Lawn and Garden Tips

1. Use Ziploc bags as mini-greenhouses to germinate your seeds. Just add seeds to moist soil, inflate the bag by blowing into it, and then seal it up. Put it on the top of your refrigerator to keep the bags warm.
2. To revitalize your ferns, water it with weak tea or plant a soggy tea bag beside it.
3. Stick 4-6 matches with the suphur end down into the soil of a worm infested fern.
4. Crush some eggshells and mix it into your soil. The nutrients are good for your plants.
5. Water your lawn early in the morning to decrease evaporation.
6. One inch of water each week is plenty for your lawn. It is better to water deeply to encourage deep healthy roots, rather than giving it a quick shower everyday.
7. Use slow nitrogen release fertilizer (organic or insoluble nitrogen) for your lawn which is a bit more expensive, but it lasts for months rather than days or weeks for some lower cost formulas.
8. Use landscape cloth over your beds to keep weeds out. Slits can be cut to let your plants grow. Put mulch or rocks on the cloth to keep it down and reduce the amount of water needed for the plants.
9. Pour vinegar and salt directly over offensive weeds.
10. To keep grass from growing in between bricks or sidewalk blocks, sprinkle the spaces with salt.
11. Rhubarb leaves can be used as a natural insecticide. Cut up and boil the leaves for about an hour. Once it is cooled and strained, spray it on your plants. If you use it on your vegetables, be sure to wash your vegetables first before eating since rhubarb leaves are POISONOUS.
12. To keep cats and dogs from urinating on your plants, put a few garlic buds and red hot papers in the blender. Mix with a few drops of dishwashing liquid in a bucket of water and sprinkle around the edge of the garden.
13. Wipe the blades of the lawn mower with vegetable oil before you mow so that grass doesn't stick to them.
14. Keep garden tools free of rust by pushing them into a bucket of sand mixed with 1/4 cup (60 mL) vegetable oil. It will scrape off the soil, coat the tools, and keep the edges sharp.
15. Plant a garlic clove beside the plant you want to protect. Pests of all kinds will stay away. Do not plant garlic near peas.
16. Basil near tomatoes will repel worms and flies.
17. Plant onions near carrots and beets. Onions and garlic will protect your lettuce and beans from Japanese beetles, carrot flies and aphids.
18. Pour boiling water on ant hills to kill ants quickly.
19. To protect cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts from the cabbage moth, use mint, sage, dill, and thyme. Do not plant cabbage near strawberries.
20. To deter ants, use equal parts of vinegar and water to wash your countertops, floors, cabinets, etc.
21. Try leaving an open bottle of pennyroyal or citronella oil in your room if mosquitoes are a problem indoors. A yellow light bulb outside will attract them out there. You can also rub a little apple-cider vinegar on your skin to serve as a repellant.
22. Aphids and spiders will stay away from plants that have been sprayed with dishwashing liquid mixed with water. Aphids will also stay away from anise and coriander.
23. Use a bit of cinnamon in your cupboards and drawers to get rid of silverfish.
24. To kill cockroaches, mix half a cup of flour, a quarter cup of sugar, and one cup of borax together. Sprinkle along the cracks and crevices where they hide.