Tree Leaves
- It's amazing how many people rake their leaves, place in bags and put on curb. I haul them off and use in my garden at no cost. You also have a happy neighbor!
- —Guest roland contreras
Strategic Composting.
- Save all kinds table scraps, not only for your compost pile, but also to compost most of them directly in to your garden during the fall months. Dig everything under as you go along, by spring no need to haul from compost pile to the garden. Water once in a while. Now you can start to plant, either by Seeds or Roots.
- —Guest MARILYN
Good way to water large containers
- Get about a two inch PVC pipe, drill holes from top to bottom about three inches apart. Fill pipe with small gravel,push pipe deep into pot. Pour water into pipe to water roots.
- —Guest Kathy Kinard
Shredded Paper
- Got a paper shredder? Use the shreds in your compost pile; it all comes from trees...
- —Guest duke
Recycled Bird Bath Bowl
- When the glass bowl of the birdbath broke, I substituted a large, heavy, glass light fixture cover that fit perfectly in the frame. The glass bowl has a hole in the bottom so it needed to be plugged to hold water. Now I watch for the light fixture bowls at thrift stores because they are so decorative and make interesting and attractive birdbaths.
- —Guest fourpetesake
Recycled Gazing Balls
- I use glass globes from light fixtures as gazing balls. Many of the glass globes are white and show up nicely in the garden. Some of the globes are smooth while others are ribbed or have other textures.
- —Guest fourpetesake
Junk Mail Paths
- We shred our junk mail and I use it to mulch the pathways in the garden. It breaks down over the winter months. It can also be used to mulch around large plants like potatoes and under vines like cucumbers, pumpkins, and squash. I have also noticed bird nests with some of the shredded paper in them.
- —Guest fourpetesake
Plastic Spoon & Fork Place Holders
- Wash used plastic spoons and forks and use them to mark the places in your beds where you want to plant tulips (spoons) and daffodils (forks). They will hold up over the growing season, and be there in the fall to remind you where to add bulbs, when you can no longer see the foliage of last spring's bulbs.
- —Guest paminthegarden
Milk Cartons for Direct Watering
- Use 1 or 2-litre 'squashy' plastic milk bottles to water larger plants: cut a hold in the bottom, remove the cap and bury most of the bottle in the ground, head downwards. Water through the hole you've cut. This will deliver water direct to the roots and if weather is particularly hot, you can leave the cap, or a stone, covering the hole to cut down evaporation. I use this method for my minarette fruit trees as water is apt to roll away on the surface.
- —Guest Rainbow
Jingle Bells Ring Again
- Do felines prey on your songbirds when they come to feed or bathe? Use your leftover jingle bells to foil a cat-strike. Hang several bells in a shrub or hedge where a neighborhood cat waits to pounce upon birds. The cat's attempt to be camouflaged will be spoiled by the ringing bells. The birds can escape unharmed with a little jingling forewarning. Better yet, if it's your own cat, tie a small jingle bell to its collar and protect local birds in a wider area.
- —Guest Waking Dream
Winter Composting
- I hate composting in the winter--can't stir what is frozen solid. I just put my coffee filters, coffee grounds, veggie & fruit peels & dry lint directly on one of the raised beds in my garden and cover them with a few chopped leaves. They break down on their own and the coffee grounds attract earthworms as soon as the ground begins to thaw.
- —sobernana8
New Life for BUGS
- I have always had a hard time with the bugs, especially the stink bugs!!!! They are every where on my tomatoes! I found they are esp vulnerable to Seven dust!
- —Guest Jo
Panyhose Plant Ties
- I cut old pantyhose into 1 inch strips and use them to tie up my tomatoes. They have enough stretch to keep from cutting into the vine.
- —Guest JIMMY LUCCHI
Recyled Paths
- We pull the screening out of old windows and doors that people discard. We lay these along paths that would otherwise be too muddy much of the fall and spring to run the wheel barrow over or walk on safely. They let the water through, but stabilize the ground enough to walk or barrow over.
- —Guest anna moose
Worn-out Cotton Underwear
- When I have underwear that has come to the end of its life, I cut or rip off the waistband and legs and use those for tying up seedlings or plants. The body of the underwear can be used as small gardening cloths, or used to get into those tiny spots when trying to clean your glass & screen doors. You can either throw these rags away, or in your washing machine if you want to re-use.
- —NorthVanGirl
