Try these creative summer garden tips from our readers
Winning Tip: A neater and more efficient way to use a bulb auger
Using a bulb auger makes planting easy and precise, but it can be messy when the soil is flung out of the hole. My husband devised a brilliant solution. He drilled a hole the size of his bulb auger in the bottom of an old scrub bucket. Then he placed the bucket exactly where he wanted to plant a bulb. He augered through the hole in the bucket, and the bucket caught all the soil that was removed. With the bucket still in place, he added a bit of fertilizer and compost to the hole, then dropped in a bulb. He then used the soil that was in the bucket to refill the hole. This proved to be a very efficient and tidy process, even in an area where there was already mulch in place.
—Margaret Soukup, Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Mesh bags keep out critters
I have a terrible problem with animals digging in my pots, especially when the plants from bulbs or seeds have yet to emerge. After buying a bag of small oranges, I found a solution. I discovered that I could cut the bag so that it would fit over the top of a pot; critters were deterred, but air and water could still get through. When the plant started to grow, I was able to heighten the net until the plant was mature enough to not be so attractive to critters.
—Wendy Lagozzino, Seattle, Washington
Mimic water with rope lights
Add a roll of outdoor blue-colored LED rope lights to a dry decorative rock pond to get a sense of a rippling pool of water. It makes a great effect, especially during long, dark winter nights.
—Jeffrey Steiner, Albany, Oregon
A tip for taming spicy peppers
Are your garden jalapeños hotter than habaneros? I’m a pretty hands-off gardener, so my jalapeño plants have to deal with a bit of stress. They retaliate with a heat that will melt your face off, even without their spicy seeds and ribs. Hot, direct sun and dry soil contribute to a pepper plant’s stress, which causes the release of capsaicin, the chemical that gives peppers their heat. If you see white stretch marks on your jalapeños, that’s a clue you’ve got extra-spicy ones on your hands.
Rather than fawning over the plants all summer, I can fix the problem much more easily after harvest. I cut the peppers in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and the ribs, and place the peppers in a bowl of water for two to four hours. The longer they soak, the less spicy they will be. Hold your breath when you dump the water down the sink, because its spicy vapor can irritate your throat!
—Alison Branz, Batavia, Illinois
Reuse to-go container tops to protect young plants
I use the tops of the containers from restaurant leftovers for giving plants a head start and keeping tender plants from freezing. The top in the photo was a perfect fit for a 7-inch pot.
—Jack Roehrig,
Pawleys Island, South Carolina
No-damage sprinkling
I was frustrated that my sprinkler was hitting some tall garlic in an adjacent bed. So I turned an old tomato cage upside down for stability and then zip-tied the sprinkler to the highest rung. The spray pattern clears all the plants now.
—Elaine Dubin, Warrenton, Virginia
Send your smart garden tips to [email protected] and please include high-resolution photos if possible. The prize for the winning tip is a one-year subscription to Fine Gardening with an All Access membership!
Photos: courtesy of the contributors
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Corona® Multi-Purpose Metal Mini Garden Shovel
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Longer Service Life: The blade of this round small shovel is made of carbon steel, which can effectively improve the hardness by high temperature quenching, and the surface has anti-rust coating to avoid rusting. In the process of use when encountering hard objects will not bend and deformation.
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