Have new plants ready to fill vacant beds. It's possible to grow several crops of some plants. You could be eating lettuce from the garden until early December.
@title[2]
Work-free tomatoes
@tip[2]
Here's a way to reap a bountiful supply of tomatoes each year with little work. In between each plant, dig a hole large enough to hold a plastic gallon milk jug and deep enough so that about two inches of the neck of each bottle is exposed. Poke several holes in the bottom of each jug. Place the jugs in the ground and pack soil around them. Mulch with black plastic, cutting holes for the plants and the neck of each jug. Fill the jugs with water and put the caps on. Refill the jugs once a week and add some commercial fertilizer every two weeks. Plants are watered from the roots up, and the soil stays weed-free and moist.
@title[3]
Speedy feeding
@tip[3]
When the fertilizer label calls for one tablespoon per gallon of water for each shrub, mix 10 tablespoons per gallon of water and evenly distribute it among 10 shrubs on a rainy day. The rain will finish the job for you.
@title[4]
Bug catcher
@tip[4]
Here's a recipe for a non-toxic bug catcher: Blend one banana peel, one cup sugar, and one cup vinegar. Pour the mixture into a plastic two-liter soda bottle, then fill with water to within three inches of the top. Hang the bug catcher in your orchard, garden, or anywhere bugs are a nuisance.
@title[5]
Rabbit repellent
@tip[5]
If rabbits are nibbling at young vegetable seedlings in your garden, scatter clumps of dog hair around the plants.
@title[6]
Fishing for a sweet pea support
@tip[6]
The cumbersome task of stringing sweet peas can be greatly eased by using fishing line. Inexpensive and almost invisible, it can be quickly installed, and when the season is over, it can be readily removed simply by cutting all the lines and plants and rolling all in a trash bag.
@title[7]
Frost protection
@tip[7]
When frost is in the forecast, cover your tender plants with the thin plastic bags that protect your dry cleaning. The plastic is lightweight, and it dries easily. For windy times, use bricks to anchor the plastic.
@title[8]
Cutworm collars
@tip[8]
To protect young vegetables from hungry cutworms (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and tomato plants are the most frequent victims), cut plastic drinking straws into one-inch sections, then slit lengthwise. After setting a plant into the garden, slip one of these cutworm collars around the stem. Be sure the colllar goes at least a quarter inch below the soil level. The straw will eventually spread apart as the plant develops.
@title[9]
Winter care for trees and shrubs
@tip[9]
Instead of storing your tomato cages during the winter, place them over or around small trees and shrubs. The cages will be visible in deep snow, preventing you from crushing the hidden plants. If you have a tender shrub, you can add layers of leaves or straw to help protect the plant from the elements.
@title[10]
Homemade bug spray
@tip[10]
In a blender, mix four cloves garlic with one medium onion (chopped). Place this mixture in a large glass jar and add two cups water. Add two teaspoons bottled hot pepper sauce; stir ingredients together and steep for two days. Strain the mixture, then add one tablespoon mild liquid dish detergent and dilute with five cups water. With a mister, spray liquid on plants once a week to keep bugs away from garden.
@title[11]
Bugged by soap
@tip[11]
Mix a mild dishwasing liquid with water and spray it onto plants. The soapy film smothers aphids and other small soft-bodied insects and keeps insect eggs from hatching.
@title[12]
Recycle a salad dish
@tip[12]
Several fast-food restaurants are now serving salads in clear plastic containers that make perfect mini-greenhouses for starting vegetable and flower seeds. Line each container with Ferti-Cubes (blocks of seed-starting medium, available through many mail-order seed catalogs), then sow seeds. The lid of the plastic container can be snapped shut to maintain humidity without cramping the seedlings as they grow.
@title[13]
Lean-to greenhouse
@tip[13]
To save the expense and bulk of a commercial cold frame, use heavy clear plastic to make a temporary lean-to greenhouse for spring and fall gardening. Leaving extra plastic on each end for flaps, tack one edge of the plastic to the side of your house or garage. Next, pull the plastic away from the wall and weight it with bricks or stones to create a lean-to. Trim excess plastic to create door flaps. When not in use, the plastic greenhouse is easy to remove and store for another season.
@title[14]
Handy tool holder
@tip[14]
To organize long-handled gardening tools, stack two cinder blocks on their sides. The openings in the blocks provide upright storage for a spade, rake, and hoe. Set the tool holder by the garden for convenience.
@title[15]
Golf-tee plant markers
@tip[15]
Have trouble remembering where your spring-blooming bulbs are planted when fall planting time arrives? When the bulbs are up and flowering in the spring, poke inexpensive golf tees in the ground where you'd like to plant bulbs in the fall. The colorful tees are easy to locate when perennials and annuals die back after frost, and tell you exactly where to dig new holes to prevent your accidentally digging up or damaging bulbs.
@title[16]
Soil saver
@tip[16]
Growing flowers or vegetables in large pots can be costly if you have to buy several bags of commercial potting soil. To conserve soil, save the plastic foam packing peanuts that protect merchandise in boxes sent through the mail and layer several inches of them in the bottoms of pots before adding soil. Along with saving the expense of potting soil, the packing peanuts also improve drainage and lighten the load of hanging baskets.
@title[17]
September to-do
@tip[17]
Write down what you like about your current garden scheme. On the same sheet, list things you either don't like or feel could be improved in your overall plan.
@title[18]
Raised bed and container advantages
@tip[18]
Growing plants in raised beds or containers will be easier on your back than conventional gardening because you won't have to bend down quite as far. It also makes it faster and easier to weed, cultivate, cut back, and pick flowers or vegetables. Also, because containers are portable, you have much more flexibility in design.
@title[19]
Vertical gardening
@tip[19]
You can save time and space by gardening vertically. There is a wide variety of vegetables, flowers, and leafy vines that thrive on walls, trellises, gazebos, wire fencing, and even strings. Some vegetables you may wish to try include pole beans, cucumbers, melons, peas, pumpkins, and squash. There are a number of annual and perennial flowers that like climbing: morning glories, climbing roses, clematis, honeysuckle vines, climbing nasturtiums, lisianthus, and climbing hydrangeas. You can also use vertical space to create luxurious textures with one of the ivies--Boston, English, or maybe Algerian, an evergreen ivy.
@title[20]
Avoid aphids
@tip[20]
Read up on companion planting, such as planting chives and garlic next to lettuce and peas, to discourage aphids.
@title[21]
Fight pests
@tip[21]
Planting radishes in cucumber hills to discourage striped or spotted cucumber beetles, and marigolds offend many would-be pests.
@title[22]
Mowing timesaver
@tip[22]
Don't bag or rake your lawn clippings. The pieces of cut grass will slowly break down and work their way back into the soil. As they decompose into a natural compost for your yard, they'll serve as mulch, keeping weeds out. Unless you have big thick rows of clippings (such as those times when your lawn gets way too long), there is no need to collect ang bag, or rake and bag your clippings. It's a win-win situation. For those who still insist on removing them from their front lawn, use grass clippings in a compost pile instead of sending them off to our too-full landfills. Because the grass clippings contain nitrogen, they make an excellent
