Garden Tips

 

I read these garden tips on Mom4Real blog this morning and thought they were so interesting and easy.  I am definitely going to try putting coffee grounds on my ivy that I want to give a jump start

 

1.  To get seeds to germinate quickly, simply snip the end of each seed with a pair of nail clippers and soak in water over night! Then plant and watch them germinate in a few days!

2.  Add crushed eggshells to your soil…the eggshells add calcium to the soil and keep unwanted critters away.

3.  Clean out your hairbrush and lay human hair around your plants to keep rabbits away.  I know it sounds kind of icky, and rabbits are cute, but they will eat your flower and plants.

4.  When there is a cold snap coming and temps are going to dive down into freezing, cover outdoor plants with painter’s plastic.  It works like a greenhouse does and keeps frost from killing your plants.

5.  Add an aluminum pan filled with beer to your garden to deter slugs from getting to your plants.  Slugs love beer 

6.  To stop mosquitoes and other insect larvae from breeding in birdbaths or rainwater barrels, put a few drops of vegetable oil on top of the water.  It spreads to form a film over the surface of the water so the larvae cannot lay eggs, but won’t bother the birds!

7.  Hang an aluminum pan in your fruit trees to keep birds from eating the fruit!  The birds do not like the reflection of the sun in the pans.

8.  Spray cabbage and other vegetables targeted by caterpillars with onion juice! Simply grate an onion and mix it with water, then spray down your veggies!

9.  Add coffee grounds to plants to flowers that won’t bloom and ivy that is not spreading very quickly.  It will help the flowers bloom and really get your ivy growing!

10.  Use aspirin and water to repel aphids and other sucking insects as well as promote strong plant growth.  Simply mix an aspirin and water in a spray bottle and spray down plants.