Ready for the gardening season but don’t really know the ropes yet? Need some handy hints for gardening? If you’re taking tips from the pros, you may be feeling overwhelmed. The truth is, there are endless hacks that make gardening easy, affordable, and fun! We’re rounded up a few of the best patio garden hacks so that you can create a small garden that you are proud of. Shop Porch Garden Pots for vertical patio planters that make gardening anywhere easy.
Use Food Waste to Fertilize Soil
You don’t need to have compost in order to take advantage of these common food waste items. You can add coffee grounds directly to the soil in your patio garden, digging into the top couple inches of soil, or sprinkling the grounds on top. Coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen and also contain magnesium, calcium, and potassium. Banana peels are also easy to add to your soil. Cut the peels into small pieces before drying them in the sun or your microwave. Once they are crispy, crush them into a powder and sprinkle them into your patio planters.
Lastly, you can also use eggshells to bring nutrients to your garden. Rinse out the eggshells so there are no sticky whites left, and let them dry out. Crumble your eggshells by hand before putting them in a temperature-safe container and pouring boiling water over them. Let the mixture steep just like tea, and let the water come to room temperature. Pour the liquid over your garden soil, or strain the mixture if you don’t want eggshell bits in your soil.
Use Cinnamon Powder on Seedling to Prevent Disease (and Deter Pests)
Cinnamon, a common household substance, can be used outside of the kitchen! Cinnamon has some anti-fungal qualities, and it smells great as a bonus. You can sprinkle it over the top of your soil to stop diseases on seedlings and mature plants, and also stop pests from laying eggs in your soil and making their home in your planters.
Make a DIY Watering Can
If you’re new to gardening and don’t have a watering can, and are fed up with running back and forward between your sink and your plants to refill a cup of water, then we have a solution for you. Reus a plastic milk carton instead by drilling or poking holes in the lid and filling the carton with water. That’s pretty much it! Fill the whole container and you’ll be able to water your whole garden in one fell swoop!
Use a Pipe Cleaner As a Tie
Get creative with supplies and try a pipe cleaner as a tie to a stake for your patio garden. Pipe cleaners make wonderful soft and flexible ties for attaching your delicate plants to gardening stakes and they're easily trimmed to size with scissors. You can even get creative with the variety of colors to match them to the plant or flower. These are very cost effective too and add a little creativity to your garden.
There is no shortage of ways that you can make your patio garden work for you. Take the tips from this list and do your own research to find more ways to optimize your patio gardening experience. Shop Porch Garden Pots for vertical patio planters.