5 Garden Hacks That Actually Work!
Spring-blooming magic does not happen overnight. Planting our garden favourites requires a bit of love, attention, and especially time for them to bloom. There aren’t many shortcuts when it comes to mother nature. However, there are some shortcuts when it comes to productivity in the garden. Here are some of our favourite gardening hacks that will make your life easier!
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Make seed starters out of eggshell halves
A helpful tip, as well as a perfect activity for kids, is to save your eggshells to make seed starters. Use the deeper half to create starter cells for seedlings. Make sure to clean and dry the shells first and carefully add a small hole with a needle at the bottom for drainage. Don’t forget to keep your egg carton as it makes the perfect container to hold all of your little seedlings. Add soil to each eggshell half, plant your seed according to package directions, add some water, and watch them sprout! Once the seeds have sprouted, you can plant them directly into your garden including the eggshell! Egg shells are full of calcium and a great addition to your soil.
Bonus tip!
If you have difficulty keeping slugs and snails away from your garden beds, add crushed eggshells around your tender plants as a deterrant. Remember to wash and bake the shells before using to make sure you’re not encouraging other pests from visiting.
Perfect spacing every time
Save yourself time when planting and use an old wood lattice panel as a template for your plantings. Lay the lattice panel out on the plot of dirt you plan to use, and poke holes where you intend to plant within the lattice cells. No need to pull out a measuring tape, your plantings will look perfectly spaced thanks to this time-saving hack. Short on lattice panels? Try chicken wire instead.
Keep your nails clean while gardening!
While there is nothing wrong with a bit of dirt under your nails after a great day out in the garden, sometimes you don’t feel like sporting your usual dirt manicure. Instead of scrubbing the skin around your cuticles and underneath your fingernails, try this hack instead! Grab a bar of inexpensive soap and drag or scrape your fingernails across the bar of soap. The soap blocks the top of your nails as well as underneath to form a barrier so that no dirt can get in. Once you’re finished your work in the garden, use a nail brush to wash away the remaining soap – easy as that!
Fertilizing dense plants without breaking your back
Fertilizing bushes or other dense plants isn’t always as easy as you might think. With lots of growth obscuring the root zone of the plant (and possibly not a lot of room to maneuver within a garden bed), you may have a hard time applying fertilizer where you want it to go. Find a PVC pipe approximately two feet long (or whichever height works best to suit your needs). Slide one end down to the plant root zone and pour the fertilizer into the pipe. Use a long-handled rake to blend it into the top layer of soil. With this method, there is no need to crawl around the base and reach awkwardly into the dense underbrush to get fertilizer where you need it to go.
Get rid of unsightly weeds with a pantry staple
If you are one of those people that can stay on top of pulling weeds regularly in the cracks of your pavement, driveway, or sidewalk, my hat goes off to you! If you’re looking for an easy way to stay on top of the weeds, white vinegar is your go-to! This jack of all trades that most people have sitting at home has a high level of acidity that weeds hate. The safest place to use vinegar for weeds is in between concrete seams in sidewalks or driveways. You can up the strength of your weed-killing solution by adding a cup of table salt and a tablespoon of liquid dish soap to a gallon of white vinegar. Take care not to use this solution in other areas of your garden as it may result in nothing being able to grow there due to salt buildup in the soil. Vinegar will damage any plants and grass that it touches – so make sure you apply selectively to weeds within cracks along your driveway or sidewalk to be safe.
As an extra bonus, the powerful scent from this solution can deter deer, rabbits, and other unwanted animal friends from entering your garden for a while.
We love utilizing simple tricks in the garden to make life easier. Try some of these tips and let us know how they work out for you. Know of any other garden hacks that you swear by? Leave us a comment to spread the word!
