Tips For Every Garden

A great final touch to any home’s backyard is a garden, where greenery and even a little bit of wildlife can flourish together in some beautiful landscaping. Think of a garden as the “icing” on your newly renovated home, bringing everything together so it’s an experience from the outside in. There are many ways to keep it look its absolute best, so here are just a few tips for each and every home garden – with many of the solutions being available in any kitchen.

Use Grinded Eggshells & Powdered Milk For A Calcium Boost

Plants need calcium to grow healthy and strong, and is imperative to their development. To give your garden a boost of the mineral, look no further than your own fridge in the form of eggs and milk. Try using powdered eggshells in the potting soil or compost before you even plant, and powdered milk can also be used in this mix for some added calcium.

Pour Rotten Cider On Wisteria

As beautiful as Wisteria can be, there  are sometimes frustrating times when the plant refuses to flower. For some reason, it’s been documented that the plant reacts particularly well to rotten cider being poured onto its roots.

Change The Colour Of Your Hydrangeas

Unlike most plants, the colour of hydrangeas can change drastically based on the pH level of the soil it’s been planted in. More acidic soils yield blue flowers, while more alkaline ones prompt the plant to turn much more pink. Depending on the look you’d rather have in your garden, there are natural ways to get it to swing more one way than the other. Adding pine needles, for example, makes your soil much more acidic than usual and will push a much bluer look from them in the long run. The same goes for adding coffee grounds to the mix. Mushrooms have the opposite effect; making the soil more alkaline and making it much more likely that the flowers will turn pink.

Plants Protect One Another

It’s good to have a good mix of plants in any garden, particularly since many types form a protective ecosystem with each other so they keep the other plant types safe form various things. Chives can prevent lightning strikes, surprisingly enough, while horseradish can protect potatoes from the Colorado Beetle. If your garden has an issue with red spider mites, Alliums are perfect for keeping them away.

DIY Compost

Having a compost disposal in your home is important anyway for getting rid of organic waste, but don’t forget to mix it with larger compost bags like one you should keep at the back of your garden. Grass cuttings, manure, fruits and vegetables, eggshells, tea bags and even pet fur are all great things to add to the mix to keep your garden healthy. Add it all to a heap or bag and don’t forget to also add in weeds and excess plant clippings, mixing it every few weeks to keep it fresh and moist.