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23 Gardening Hacks You Need to Know Now

Growing a garden can be a satisfying way to spend your time. For some, the thought of pulling up the weeds, planting flowers, and trimming hedges are what they love most about gardening. There’s great satisfaction in looking out at a well-kept yard and thinking, “I did this.”

A shot of a young toddler boy and his pregnant mother in a community garden. They are wearing casual clothing and are kneeling and looking at something in the soil.

Gardening is pretty tough and sweaty, but we have 30 tips that will make it feel easy and fun! There’s tons of great advice for saving time and effort, and your yard will look beautiful with minimal expense and effort (plus a lot of dirt).

This article contains 20+ Hacks that will show you how to make your garden more beautiful and functional. You’ll learn some new tips on the way, and who knows–you may find your next project here!

Shoe Organizer Shrubs

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Trying to grow some vegetables in your house? If you don’t have any outdoor space or just want to try something different, you can “bring the garden to you” by hanging an old shoe organizer on your outside door. You can make a few holes in each section of the shoe organizer and fill each section with soil, then plant your seeds.

This is one of the best options if you want to grow your own herbs. Imagine how great it would be to have fresh herbs right at your front door!

It’s Easy Being Green

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One of the most important aspects of a greenhouse is its ability to create a controlled environment. Seeds can grow best when it’s in a moist, humid environment with a consistent temperature. It’s a perfect place for plants to thrive.

Are you looking for a way to grow your own plants, but don’t know where to start? It’s not hard. Simply cut the bottom of a plastic bottle off, and place the cut-off piece over your plant. The plastic will protect your seedlings from all outside elements. This way, they can grow in the perfect environment.

Fork Off

Fork Off

Your garden is not in ruins anymore. You tried everything to keep pesky animals off your lovely lawn, but your flower beds and shrubbery were still in big trouble. If you’ve tried everything and are really stuck, there is another thing you can try. It may affect the aesthetic of your arrangement, but it is worth it for your peace of mind.

As a gardener, it may not be the most comfortable thing to walk on, but you should stick a bunch of forks into the soil and sharpen them. Doing so will create a less than pleasant path for any stray animals to take through your garden. Just don’t do any gardening on your bare feet.

Double Up

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Plant placement in the garden can be difficult sometimes. It can be tough to find the perfect spot for your plants, but then when they start growing, you may realize that they would have looked better somewhere else. You’re not alone! There are some great hacks for this, too.

If you put plants in pots, you can always move them to another place in your garden. But if you put plants in pots and create a double layer, they will settle in more easily, then you can just remove the top pot for easier access. You’ll be able to keep making changes to your garden without worrying about disturbing the plants.

Cardboard Blocks

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Every gardener knows that pesky weeds always come up. You can arrange your plants and flowers as nicely as you want, but it won’t matter if the weeds are ruining everything. The best way to keep weeds away is through prevention. Every day, make sure your garden is well-watered and weed-free. Weedkiller is also a good idea, especially for hardy weeds.

You can avoid weeding and improve the health of your plants by using cardboard. Lay down sheets of cardboard before you lay mulch. This will keep precious nutrients from plants and prevent weeds from popping up.

Compost Mentis

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Using household items in the garden is a great way to improve and maintain your garden. It can also be good for the environment!

If you’re like me and you tend to overbuy groceries, then chances are you have food leftovers. Like tea bags, banana peels, and eggshells. But instead of throwing them away, you can save them and put them in a compost heap. This will help the plants and flowers in your garden thrive because the nutrients from the compost will nourish the soil there. Plus, waste will be minimized! What a wonderful way to maximize your garden potential and minimize waste!

Seedling Salts

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With the help of Epsom salts, you can make your very own natural fertilizer in your home garden. It’s easy to do, and it doesn’t involve getting your hands dirty. Epsom salts are one of the best fertilizers for plants, so when planted in your garden they will encourage healthy, blooming plants.

Simply mix two teaspoons of the bath salt with one gallon of water, and sprinkle it over the base of your plant. This will help it grow a lot! Do this about once a month for amazing results.

Don’t Bug Me

Don’t Bug Me

One of the final dangers your garden faces is insects. After fighting off the weeds, rabbits, slugs, and other garden enemies, it may seem like you’ve seen it all. But no gardener should have to deal with an insect infestation. Though everyone knows a garden will never be free of bugs entirely, a garden can suffer a lot of damage from too many.

So bugs are ruining your garden. There is an easy solution. Get some garlic and mint, mix them together, and spray them on your plants. This will keep the bugs away for sure.

Suck it Up

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The original said that too much moisture can also be harmful to plants. But we already talked about how to keep your plants from drying out or losing essential moisture in their pots!

For a quick and easy way to keep your plant happy and healthy, try putting an old kitchen sponge at the bottom of the pot. This will help soak up any excess water and reduce the risk of drowning your plant in too much liquid.

Pan Pots

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In the past, many people found their cardboard rolls useless after finishing a roll of toilet paper. Now, those rolls are being put to use as seed starters. Simply fill the cylinder with soil and add your seeds, then store them in a waterproof container.

Prepare your seedlings for planting by cutting the roots off the plants. Then, to avoid damaging fragile seedling stems, gently remove them from their pots before planting. You can plant seedlings right in the cardboard if you want, but know that the cardboard will biodegrade after you put it in the ground.

Plastic Fantastic

Plastic Fantastic

“It may seem like an insurmountable task for many of us to reduce our plastic waste, but there is a solution. Simply reusing takeout food containers can make a big difference. Planting your seedlings in the containers will create a beautiful, verdant garden.

Simply wash the container before filling it with soil. Add your seeds and close the tub. Place the tub in a sunny spot near the water, and water will slowly seep into the tub. This gives your sprouts an even dose of moisture that helps them to grow.

Flower Filter

Flower Filter

To make sure your seedlings have a good start in life, you need to find the balance between water and air. If you let too much moisture out, your pot will become waterlogged and nutrients won’t be able to stay inside. But if you don’t give enough air, the soil will become dry and the seedling will die.

It’s likely that this problem has already been solved in your own kitchen! That’s right—coffee filters can be used to catch the excess moisture at the bottom of your plant pots. They also allow the roots to stay safely inside while keeping all of the important parts of the plant safe and sound.

Wet Work

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One of the hardest parts about gardening is having to weed. Weeding is hard and can be exhausting. With hands suffering from dirt and herbage, we’ve all been through the pain of pulling weeds and suffering for it.

If you’re looking to tame your weeds without too much effort, try this workaround! It is a bit more difficult on dry days, so either wait for it to rain or hose your garden first. You’ll find it much easier to do with wet ground, and not as messy!

Soda Stream

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The size of your pot can be a problem for your plants’ survival. Sometimes you need a big pot, but the lack of air or water in the soil can lead to problems for your little green friends.

Sometimes, the best home hacks are the simplest. If you’re gardening, one of the most effective ways to improve your plant’s health is by packing a whole bunch of empty drinks cans at the bottom of the pot. Air bubbles will keep the soil healthy and full of oxygen, which means your plants will have improved life spans.

Spray Collars

Spray Collars

Many people find it difficult to remove weeds, but one of the unfortunate errors that can happen is that the weed killer we use can also reach our other plants. This happens when the spray does not reach the intended weed but instead reaches our other beloved plants.

Weeds are an important part of the environment, but they can be frustrating to deal with. Weeds can stunt your vegetable garden, or flower bed, or even eat away at your children’s swingset. There’s a solution that’s easy and environmentally friendly! Simply cut the ends off an old plastic bottle and place the ring around the weed you want to kill. Then spray your weed killer inside the ring, and all your plants outside it will remain safe.

Squeaky Clean

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With the addition of animals, gardening can be a dangerous hobby. Rabbits and deer are especially pesky when they come into your flowerbeds and leave their food crumbs, which invites other critters to come in. It’s like they undo weeks of hard work in an instant.

Do you want to keep unwanted animals in your garden? Don’t worry, there is a quick fix home remedy to do the trick without hurting the animals. Simply grate a bar of soap into little flecks and scatter these around your garden. The animals won’t be hurt by the soap, but they will feel uncomfortable from the smell, and go elsewhere.

Baking Soda for Sweet Tomatoes

Baking Soda for Sweet Tomatoes
Baking Soda for Sweet Tomatoes @krazycouponlady / Pinterest.com

Materials Needed: Baking soda

Baking soda is a versatile everyday product that can is used for anything from cooking and health to cleaning and extinguishing small fires. Do you know this substance can also be used as a fertilizer? I know, right! What can baking soda not do?!

Growing vegetables such as tomatoes and celery can be a hassle, as you might end up with more leaves than stalks, bitter and inedible plants, or have the plants’ growth halted by pests.

By sprinkling the baking soda around the tomatoes, you can combat a pest infestation, improve the plant’s yield, and improve the taste of the tomatoes. If you do not have baking soda at home, you can grab a bag of the powder for just 65 cents at the nearest store.

Purse Planter

Purse Planter
Purse Planter @rlcrdh / Pinterest.com

Materials Needed: An old purse, plastic bag, plants

How about recycling your old purse into a fancy planter? Yes, it’s possible.

Beautifying your garden can be costly if you are looking to purchase ornaments from a supermarket or plant shop. But you can make your garden stand out for a lot less using things you are not using anymore, for example, an old purse.

Here is how you can do it;
• line the inside of the purse with a plastic bag;
• add pea gravel;
• add potting soil and place your plant into the purse.

The purse planter should be placed where it can’t get wet to make it last longer. You can also decorate the outside of the purse to make it more attractive.

Old Cans for Drainage

Old Cans for Drainage
Old Cans as Drainage @paulaswetland15 / Pinterest.com

Materials Needed: Old cans

What do you do to the cans your favorite drink comes in after drinking them? If you usually throw them away, you might want to consider recycling them for use in your gardening. They can help reduce the weight of your planters and improve drainage.

Here are the steps you can follow;
• thoroughly rinse the old soda cans;
• arrange the cans inside a large pot, forming a ring around the pot’s bottom drainage hole with the can’s hole facing downward;
• place a small pot on the cans, fill it with potting soil, and place it in your plant; and
• fill the gaps between the large pot and the small pot with potting soil.

With the old cans, you can help your plants gain as many nutrients as it needs to grow and germinate.

Eggshell Seed Starter

Eggshell Seed Starter
Eggshell Seed Starter @survivallife / Pinterest.com

Materials Needed: Eggshells, compost, seeds

Eggshells have several uses in gardening, including a rich calcium source for your soil. Like how eggshells provide a perfect condition for the growth of baby chicks before they break, you can also use eggshells to help your seeds germinate until they are ready to be transplanted.

Rinse the cracked eggshells and fill them with a pre-moistened seed starting mix. Place the eggshell pots at the sunny side of your windows, using the egg carton as a stand. Then watch as your seedlings develop.

If you don’t have eggs at home, you can get a dozen for less than $2 at a store.

Potato Rose Bushes

Potato Rose Bushes
Potatoes for Rose Bushes @freshideen / Pinterest.com

Materials Required: Potatoes rose bush clippings

Beautiful rose bushes are the ultimate glory of each garden that’s well-tended and looked after, but getting them from scratch isn’t for the faint of heart. If you’ve constantly liked the sense of planting cuttings but the idea of creating scares you, look no further.

All you lack to do is take a trip to Kroger and pick up a pack of spuds for just $2.99. Wash them, stick the rose bush cutting your mom gave you on the top, and plant them in the ground. Not only does the potato hold the cutting in place, but they supposedly grow wonderful bushes. Who knew?

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