearly a year. It’s so nice to look out my kitchen window and see a little green on my humble patch of Arizona.
Yes, I spray painted the bottom of this planter gold.
And I gold-leafed this one. I have a problem.
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