April showers bring May flowers (and deals!). Now is the time to get your garden ready for the summer. Follow these tips to make your garden grow!
1) Put your coffee grounds to good use. Did you know coffee grounds can be a garden’s best friend? Keep your leftover grounds and spread them throughout your garden for a safe, all-natural fertilizer. A thin layer (half-inch thick or less) sprinkled on the ground around garden veggies will help keep slugs and other pests away, too!
2) Save your old newspapers. Before finishing flower beds with mulch, try this pro tip: lay down a layer of newspaper. The paper will help prevent grass and weed growth, and will naturally disintegrate over time. Plus, it’s a much more cost-effective option than rolls of store-bought weed barriers.
3) Make your own irrigation system. Installing an irrigation system can be costly and time-consuming. Instead, save old plastic bottles (like milk jugs and juice bottles) and poke holes in the bottoms and sides. Bury them throughout your garden just deep enough to keep the cap above the soil. Fill them with a hose and cap them off to keep your garden watered.
4) Keep sheets and tarps handy for easy clean-up. Trimming trees and shrubs can be messy business. Before you start, lay a tarp or an old sheet around the base of the shrub to catch the trimmings. If you have pine trees, use a rake to clean up pine needles and pine cones, and rake them right onto a tarp. When you’re finished, grab a friend and hold the corners of the tarp together for easy, hassle-free clean-up.
5) Make a DIY weed-killer. If you have children or pets, spraying weed killer around high-traffic areas can be risky. Make your own weed-killing mix with 1 qt. vinegar, 1/4 c. salt, and liquid dish detergent. Combine these three ingredients in a spray bottle and give weeds a good misting. Not only will it do the trick, it’s a super safe (and cheap) way to keep your garden weed-free.
May your garden be glorious!