Garden Tips
Subject: Insecticides:- Try this, it's worked for me. Boil a whole bulb of cut up garlic until its soft. Put it into a gallon of water and add 1 tablespoon of biodegradable Detergent. Let it sit for a day, then strain and spray. Also, planting parsley around your roses will help keep aphids away. Anon
My garden fish pond has thread algae clogging it up very badly. I heard that rotating a rough barked stick will get it out. It worked fine, however it was was difficult to get it off the stick so I had my son cut a lengthwise groove in it and I can now cut it off with scissors. I recycle the algae in my herb garden-- Rosita V Cassie Dallas Texas
Algae Prevention - Howdy, I was reading yesterday and came across an article that says to use "barley straw" in water gardens/ponds to prevent algae. The article said it won't kill algae, but prevent it from growing and will last six months. Also, mixing 2 parts distilled white vinegar and 1 part water in a spray bottle is an excellent natural weapon against garden slugs. Spray slugs and they will fall right off your plants. Most wither, slither and die, but I have witnessed some larger slugs slime away...but they don't come back! I have not noticed any side effects to the plants, except being slug free and healthy. -- Don
Seeds: When sowing fine seeds bury them close to the surface, and mix with sand for easier sowing. – Rosalind Edmunds
Coffee grounds or tea bags can be used to make compost, however excessive use inhibits growth. Caffeine is a naturally occurring herbicide. -- Scott Edmunds
Frost: To protect sensitive seedlings from late frosts cover with miniature greenhouses, made from plastic drink bottles with the bottoms cut off and placed around each seedling. Large drinking water bottles are particularly good for larger plants.
Leaves : The most likely cause of older plant leaves dropping is under-watering whereas the most likely cause of younger plant leaves going yellow is over-watering
Houseplants: To stop a windowsill houseplant becoming lopsided keep turning and moving it every couple of days. -- Anon.
Subject: House Plants
If you have an aquarium, save the water each time you change it and water your house plants with it. You'll be amazed at the results. Andy P Smith -- Nuneaton -- England " -- wolfie(at)wolfie.screaming.net
Garden Tools and Furniture
Safety: When using electrical equipment in the garden special care must be taken. Make sure that cables run behind lawnmowers, you must never cut towards a flex, or use it in wet conditions.
Safety: Never clean or adjust electrical gardening equipment while they are still plugged in, make sure they are switched off first. Never wash electrical gardening equipment with water.
If your plastic garden furniture gets stained, make a paste by mixing of baking soda and water and apply it for a few minutes before wiping it off. -- Cameron Sutherland
To preserve aluminum garden furniture, and metal tools over the winter apply oil (either cooking oil, or motor oil. Wipe them off before using again though. -- D Edmunds.
Lawns
Applying a teaspoonful of salt can individually kill a weed such as dandelion in your lawn. – Anne Gander Wembley England
Where we live the soil is mainly clay and in summer cracks appear in the lawn, they can be very unsightly. The cracks can be filled with a fifty-fifty mixture of sand and soilless compost or peat. You can re-seed at the same time. It should not be necessary to repeat the exercise more than a couple of times – Anne Gander
Lawn Patches. These can be removed by using spare bits of turf (cut from any new flower-beds, etc.) cut to size and fit into the gap. Add plenty of compost into the cracks, and water well. - Comi
Pests.
Insects. I like to use more natural methods to get rid of greenfly and other pesky insects. Squashing them with rubber gloves works, but is a bit time consuming. If you do have to spray plants, use something more natural such as water infused with garlic, or even soapy water works. -- Mary Ashington
Subject: Insecticides:- Try this, it's worked for me. Boil a whole bulb of cut up garlic until its soft. Put it into a gallon of water and add 1 tablespoon of biodegradable Detergent. Let it sit for a day, then strain and spray. Also, planting parsley around your roses will help keep aphids away. Anon
Pesky Cats: Unwanted cats can be kept out the garden by sprinkling pepper in the garden. Citrus fruit peel is supposed to work as well. – Anne Johns.
Moles: Stick open bottles into the middle of molehills to deter moles, as the sound of wind blowing over the empty bottle tops will scare the moles away. – Anne Johns.
Slugs and Snails:To keep slugs away from sensitive plants sprinkle eggshells around them. Ash and grit are also supposed to be effective. Sprinkle slugs with salt to kill them. It is also possible to trap slugs using containers in the ground that have some beer in the bottom. Empty grapefruit halves work as well. Vaseline smeared around plant pots stops slugs getting to the plants inside. – Rosalind Edmunds.
Subject: Pest Removal... Pour some grits on the ant hill.... when the ants take the stuff and eat it, it expands and kills them -- PsiQueue(at)aol.com
Flowers.
Azaleas.My azaleas like a bit of white wine vinegar added to their water every so often.They also like used teabags as fertilizer. -- Anon.
Roses. My rose plants love old banana skins placed around their bottoms as fertilizer. -- Anna Davis
Sweet Peas: Pinch off the tendrils to improve the flowering capacity -- Vanessa Echols.
Fuchsias: Bury your fuchsia’s in the winter to protect them from the frost. --Vanessa Echols.
Vegetables.
Save some seeds from small red peppers and plant two or three seeds at a time in yogurt pots. When they are a couple of inches high repot in a medium sized plant pot. You will soon have an attractive indoor plant - and a supply of chillies -- Simon Spicer
Leeks. I find my leeks grow better when you add a bit of soot to their soil. I've also heard that they also like heavy beers like stout to drink as well, but I'm a bit skeptical myself. -- D Jenkins, Cardiff
Cucumbers: Avoid watering with cold or chlorinated water, leave standing for a few hours. Keep a container for water in your greenhouse -- V E Webb
Keep cucumbers dry at the point that they emerge from the ground to avoid "Collar Rot" -- V E Webb
Subject: A couple of tips.... Hi there webmaster of hints n tips, here's a couple of tips for those involved with hydroponics.
1) A video on setting up a hydroponics system http://www.1-hydroponics.co.uk/video.htm
2) General hydroponics tips http://www.1-hydroponics.co.uk/top-tips.htm
Best Regards, Duane. "Duane Roberts" 21 Sep 2005Links:
A Website with many links to free information sites www.itsgardening.com
Very useful houseplant resource website. www.plantoasis.com