Gardening Tips for Beginners

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To keep mint from spreading like wildfire, plant a pipe vertically in the ground then plant the mint inside the pipe opening. The roots will have to grow deep down to the bottom of the pipe before they can begin to spread.

Place a penny in a vase to keep cut flowers fresher longer. The copper in pennies kills bacteria and fungus.

Cucumbers are sweeter when planted near sunflowers. They make great companion plants. Both have similar soil requirements and the cukes like to climb the sunflowers.

To quickly dry herbs in the summer, place them in a single layer on a newspaper….in your car. Roll the windows up and let them roast! Your car will smell good and your herbs will dry quickly.

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Run your fingernails across a bar of soap to “seal” your nails before working in the garden. This will make the dirt come off your nails a lot easier when you are finished.

Rub Karo syrup into grass stains. Let sit for a while, then wash as usual.

Use a laundry basket to collect veggies from your garden. When you are done picking, you can hose them off, and the basket acts as a strainer.

Use cooking oil to get pine sap off your hands.

Fill a bucket with sand a little oil. When you are done with your gardening tools, stick them in the bucket to keep them clean and rust-free.

Being right-handed, I find that my right gardening glove wears out faster than my left. Instead of throwing out a bunch of perfectly good left-hand gloves with no matches, simply turn them inside out. Voila! A right-handed glove!