7 Garden Tips to Make the Most of Your Time and Money

1.Winning Tip:Never-ending DIY leaf mulch

My husband and I are avid gardener . We live in the middle of the woodwind instrument , where we face many challenges , such as cervid , rabbits , and deep shade . One challenge we never face , though , is the accessibility of mulch . In late wintertime after all the trees have dropped their leaves , we rake them into an empty post in the yard . My husband then mows over them several time , shredding them into a fine foliage mould and litter . I then bucket up this gift of nature and mulch our many garden bed with it . This is easier and more economical — and has less of a carbon footprint — than purchase bulk of bagged mulch from the adult - box stock . And there is the added welfare of mulch renewal every twelvemonth .

— Katherine Coker , McDonough , Georgia

2. Upcycle spice containers for the garden

Spice up your meal , then “ spice ” up your garden ! Those spicery containers that have an privileged sifter cap with five or more holes can be repurposed for dispensing ironical fertilizer or seeds in your garden .

— Donna Gilly , Kenmore , Washington

3. Don’t just toss those leaves

When I separate seedling into individual jackpot , I take any disease - free leaves that may have fallen off the plants and invest them at the bottom of a pot over the drainage hole to prevent any soil loss . These leaves finally decompose and add their nutrients to a works with the same nutritionary requirements .

— Mary Crum , Bonita Springs , Florida

4. Take the necessary steps when planting

When putting a new plant in the ground , “ abuse it in . ” Carefully localise your foot around the flora and give it your full exercising weight , all the way around . Plants ca n’t exhaust or salute if soil is not fully reach their roots .

— Catherine LeDuc Hostetler

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5. One-stop gardening

When you ’re down on the ground , do n’t just establish . Instead , do everything you may within your compass — till the soil , sens , pick up rubble , fertilize — and then move on to the next fleck .

— Jeff Lightbody

6. Get ’em cheap, treat ’em with care

Buy shrubs and trees from big - boxwood shop in former outpouring to take reward of the lower toll . Often they are root - recoil and grown closely together , so their branches are short . I detangle their ancestor , put them into larger pots , and slowly prune them to encourage side growth . With the benefit of fertiliser , water , and sunlight over fountain , summertime , and early surrender , their origin go growing outward , and their shapes are much improved . I then imbed them in the ground in the fall .

— Kathleen Louise

7. Self-control at the nursery

Do n’t overbuy from the nursery in one head trip ; only purchase what you may set in the next week comfortably . You recede your creativity when forced to wind up the job .

— Patricia Anderson

Photos : courtesy of the contributors

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