A GARDENING expert has 10 easy tips for success with raised garden beds and planters.
Raised garden beds are elevated structures built to hold plants above ground and if you do it right, they can make gardening a little easier.
According to landscape designer Carson Arthur, who outlined his 10 tips for raised garden beds for the website Eartheasy, one of the key tricks is to keep things simple.
Simple plants like herbs will be much easier to care for and to get right when you're just starting out with your raised garden.
Some herbs you could start with include thyme or mint, and remember to plant them in rows so that you can pull weeds easier.
It’s also important that you have a good grasp on what your plants require, so stay up to speed on how much water and sunlight they need.
While you're gardening and trying out these tricks, try to keep a log of everything you plant each year and how they performed, that way you'll remember for next year.
Read our Gardening Tips live blog for the latest news and updates...
- Amanda Castro
Regrow celery or lettuce
Another common vegetable that you can regrow is celery.
Chop off the bottom of the stalk and put it in a bowl with a little water, being careful not to fully submerge the scrap. Then let it grow in the water for a week or so before transferring to soil.
According to the folks at Farmers’ Almanac, it’s sensible to try this one out in the Spring because it grows better in cooler weather.
You can use a similar process to regrow Romaine lettuce from scraps.
If you want to grow your own garlic, all you have to do is save one of the cloves from the bulb you bought at the store.
The gardening experts say you can just plant the bulb directly in your garden and watch it grow.
- Amanda Castro
Regrow your green onions
Green onions are one of the easiest veggies to test your kitchen scrap gardening skills.
Take the white end of the onion, with its roots intact, and re-plant it in potting soil.
The place it in a sunny window and keep it watered, the publication says.
It can take less than two weeks until the plant will be tall enough to snip the top off and add to your next meal.
- Amanda Castro
Grow your own food with kitchen scraps
The kitchen scraps you usually toss in the trash can actually be used to grow your own food, according to a gardening expert.
In an online post, the gardening experts at Farmer’s Almanac say you can build a surprisingly robust garden by regrowing vegetable scraps into plants.
“Kitchen scrap gardening is the ultimate in recycling,” the Farmer’s Almanac writes.
“It’s environmentally friendly, can save on grocery bills, and it’s a fun, hands-on science lesson for young children.”
The periodical lists a dozen veggies that are great for kitchen scrap gardening, with tips for how to blossom them into fully growing vegetables.
- Amanda Castro
Container gardening tips
While gardening in containers is generally easier than doing so in the ground, here are a few important tips to help keep your plants healthy:
- Make sure the container has drainage holes
- Clean the container before use, wash out soil from previous seasons to avoid disease
- Avoid using toxic containers
- Place gravel at the bottom of the container to make sure soil doesn’t drain
Advantages of gardening in containers
In addition to saving space, there are several other benefits to gardening in containers:
- Can move plants to fit their sunlight needs
- Minimizes spread of disease
- Less work is involved
- It’s cheaper
Worst flowers for hay fever sufferers
Experts say some of the most problematic flowers for hay fever sufferers are:
- Daisies
- Sunflowers
- Baby’s breath
Best flowers for those with hay fever
Chris Bonnett from Gardening Express recommends the following plants for those who suffer from allergies:
- Roses
- Yarrow
- Camellia
- Geranium
- Lobelia
- Fruit trees
- Conifer
Keeping squirrels out of your garden: Apple cider vinegar
Apple cider vinegar may be used to generate a homemade insect repellent, according to Master Class.
Fill a spray bottle halfway with peppermint oil or cayenne pepper and spray it around your plants or wherever else you want squirrels to smell it.
The greater the number of smell deterrents in the combination, the better.
Keeping squirrels out of your garden: Repellent
Repellent spray formulated with the urine of squirrel predators such as hawks, weasels, raccoons, snakes, owls, foxes, and others is sold in home improvement and gardening stores, per Master Class.
To keep the squirrels away, spray the garden area with repellant on a regular basis.
- Amanda Castro
Keeping squirrels out of your garden: Peppermint
Peppermint oil isn't harmful to plants or squirrels, but it does keep them away from your garden, Master Class says.
Apply a few drops of essential oil to the plant leaves and the soil.
To keep squirrels away, combine peppermint oil with petroleum jelly and spread the mixture on plant stems.
- Amanda Castro
Keeping squirrels out of your garden: Take out your trash
Master Class recommends keeping a tight lid on garbage cans and don't leave food or other debris out to attract attention to your home.
Squirrels are attracted to the smell of food and trash, which motivates them to look for more food sources nearby.
- Amanda Castro
Keeping squirrels out of your garden: Use your flowers
Plant allium flowers, such as daffodils, snowdrops, and hyacinths, as well as marigolds, to naturally repel squirrels, according to Master Class.
Avoid planting tulips, crocuses, and geraniums because they attract squirrels.
- Amanda Castro
Keeping squirrels out of your garden: Sprinklers
Squirrels are famously wary of humans, according to Master Class.
Install a few motion-activated sprinklers near your garden to frighten a squirrel if it approaches too closely.
After a few encounters like this, the squirrel will most likely avoid the area entirely.
- Amanda Castro
Keeping squirrels out of your garden: Scare them off
Squirrels are scared away by plastic or resin owls or rubber snakes in the garden, which keeps them from coming too close to the plants, Master Class says.
Every day, move them and, if feasible, add some form of noisemaker to the decoys.
- Amanda Castro
Keeping squirrels out of your garden: Squirrel-proof feeders
By changing the feed, you can squirrel-proof bird feeders.
Squirrels prefer sunflower seeds over safflower seeds, therefore switching will be helpful.
Master Class recommends you install a squirrel baffle to keep squirrels away from the bird feeder.
A baffle acts as a barrier that the squirrel cannot overcome.
- Amanda Castro
Keeping squirrels out of your garden: Row covers
Install row covers, bird netting, or chicken wire to keep squirrels out of your garden, or line the bottom soil with hardware cloth, Master Class says.
All of these methods will keep squirrels out of the plants while yet allowing for sunshine and simple watering.
- Amanda Castro
Keeping squirrels out of your garden: Mothballs
A fragrance that is contentious among people is also a natural repellant for squirrels.
To deter squirrels, use mothballs near your plants or on top of the dirt in a potted plant, Master Class recommends.
Replacing them every few weeks or when the fragrance disappears is a good idea.
- Amanda Castro
Keeping squirrels out of your garden: Hot peppers
Squirrels despise the smell and taste of capsaicin, which is found in chili peppers.
Sprinkle some cayenne pepper, spicy sauce, or chili pepper flakes on top of the soil to use as a natural squirrel repellant.
Grow fiery chili peppers instead—the squirrels won't touch the plant.
- Amanda Castro
More plant watering tips
To prevent your plant’s leaves from burning, try to water just the soil, where the roots of the plants are.
Experts also advise watering your plants in the morning so that if the leaves do get wet, they can dry out with the help of the sun during the day.
Wet foliage can lead to disease.
- Amanda Castro
Do not forget to water your plants
Always check the soil before watering your plants.
Use your hand to push down into the dirt a few inches to see if the soil is dry below the surface.
If it is still wet, wait another day before watering.
Making sure your plants have enough water is key to keep them alive and healthyCredit: Getty Images – Getty, Paul Bradbury - Amanda Castro
Experts on using straw
“Straw in the garden is best used like a mulch,” horticulture expert Eric De Boer told Homes and Gardens.
The material acts “as a barrier to protect from weed germination and to also help shield the soil from the sun to increase the soil’s water retention.”
Other plant experts told the outlet that using straw in the garden has countless benefits that preserve the longevity of your plants.
“‘Straw is a natural weed suppressor. It will help keep weeds from growing in the garden while also conserving moisture,” said Brody Hall, a certified horticulturist and land manager from The Indoor Nursery.
- Amanda Castro
Keep weeds away with straw
According to horticulturists and plant professionals, all-natural straw is one of the most effective tools to bring into your garden.
You don’t need to buy a whole bale – you can typically buy smaller bundles at your local farm store for upwards of $2.
Some hardware stores even sell pre-portioned bags made for gardens, which can cost closer to $15 but can be found on the shelves or online.
- Amanda Castro
How to use garden lime to kill weeds
To combat pesky weeds, the experts at Balcony Garden Web advised to: “Spread lime using a spreader if your soil doesn’t have a calcium to magnesium ratio of 7 to 1.”
The best way to figure out if your garden could benefit from lime is to have a soil test done by state Cooperative Extension offices, according to Better Homes and Gardens.
Simply follow their soil-sample collection directions and you’ll receive all kinds of information back about the conditions of your garden, including its calcium and magnesium levels.
- Amanda Castro
How to use garden lime to kill weeds
To combat pesky weeds, the experts at Balcony Garden Web advised to: “Spread lime using a spreader if your soil doesn’t have a calcium to magnesium ratio of 7 to 1.”
The best way to figure out if your garden could benefit from lime is to have a soil test done by state Cooperative Extension offices, according to Better Homes and Gardens.
Simply follow their soil-sample collection directions and you’ll receive all kinds of information back about the conditions of your garden, including its calcium and magnesium levels.
- Amanda Castro
$4 weed killer
According to the experts, the secret to a weed-free garden and lawn is lime, and no, it’s not the kind you eat.
Lime used in gardens is made from crushed-up limestone, rock, or dolomite, and when applied to soil, it raises the pH level, making the soil less acidic.
Lime also contains magnesium and calcium, which are vital for a healthy garden.
It’s actually the lack of calcium in soil that provides the condition for weeds to thrive in.
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