Here, the latest tips and tricks from Paul James, host of Gardening by the Yard:
1. To remove the salt deposits that form on clay pots, combine equal parts white vinegar, rubbing alcohol and water in a spray bottle. Apply the mixture to the pot and scrub with a plastic brush. Let the pot dry before you plant anything in it.
1. To remove the salt deposits that form on clay pots, combine equal parts white vinegar, rubbing alcohol and water in a spray bottle. Apply the mixture to the pot and scrub with a plastic brush. Let the pot dry before you plant anything in it.
2. To prevent accumulating dirt under your
fingernails while you work in the garden, draw your fingernails across a
bar of soap and you'll effectively seal the undersides of your nails so
dirt can't collect beneath them. Then, after you've finished in the
garden, use a nailbrush to remove the soap and your nails will be
sparkling clean.
3. To prevent the line on your string trimmer from
jamming or breaking, treat with a spray vegetable oil before installing
it in the trimmer.
4. Turn a long-handled tool into a measuring stick!
Lay a long-handled garden tool on the ground, and next to it place a
tape measure. Using a permanent marker, write inch and foot marks on the
handle. When you need to space plants a certain distance apart (from
just an inch to several feet) you'll already have a measuring device in
your hand.
5. To have garden twine handy when you need it, just
stick a ball of twine in a small clay pot, pull the end of the twine
through the drainage hole, and set the pot upside down in the garden. Do
that, and you'll never go looking for twine again.
6. Little clay pots make great cloches for protecting young plants from sudden, overnight frosts and freezes.
7. To turn a clay pot into a hose guide, just stab a
roughly one-foot length of steel reinforcing bar into the ground at the
corner of a bed and slip two clay pots over it: one facing down, the
other facing up. The guides will prevent damage to your plants as you
drag the hose along the bed.
8. To create perfectly natural markers, write the
names of plants (using a permanent marker) on the flat faces of stones
of various sizes and place them at or near the base of your plants.
9. Got aphids? You can control them with a strong
blast of water from the hose or with insecticidal soap. But here's
another suggestion, one that's a lot more fun; get some tape! Wrap a
wide strip of tape around your hand, sticky side out, and pat the leaves
of plants infested with aphids. Concentrate on the undersides of
leaves, because that's where the little buggers like to hide.
10. The next time you boil or steam vegetables,
don't pour the water down the drain, use it to water potted patio
plants, and you'll be amazed at how the plants respond to the "vegetable
soup."
11. Use leftover tea and coffee grounds to acidify
the soil of acid-loving plants such as azaleas, rhododendrons,
camellias, gardenias and even blueberries. A light sprinkling of about
one-quarter of an inch applied once a month will keep the pH of the soil
on the acidic side.
12. 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.
13. If you need an instant table for tea service,
look no farther than your collection of clay pots and saucers. Just flip
a good-sized pot over, and top it off with a large saucer. And when
you've had your share of tea, fill the saucer with water, and your
"table" is now a birdbath.
14. The quickest way in the world to dry herbs: just
lay a sheet of newspaper on the seat of your car, arrange the herbs in a
single layer, then roll up the windows and close the doors. Your herbs
will be quickly dried to perfection. What's more, your car will smell
great.
Source of Article: http://www.hgtv.com/
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