Looking to garden, but hate the mess or you feel as though you don’t have a green thumb? Here are the most recent tips and tricks from Paul James, host of Gardening by the Yard:
1. To get rid of 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 something in it.
2. Prevent accumulating dirt underneath your fingernails while you work within the garden by drawing your fingernails across a bar of soap. This effectively seals the undersides of your nails so dirt cannot collect beneath them. Once finished, use a brush to wash away the soap and your nails will be sparkling clean.
3. To prevent the line on your string trimmer from jamming or breaking, treat it with a spray oil before installing it within the trimmer.
4. Turn a long-handled tool into a measuring stick! Lay a long lawn tool on the ground and place a tape measure next to it. Using a permanent marker, write inch and foot marks on the handle. When you need to space plants a precise distance apart, you have the instrument right in your hand.
5. To have garden twine handy when you want it, simply stick a ball of twine in a very little clay pot, pull the tip of the twine through the emptying hole, and set the pot the other way up within the garden. Do that, and you will never go searching for twine once more.
6. Little clay pots create a sophisticated look for safeguarding young plants from overnight frosts and freezes.
7. Make perfect natural markers by writing the names of plants (using a permanent marker) on the flat faces of stones of varied sizes and place them at or near the base of your plants.
8. Got aphids? You can control them with a powerful blast of water or insecticidal soap, but here is a more fun suggestion: get some tape! Wrap a strip of tape around your hand, sticky side out, and pat the leaves of infested plants. Concentrate on the undersides of leaves—that's where the little buggers hide.
9. The next time you boil or steam vegetables, do not pour the water down the drain. Use it to water potted terrace plants; you will be astonished at how the plants respond to the "vegetable soup."
10. Use leftover tea and coffee grounds to acidify the soil of acid-loving plants like azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, gardenias, and even blueberries. A light sprinkling of about one-quarter of an inch once a month keeps the pH on the acidic side.
11. Use chamomile tea to regulate damping-off fungus, which often attacks young seedlings suddenly. Add a spot of tea to the soil around the base of seedlings once a week or use it as a foliar spray.
12. The fastest way to dry herbs: simply lay a sheet of newspaper on the seat of your automobile, organize the herbs in a single layer, then roll up the windows and shut the doors. Your herbs are going to be quickly dried to perfection. what is additional, your automobile can smell nice.
