Tips Tricks Gardening I have learned

Everytime I go to a specific forum or buy a magazine or actually have an idea that will help me in the garden, I can never find the idea again....rofl. (or recall what it was) I looked and didn't see a forum covering just tips and tricks we have learned thru the years.

So please post your tips and tricks. Then we can go to just one forum and do a search on a particular word and bang there is its.

Thank you all for posting please keep adding, there is sure alot I have not thought about or knew in the first place!

This message was edited Aug 26, 2013 7:29 AM

reserved...don't know why yet but seemed like a good idea.

1. disinfected cutters I go to the dollar store and buy a cheap bottle of hand sanitize the gel kind and squirt some on the cutter inbetween cuts.

2. pull tough weeds I use a pair of pliers, this is especially useful if you don't don't have alot strength in your hands. This really works well if you are trying to pull weeds from between concrete or brick path.

3. weed killer, when I want to kill one weed that is too close to good flowers, I cut out the bottom of a paper cup, turn it upside down over the weed then take the squirt bottle of weed killer and spray INSIDE the cup, this really minimizes the overspray. But you still have to be careful.

4. you can attach your rakes etc. to your wagon cart easily by taking pvc pipe wide enough for the handle of your tool to fit in and long enough to hold it up, get an end cap for pvc and glue it on, then attach the pvc pipe with end down to your work cart. I will post a pic of it later.





This message was edited Aug 24, 2013 11:15 AM

Thanks for this thread. I will keep watching.

Good idea. Glad you did this

in the spring after everything has been planted or perennials sprouted I tear strips of newspaper and put it around the plants and sprinkle dirt or mulch on the newspaper. Less weeding. The newspaper acts like a weed barrier and holds moisture in.

If you want organic weed killer, white vinegar is a good one.

I use old pantyhose, (not mine..lol) to put plants in that sit in the water, it keeps alot of the soil in, that would normally fall out. I use safety pins to fasten together loose ends, (the metal I don't think is good for fish, if there is fish, but there are plastic fasteners, fasteners aren't really necessary anyway). And the hose legs I just tie together then cut off the excess.

This is a post that I made in the water gardens forum very recently about my idea, it may not even be a new idea, but I think it might be worthy of ponders to try.

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" Fabric pots? No, just regular black plastic nursery pots usually, I cut them down to about half the height, which looks best in my fountain. I'm not familiar with a fabric pot.
Yeah, in the fountain, most of the tops of pots are out of the water. Keeping the soil from coming out of the top would be the problem from totally submerging a pot. The only way that I can see to keep that down, (which would probably affect new shoots or sprouts from growing) is to intricately work the panty hose in a sort of painstaking way around all the stems of the existing plants in the pot, and securing it along the way with safety clips or something. Doing that weaving wouldn't be real terrible because the "legs" of the hose can be used in that manner too and that'd be fairly easy, when your done just tie them together and cut off the excess.

I recently looked at the Japanese Water Iris that I did with this panty hose, last year, and the smallest roots are growing thru the hose, so it's apparently not restricting all the roots.
The water I've noticed has staying surprisingly clear with the Iris, I think alot of the surface of the pot is not soil but part of the plant, which wouldn't dirty up the water anyway, (depending on size and type of plant there I suppose).
Along the edges like that would probably be worth it, this project is surprisingly easy to do.
One may have to thread fishing line or something thru the hose and fixed to the land to keep a pot from falling over.
SongsofJoy had a good idea! The hose must be durable, I haven't seen any sign of it coming apart or decomposing or anything with the Iris that I did last year. Here is pics of a few of them 2 days ago. -
That would be so neat if it helps at least one person! "

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Will

This message was edited Aug 25, 2013 9:55 PM

Here is some photos of what I'm talking about. This is a link to that thread in Water Gardens. -
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1330318/
Will

If you grow tomatoes where it's hot, grow a climate appropriate tomato that can handle 90 degrees and higher. Tomatoes stop producing when temperatures climb so it's important to plant the right kind for your area.

Planting in cocoa fiber pots and always drying out? I have one friend that buys old plastic plates from Goodwill and puts in the bottom of the big cocoa fiber pots and puts the soil on top. The plates keep some of the water in place for a short time. Also read but have not tried, some one mentioned putting a diaper in the bottom because they are good at holding liquid and never rot... Course there are the crystals you can use also.

Edit to say I just read where someone else took cheap sponges cut them up in squares and used them in place of the crystals to hold water....interesting. They said the sponge would last about a year, which is when you would probably repot anyway.




This message was edited Oct 15, 2013 3:46 AM

My grandma uses the diaper method. She swears by it!!

The diapers use those crystals.

In the late fall when it's time to put your garden tools (shovels, hoes, trowels, etc.) up for the winter, it's easy to take a used 5 gallon bucket (with top) then fill with sand (not dirt) and pour a quart or less of cheap motor oil over the sand (even used oil works fine). Knock off as much dirt as you can from the tool and then plunge it into the sand. This leaves an oily coating on the metal portions to forestall rust before you get the tools out next spring to use again. Put a top on the bucket when you're through and the oil/sand mixture will last for years...
OR
Wire brush all metal and then spray with a good paint primer (any brand or color will work but it should be listed for use on metals).

The end of garden time is also a good chance to clean and sharpen pruners and cutters, hoes, mower blades, and other cutting implements so they're ready for use next Spring. Please use the proper tools to sharpen cutting edges, be it a clean sharp file, whet stone, or fine grit grinding wheel as dictated by the tool being sharpened. Lubricate joints in tools such as hand pruners as necessary with something light like '3 in 1' oil or silicone spray, not WD-40 (which is not an actual lubricant nor was it ever intended to be).

Older tools such as shovels, hoes, and rakes with wood handles will benefit from a good sanding of the handle and several applications of 'boiled linseed oil', available in the paint department of many stores. I'd suggest sanding several handles at once, wiping down after with a clean rag to remove sanding dust and then applying the linseed oil in as many light coats as necessary until refusal occurs, ie: that point where the wood will not accept any further oil without puddling or dripping. Warming the liquid helps with absorption but remember that it's a volatile liquid so will catch on fire if you're not careful. For all practical purposes, even setting a small working container of the liquid as well as the tool handles in a sunny area on a hot day is sufficient to improve absorption rates dramatically.
Done correctly and even with somewhat minimal care, wooden tool handles will usually last for many more years after treatment.

Have an issue with certain plants that defy your best efforts to look and grow well despite heroic effort? Rip them out now and amend the soil so it's ready for planting during the appropriate time for your next plant choices... If you wait then as soon as the little buggers leaf out again, you'll be tempted to use even more time and effort to save them when in fact, they were probably not suited to your soil, temperature extremes, location, USDA Zone, or whatever to begin with. Although many gardeners think it but won't admit it, there are times you have to be ruthless about removing certain plants and then move on...

There are probably dozens more tips I've learned over the years but I'll limit it to the above for now.
Steve

I have been overwintering sale plants at the end of year in my zone 5 by building a raised bed in the shade using bags of mulch putting my bargain perennials inside the raised bed then covering with a layer of mulch. The next spring I plant my bargain perennials and use the bags of mulch I used for the raised bed in the gardens. Word of caution I did this with lilys one year and it worked fine but the following year the mice found the lilies and ate them! Worked great so far on dayliliy, hosta, Heuchera, roses, butterfly bush, lavender, gosh probably a 100 different plants I have over wintered this way. I know hostas and daylilies will overwinter most years without any protection in the pots but this is just an added precaution.

Feel free to post more tips when you have time Steve. Had a friend who planted the same plant in the same place for 5 years before it dawned on her maybe the plant didn't want to be there.

Steve, you sure do have some valuable information that you've shared.

Thanks!
Sheri