I’ve never been able to keep much alive in the way of plants, but seeing others take on challenges and return to old hobbies during the pandemic inspired me to revisit the idea of having my own garden. I figured, how hard can it really be? But I knew I needed some help, so I turned to the greatest of information sources — YouTube — and I was not disappointed in what I found.
After hours watching one video after the next, here are 11 of the interesting gardening hacks I found.
Bury An Egg In Your Garden Soil and What Happens (above)
Eggs are pretty incredible. You can cook them hundreds of ways, use them in baking, add them to other recipes and drinks, and, it seems, use them to help your plants thrive. According to this video, you can bury one in your soil or in a potted plant and just wait to see the results. It’s worth a shot. What can’t an egg do?
Professional Gardener’s Secrets
Care for your indoor and outdoor plants like a professional: trim your plant differently based on the type of plant, add curd to your compost, water your plants in the morning to counteract moisture evaporation — these are the sort of advanced tips that make me realize there’s a level of gardening I never even knew existed.
30 Hacks in 13 Minutes
Thirty hacks in 13 minutes — this video moves quickly but shows some great hacks for making gardening easier. Seriously, have you ever used a diaper in your gardening? And it offers quite a few uses for plastic bottles and egg crates. You’ll have the scoop on growing vegetables and fruits and caring for your home plants after watching.
11 Gardening Hacks That Will Blow Your Mind Away
Use cinnamon to protect against fungus, orange peel to nourish a young seedling, cooking water to fertilize plants — what? With these hacks, using mostly things you already have in your house, you may just find the one thing you need to keep your plants alive and flourishing.
Cheap and Easy Patio Gardening
This guy is super excited about helping people grow their own fruits and vegetables. You should check this out just for the intensity, but he also has some great tips on setting up a container garden using homemade soil and growing your own produce on your patio.
Rewild your garden!
Is your garden too neat and tidy? Checkout Dave Goulson’s personal “wild” garden and see how you can invite nature back in to tackle biodiversity loss and climate change. It’s his dream, and you can help him achieve it by letting the native plants grow and attracting the bees and other insects. And his voice is quite calming if you’re feeling tense.
24 Creative Garden Container Ideas
Things I’ve never thought to use as a garden container: a sink, a vintage bicycle, a wine cork, a tree stump, a toy truck, a chandelier, a paint can, a shoe holder, a chair, a shell, a milk carton, a tool box, a boat, a book, or a plantation shutter. So pretty much all of these. But I’m ready to try out the tool box idea — love that rustic look!
Cactus 101 — Care Tips & Unique Traits
If all else fails, I can keep a cactus alive, right? This video says these are good for beginners — I’m in. And there are way more varieties, shapes, and colors than I ever imagined. I live in an area where they can get the needed six hours of sunlight each day and little watering is needed. I can do this.
Upcycle DIY Garden Decorations
As if your garden wasn’t pretty enough, this quick video from HGTV shows you how to channel your inner creative and upcycle dollar store plates and bowls, broken glass, and a used lamp into unique garden decorations. These may of course enrage less imaginative neighbors.
Unusual Garden Ideas
Have something in your yard like an old AC unit you want to hide? Use bamboo to create a garden backsplash. I would never have considered this on my own, but it hides it in a beautiful way. The host also has a great idea for that weird space in some yards that can’t be used for much of anything else.
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