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gardening tips

Moneysaving Tips for Gardeners

June 25, 2018 by Ilona Erwin

Dirt Cheap Garden Ideas

Not everyone can afford a bath size water garden kit, but what about using an old tub that was cast off from a remodeling project? What about old teacups turned into bird feeders? Or signs made out of old lumber, or the newest trend… making stuff out of wooden pallets?

In the following sections: learn how to save money in the garden.

  1. Dividing your plants will make more, for free.
  2. Growing from seed and making your own pots.
  3. Making compost for healthy plants through scrap recycling.
  4. Measuring soil amendments correctly for no waste.
  5. Buying used: Re-purposing and how to shop Flea Markets
  6. Avoiding costly mistakes

Re-purpose for Inexpensive Garden Ornaments

Making New Plants by Division

frugal planting tips
Lift older plants, cut them apart and plant each piece as a new plant. Many perennials are multiplied this way.

Lift older plants, cut them apart and plant each piece as a new plant. Many perennials are multiplied this way.

Divide Your Plants and Multiply!

An easy, cheap way to make the most of your purchases

Just take a sharp tool of the appropriate size for the plant and slice into it. Take part of the plant and a good bit of root and you are the new owner of a number of new plants.

Perennials

Perennials usually have to be divided at some point, although there are a few that you only divide when you want more plants, but did you think about the possibility of having many plants of one you just purchased? I did this with moss phlox, Phlox subulata, which I had planted on a hillside in my yard.

I took the plant out of its container and simply pulled it into a number of pieces with roots, then planted each piece. Keeping the new plants moist while they settled in was work that would have been done,regardless. For the money of one plant I had several that soon grew into larger sized plants that covered much more ground. There are plants such as moss phlox ( indeed all types of phlox) that like to be cultivated like that

A Shrub Can Be Divided

Hydrangea shrubs are easy to divide.

People are afraid of dividing shrubs because they are woody, but many types of of shrubs are easy to multiply trough division. Simply divide off a small start from the side of a shrub such as a Weigela or a Spirea, and plant it just like any new little shrub.

 

Plants that have multiple stems and fibrous roots are most likely able to be divided into many new plants, those with tap roots and single trunk are least likely to be successfully divided.

Need help in figuring out “tap roots, stems, etc? Try some Plant Science for Laymen.

Easy Dividing and Garden Tips

American Horticultural Society Plant Propagation: The Fully Illustrated Plant-by-Plant Manual of Practical Techniques

American Horticultural Society Plant Propagation: The Fully Illustrated Plant-by-Plant Manual of Practical Techniques

Whether you are a new gardener or an expert master gardener, it is always cheaper to grow your own plants if you need a number of them. This book is one of best to have on your gardening bookshelf for learning all about making more plants successfully.

Another way to garden cheaply is to know which books you really and which are less than you hoped. This is one of the few books which will be very useful over and over.

Plants For Pennies

plants for sale
The art of knowing where and when to look

Grow From Seed

One of the least expensive ways to fill your garden with flowers,vegetables, and plants is to grow them from seed.

Plant Propagation – Growing Plants from Seed is Frugal

Growing from seed can be the single most economical way to have lots of plants in a short time. They often are inexpensive, and the materials used to start them can be homemade ( pots or growing trays from household castoffs).

For many crops you don’t even need to start the seeds inside. They can be directly sown into the garden. Carrots, lettuce, spinach and other food items are grown this way.

Besides dividing and growing from seeds, there are other means to propagate plants- even expensive ones like named rare evergreens.

Get a resource book that will guide you to expertise. Learn to multiply plants through softwood and hardwood cuttings, leaf cuttings, etc.

Cheap Ideas and Seed Starting Tips

Paper Pot Maker

Using a simple tool can turn old newspapers into seed starting pots.

Toilet Roll Pots

Toilet Roll Pots are cheap DIY seed starting pots
Toilet Roll Pots

Inexpensive Means to a Luxurious Garden

Everyone wants to save a little cash, don’t they? well, more than that we are all getting much more aware of being environmentally responsible. It is time for frugal gardening tips!

Recycling, Being Green, and Smart Budgeting

We have entered an economic new era, one in which frugality plays a major role. The garden is one place where we can have the luxury of a beautiful surrounding with lush plantings for a limited budget, if need be.

Besides the beauty of a garden, it is one place where you can do something about that high food bill and actually have more gourmet quality food! It all depends on the effort you want to put into garnering the skills, creating the long term environment for a fertile growing place, and learning a few tricks of the trade.

Cheap Gardening is Chic

I suppose besides that, you might have that frugal gene that gets unexplainable glee at being as cheap as possible on what can be the extreme challenge of a trip to the plant store. Once you’ve caught the gardening bug, you may find it takes your wit and will to outsmart the wily, winsome plants displayed.It is a huge act of willpower to not bust the budget with impulse purchases.

Thankfully, plants like to reproduce readily for the most part. That can make them inexpensive, when you learn how to propagate them and find the best deals for new ones.

Of course there are some caveats along the way- that is what challenges your wits and makes it more fun.

“Passalong” Plants

The cheapest way to save money is to get something free.

Passalong plants are what some call them, friendship plants by others, but they are the plants that other gardeners wish to bless you with. While it is good to not kick a gift horse in the mouth, you still need to know how to avoid problems from this act of kindness.

Some plants are invasive and you will hate yourself for planting them. They are sometimes something you bought unaware of its thuggery, but often they just grow SO well that others have lots to share with you. Understand the nature of the gift plant before you make it comfortable in your garden. Other than that, if you are given a nice healthy plant that is loved by others… it will be a great addition for your garden and you can start the next prime way to gain many inexpensive plants.

No plant is a good deal if it takes over the garden and creates endless hours of weeding

Buying from yard, tag sales, and benefit sales, buying at the end of the season- these are all ways to save money on your plant purchases.

Thuggery List – Plants to Avoid

Some plants act badly in the garden, they don’t make good neighbors. You can help them move in, but you may regret it in the future. This list is to help you decide whether you want to do that. Remember that dandelions were once someone’s favorite salad vegetable.

If your free plants crowd out more valuable plantings, if they require lots of work to control, if they are detrimental to the environment (compete with native plants, poor nutrition for wildlife), then they are no longer a bargain.

Garden Thugs

  • Bishops Weed, Aegopodium podagraria
  • Vinca major
  • many bamboos
  • many mints (Mentha ssp.)
  • Garlic mustard, Alliara petiolata
  • Purple loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria

Turn Garbage into Gold

Compost Those Leaves

They turn into black gold for your soil.

Compost added to soil
Compost is pure gold for a gardener. Make your own and add to the flower beds and veggie patch.

Collect Kitchen Scraps

Thought the first tip would be about which plants to buy? No plant is a bargain when the soil is so poor it doesn’t grow well or -horrors- quickly dies. Your soil can be improved and there are cheap ways to do that.

Top #1 Frugal Garden Tip

Make your own compost pile. Your own bin or one that is purchased will collect all your green waste, vegetable peelings from the kitchen, coffee grounds, tea leaves, etc. And it should reduce your garbage that would need to be collected to some degree, too!

I used to hear stories about gardeners who would not find it beneath them to follow the horse trail to gather good horse manure. If you have a source of manure from a horse, cow, or chickens, that is ideal to age for some months and then fertilize your soils. Forget about waste that comes from you, your cats, or your dogs, which aren’t healthy wastes to use.

All those leaves you either have hauled away or burn? Save them! Compost them! Create leaf mould which is one of the best soil conditioners- and they are free!

Counter Convenience

Top Rated Epica Stainless Steel Compost Bin 1.3 Gallon-Includes Charcoal FilterTop Rated Epica Stainless Steel Compost Bin 1.3 Gallon-Includes Charcoal Filter

Convenience and charcoal liner make this one gallon compost container a simple, attractive way to recycle your kitchen scraps.

What You Can Use – and NOT Use in a Compost Pile

To some, compost making is a high art form. I take the lazy way and just pile and leave it to decay, but it is still important to know what to use (or not) to make the compost a healthy addition to the soil and for your property. You do not want to attract pests, or spread plant disease, which is why some materials are not added.

You wouldn’t believe all the things that can be recycled into the earth.

If you make, or buy, a compost bin it won’t take long before you have rich brown crumbly humus to add to your own pots and garden beds.

Jump Start Your Compost Pile

Espoma Organic Traditions Compost Starter- 4 lb Bag BE4
Espoma Organic Traditions Compost Starter- 4 lb Bag

List of Additions for Composting (and 3 No-No’s)

  • Grass Clipping +
  • Mulched leaves +
  • Vegetable peels, old fruit, rotten vegetables +
  • Coffee grounds and tea leaves +
  • Chicken, cow, or horse manure +
  • Lint and household dust +
  • Hair from you and your pets +
  • toilet paper rolls and used napkins +
  • 163 things you can add to your compost pile

What are the Composting “No-No’s”?

  • NO dog or cat waste –
  • NO meat leftovers or products –
  • NO diseased plant matter –

Compost Sacks?

Bag up tree leaves to decompose over winter.

Helpful Infographic

  • Inside Nature ~ Infographic: How-To Compost | Blog | Nature | PBS

Create An Organic Garden

It isn’t difficult or complicated to learn to garden organically- just change some of your methods and lifestyle to become greener and you might love learning to take care of your world.

Products to jump-start the garden might seem like frills until you realize that when growing food, the earlier you harvest, the earlier you save on the groceries.

Growing organically may not be as simple, there are things to learn and time needed to build up the soils. In the long run, it is more frugal. It is also healthier.

Soil amendments are the number one way to create better soil. The video on how to measure them saves waste.

More Gardening Tips For Saving Money

How and when to get supplies takes a small bit of effort for better gardens.

  • Making good compost for healthy vegetables.
  • Near a quarry? See if you can get some rockdust. Might be cheap, might be free.
  • Need to buy fertilizer or conditioners? The end of season (fall time) stores usually discount their lawn and garden supplies.
  • Green manure is the use of plants that can be turned under to add nitrogen to the soil, almost as good as the brown stuff.

How Much Soil Amendment? -Compute the Amount Needed

One way to save money is to buy just the amount of something that you need. Use this formula in the video above to compute your garden math.

Compute The Right Amount, No Waste

Another way to save money – books from moneysaving experts.
It is so popular to save money rather than make money that people write books about it.

The Frugal GardenerThe Frugal Gardener

This book is for you to keep the gardening budget trim and have fun doing it. Ideas for choosing amendments, making more plants, making garden structures for less cost. More detail on many of the topics brought up in my article.

Make A Plan

One of the easiest ways to control costs is to stick with a garden plan.

…Where and When to Buy Garden Supplies

Cheapest Time

Like everything else garden plants and supplies have an off-season.

This usually falls in July if you live in the USA. Many garden centers hold sales in July, but the problem with buying their bargains is that this is the hardest time to keep new plantings alive. The hot dry weather of continental USA is taxing for plants. Drought can mean death to new trees and shrubs even if they are planted in the spring. So weigh your choices, and if you can give your plants attention and enough water, by all means buy the bargains.

Supplies suffer no such problems -so stock up on pots, tools, hoses, or whatever you find on sale.

Autumn is an excellent time to buy sale plants for a cheap price, and as long as the ground is not frozen you can plant them. Cover them with some mulch and they should be an excellent investment. I guarantee nothing- but have had GREAT results from autumn planted bargains.

Buy Used

Buy used tools either through auctions or at tag sales. There are some very good tools at garage sales!

Garden Finds

garden ornament find
Find treasures at tag sales and flea markets

Remember

To save money sometimes you have to spend some of it. To save time, sometimes you have to put a little effort in at the beginning. To reap, you have to sow.

Reuse, Repurpose

Reusing material to make a cottage garden hideaway.

My favorite way to save money in the garden

  • Old shoes or old chairs? New pots and new potstands.
  • Old fence boards? New raised bed frames.
  • Old windows? New coldframe.

There are all sort of ways to make a new part of the garden from old sources of materials.

The main thing you need is ingenuity, so put on your thinking cap.

 

Flea Market Gardening

Garden Treasure
An old idea gives a fresh face to the patio.

People are looking to flea markets, tag sales, and good old garage sales to re use and repurpose things for their garden. Some great finds are available, and it is a way to find statues and other types of garden ornaments, or cobbling together various architectural elements to create a little Victorian garden shed like this one, pictured above.

Flea Marketing

In the spirit of repurposing comes the marriage of flea market visits and gardening, with its own site and magazine to promote the concept. Tips like these from Anna Looper:
“[She] has her own essentials list. She says, “When I go junking-

  • I take a hat,
  • gloves,
  • water,
    • apron with the pockets stuffed with little scissors,
    • tissues,
    • chapstick,
    • permanent Marker and string.
  • Also in my car are plastic bags and bungi cords.
  • Handi-wipes and sanitizers are must.
  • I bring a cooler full of drinks, fruit, and cheeses for snacks.”

More Money Saving Tips

Arrive as early as possible and get the best merchandise at a premium price, or arrive late and get good merchandise at clearance prices but fewer choices.”

The Flea Marketer’s List

take along…

  1. hat
  2. gloves
  3. water
  4. apron with the pockets
  5. little scissors
  6. tissues
  7. chapstick
  8. permanent marker
  9. string
  10. plastic bags
  11. bungi cords
  12. Handi-wipes
  13. sanitizers

That’s a serious shopper!

Reuse Old Stuff in the Garden

Waste Not, Want Not

Time to recall that famous old adage.

Ingenious ideas for everyone to try

Repurpose and Keep Green

Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures
Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures

Sometimes we wish we could be more frugal, more green, and ingeniously repurpose, but we need a little help. A book with great ideas and the how-to comes to the rescue!

Money Saving Garden Tips Redux

Old windows make a coldframe
Old window
Old windows top a simple raised bed for an instant coldframe.

The lowdown on frugal garden tips:

  1. Reuse plastic or clay pots from nursery plants
  2. Repurpose old household things in the garden
  3. OLD PLASTIC MILK JUGS OR LITER SODA BOTTLES AS WINTER CLOCHE FOR NEW PLANTS
  4. Make your own compost
  5. Buy used tools
  6. Make seed pots from toilet rolls or newspaper
  7. LEARN TO PROPAGATE YOUR OWN PLANTS

Make a DIY Bath Tub Pond

Bathtub pond
Bath Tub Pond is one example of turning trash into treasure, or re-purposing.

Have Any Tips for Us?

I would love to hear how you save money in your gardens. Or how your gardens save money for you.

Filed Under: do as I say, Frugal Tips, gardening tips Tagged With: expert gardening tips, frugal living, garden bargains

Tomato Troubles

August 22, 2016 by Ilona Erwin

I have large tomatoes, plenty of them…that is not the trouble. Hornworms. and cracking, those are the troubles.

Right now, I am picking the fruits just turning red and ripening them on my window.

Hornworms are officially called Manduca quinquemaculata. As caterpillars they are voracious pests, munching through incredible amounts of your tomato harvest.

How To Prevent Hornworms?

  • Till the ground pre-season to destroy up to 90% of overwintering of them.
  • Wasp larvae attach themselves to hornworms and are a biological control.
  • Dill, basil, and marigolds are companions to tomato plants which help repel them.

Some Cracking Rainstorms

Skin cracked, but delicious all the same.
Skin cracked, but delicious all the same.

The other malady of my tomato plants is the case of the cracking fruit. What causes the lines and opening of the tomato skin? Just the weather conditions we experienced: Dry weather period followed by rainstorms. It was the lack of water which caused the splitting skin. The answer would have been more regular watering during a droughty period.

Rains have left the ground in good condition for sowing some late summer seeds for the fall crops. That is next on my agenda.

This Is The Time Of Year That My Garden Gets Away From Me

The weeds, the harvest, the garden maintenance…. all need attention. As an older gardener both my health and summer’s heat conspired against me. I must take a laissez faire attitude against the chores which go undone while I take refuge from hot temperatures.

But thankfully, the days are cooler and less humid this week! I look forward to catching up.

The earth looks so gratefully green after its thirst is quenched. I, too, have joined its gratefulness and drink in the blue skies and high cotton clouds.

The Turn Of Summer

Chrysanthemums have appeared at the stores, a sure sign that we face the end of summertime. It is this shift of plant focus that signals the wax and wane of our seasons.

Chrysanthemums used to be perennial in my garden, but now it is difficult to bring them through the winter. They have always needed more protection in this rural garden. The scathing winds and bare winter earth was too much for the varieties planted here. I imagine there were other factors of neglect that contributed to their short lived existence, as well.

Mums tend to be garden plants that thrive on cultivation and fade way with a wild, competitive garden. They like space and room, plenty of fertilizer and being reset every few years.

These days I treat them like annuals.

I will look for an apricot one to place in my large container, and soft pinks for the containers on either side of my front walk.
Cushion mumsGrowing Cushion Mums

It is too early, but already my thoughts turn towards the hope that I will be a better, more attentive gardener next year. I am reining them in to create a more “in the moment” framework of savoring the bounty of autumn.

The garden is not finished with the end of summer, it is gathering strength for a grand finale.

How is your garden growing? Are you tempted by the bulbs and baskets of chrysanthemums yet?

Filed Under: August, gardening tips Tagged With: chrysanthemums, summer garden chores, tomato hornworm, tomatoes

If You Need To Save On Water In The Garden

June 28, 2016 by Ilona Erwin

At the time I write this June is closing. We have plenty of moisture in the ground this year, but that is not always the case. Especially as the summer marches on, drought becomes a real possibility. A few water saving tips can make a difference in how your plants weather the heat and dry times ahead.

5 Tips To Weather A Drought

1 Add compost. To make your soil more moisture retentive and help roots grow deeper, incorporate compost into the soil where they grow. Add it before, as you plant, and as top dressing later.
2Mulch To Conserve Moisture. Like compost, an organic mulch can add humus to the soil, but inorganic mulches can suppress weeds and provide a moisture retentive cover as well. Depending on your needs, consider using types of mulches to conserve moisture.

3Right Plant, Right Place. Plants have differing tolerance for going without water. Drought tolerant plants have deeper root systems (like many prairie plants) or they may have water conserving physical attributes like succulent or hairy foliage. Plants that are native to drier areas are a good choice for gardens that regularly suffer drought conditions. Mediterranean or prairie plants are top on the list.

4Plant Like Choices Together. Whether in containers or flower bed, choose plants with similar needs to plant together. Their light requirements and moisture needs should match up so that all are cared for with just the water they need.

5The Way You Water. The manner in which you water is an important feature of saving waste. If you use sprinklers, much of the water can simply evaporate into the dry air. Better to water long and deeply, using a soaking technique. Watering deeply ( to lower ground levels, encourages the plant roots to move further down into the soil for better drought resistance.

Collect Water

Diverting and collecting water is an important part of conserving. Water barrels help when there is rainfall. Even using watering cans to collect runoff from the gutter is useful. I use this water for containers of flowers.
Rain Saver: Pop Up Water Barrel- 50 Gallon

Rain gardens help divert water from areas around the house. Helping water to soak into the ground, rather than be lost (along with soil nutrients) during rains.

Build A Water Barrel

Filed Under: gardening tips Tagged With: drought, gardening tips, summer garden, water barrel

Tip for Blooming Peonies

March 27, 2016 by Ilona Erwin

Planting Depth For Peonies

.

From Hypertufagardener

“Plant peonies for a lifetime of spring flowers, but remember not more than three inches below the surface”

From Kim, Hypertufagardener

If the growing points are too far below the soil surface, it hinders or even prevents the plant from blooming. A general rule is to place the plant about two inches below the surface.

More about Peonies, here.

Filed Under: Garden Perennial Plants, gardening tips Tagged With: gardening tips, peonies

10 Useful Gardening Tips For Spring

March 26, 2016 by Ilona Erwin

spring garden tips top ten
I gathered up some expert gardening tips from around the web, from beginners to a few unusual ones.

1 Soak your seedlings

…the roots of the seedlings become so entangled that separating them without damaging the roots is not easy to do. What can you do in such a case?

Fortunately, here’s a trick that works without fail: soak the roots before you divide. Here’s how it works:

20160325B
From the Laidback Gardener

2 Plant egg shells along with your vegetables:

Crushed eggshells planted along with your tomatoes help your plants avoid “blossom end rot” , which is often caused by a calcium deficiency.

eggshell in garden
Add eggshells for calcium, tip from Beekman 1802

From Beekman 1802

3 Cut the bottoms out of used plastic jugs to protect new seedlings.

Ian Lowe's photo

From IanLowe.blogspot.com

4 Sharpen the edges of tools. This is one of those reminders that takes only a little time to do, but saves lots of effort. Use a large file

garden tools need sharpening
Even old tools can work like new with a little maintenance care

From the gardeningcook

5 Stagger planting is a very useful method for quick growing crops like lettuces, mesclun mixes, radishes, and the like. It ensures that tender baby greens and veggies come along on the heels of more mature plantings. This is especially nice when a crop grown to long needs to be removed- always a fresh one!

ready for spring planting
Photo by Erin Feinblatt

Reminder from Eat Drink Garden

 

6 Keep your plants healthy

  • don’t let them dry out, but don’t overwater
  • leave enough room between plants so air circulates to prevents fungus from growing

 

7 Loosen roots in root bound plants before planting them. And for those who are planning on planting some trees and shrubs this spring comes many tips on just how to do that successfully.

From true Cold Climate experts.

 

8 Use seed packets for handy planting info: time to plant and depth of seeds. Remember that seeds will usually yield the most plants for the money.

seed packet photos from farmgirlgabs

Beginning gardener tip from Farm Girl Gabs

9 Weed Early, Weed Often… because Summer is coming. It is always important to get a head start on the weeds. They are much easier to pull when young and the soil is soft. weeding a tap rooted weed in the broiling summer sun is no fun. Weed now.

weed you garden beds
(c) Francesca Yorke

Reminder from English Gardeners at the Daily Telegraph.

10 Grow Chamomile. If you grow your own stand (very easy), then you can make lots of Chamomile tea during the season to to ward off bacterial and fungal infections. To prevent dreaded damping off in young seedlings, brew the tea and spray with the cooled tisane.

chamomile flowers
Chamomile photo by Ian Muttoo on Flickr

from Huffington Post

Don’t forget these Spring gardening tips, for early spring! And more…

Early Spring Garden

Filed Under: 10 Best, gardening tips Tagged With: expert gardening tips, spring

The Down And Dirty Weeding Tool List

August 9, 2014 by Ilona Erwin

The Bare Essentials

Some essentials when brand new
I’ve done a lot of tweeting and writing about weeding this season. There are a couple of reasons for that including the unusually wonderful weather (from my perspective, anyway), and my desire to have my yard look like I actually garden, despite many trips to visit the children and grandchildren.
The weather: It has been a cool summer with plenty of rain. That means everything stayed in growth mode and I was able to continue working outside. When heat and humidity skyrocket I hide in my airconditioned room ( we have 1) and write.
The desire: For years I said I would declutter and renovate my gardens. This has been the year it is happening.
So I thought that would record in my blog the essential tools I drag around with me when doing a marathon of weeding. I have many, many specialized weeding tools, but there are a few that are the most useful for certain jobs.

Before The List

Weather conditions make a difference in how easy it is to tackle certain weeds. Some are best hoed out when the days are hot and dry, others pull easiest after a rain, some cling to clay soil that is damp. Take notes on times when weeding is easiest in your garden. Days been dry and sunny? Grass pulls out easier, small weeds are best scuffle hoed (cut just below the surface). Rain yesterday? Many roots are loosening and can more easily be pulled.

The List Of Best Weeding Tools

weeding tool
Cape Cod Weeder, for right handed people.
  1. Almost always, I want my Cape Cod Weeder . It is wonderful for tight spaces between plants or cracks in the walk, etc. sharp blade makes quick work of dislodging roots.
  2. Garden gloves are  more important to me than I ever realized. I have many pairs now, and can grab thistles, rose canes, and grub out hand pulled weeds better than I  possibly could if without them.
  3. I keep bypass pruners close by, and if I think I will have to grub out an overlooked Mulberry tree- I have loppers with me. but always haul along a cutting tool of some sort. Have poke weed? Cut the cane off at the ground level.
  4. Nurseryman spade. Admittedly I don’t always grab this particular tool, but if I don’t I usually end up going back to the shed for it. Any shovel will do, but a narrow Nurseryman spade will work better in perennial beds and get just the roots you wish to dislodge. This is best for removing Burdock, and other deeply rooted weeds. Simply scoop out the crown of the Burdock- no need to get all of the taproot.
  5. Dutch hoe is a hand hoe that works like the big one, but with more finesse and sharp tip can hack out stubborn weeds. When I don’t need the Cape Cod-der for tight spaces I often go for the Dutch hoe. (Seen in the beginning photo).
  6. Weeding Adze which is sometimes called other names, is the best for large areas of deeply entrenched weeds. The claw end pries, while the blade edge cuts. A most efficient combo.
  7. Dandelion Weeder  might seem specialized, but this narrow, strong tool with the little fork at the tip is a whiz at sliding down alongside taproots and levering them out without disturbing the neighbors.

For Clean-up

Garden Carts and Rakes

I try to keep the garden cart and a leaf rake nearby, so that when finished with the mad weeding I can tidy up right then and there. If put off, a pile of weeds can smother grass, and it delays the feeling of satisfaction from getting your flower beds all cleared away.

What I Did Today: Cleaned and Sharpened My Tools

Every once in awhile you need to take care of your tools to keep them in good working order, especially cutting tools.
After viewing some tutorials (yes, my Dad taught me how to sharpen tools, but I needed a refresher), I followed some of the advice. Today I got out the isopropyl alcohol to clean off the blades, and used a Bastard file to sharpen my loppers, pruners, and hedge shears.
The alcohol cleaned the surface and sterilized the edges, the file sharpened the edges quickly. I simply followed the manufacturers edge to know where to sharpen.
It made a world of difference in the pruning and trimming results.

Another thing that is new for my gardening this summer was a solution for my most hated garden task: watering during hot and dry periods. Sure, this is not the year which best tests my new found FAV garden tool, but I am ready for those years when the weather is more normal with late summer droughts. I loved it so much I couldn’t wait to write a review on it. Enough suspense…what is it? One of those “advertised on TV” garden hoses that are so light that even wimpy, aging me is able to water the containers and the borders with ease. I am so happy!

I had a review for the Flexable Pocket Garden Hose, but though I loved my first one, they proved to be short-lived . They aren’t very expensive, and the amount of grief and work it saves is worth it. How long do they last? I found that the first one lasted for two seasons, but the replacement only lasted a few weeks.

What does this have to do with weeding tools you ask? Well, consider this: when trying to pull out those unwanted plants from dry hard ground or soft moist earth… which is easier? Yes. You may wish to add the humble garden hose to your list of “weeding tools”.

Do you have tips to share? How do you handle pesky “garden thug” plants or what way do you sharpen your tools?

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© 2014 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.

Filed Under: Featured, garden basics, gardening tips, using garden tools Tagged With: best tools, Featured, garden tools, lists

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Oh, hi there!

I was a garden blog pioneer, and began writing on this blog in 2003. Before that I had begun a garden website that has been at its own domain since 2006, Ilona's Garden.

I still love writing, gardening, and art after all these years, although travel and grandchildren have become a big part of my life, now.

Standouts

10 Cool Season Annual Flowers To Plant

Shirley poppies and Bachelor Buttons Not every garden writer alerts you to the fact that annuals can have seasons that are shorter than other choices. For places like Ohio which have hot summers, there are common annuals that only do well when our weather is cooler, such as in early summer. Those flowers sort of […]

August Gardening: Ten Suggestions

Yes, it is hot, and no one feels like doing much gardening in the dog days of summer, but here are ten suggestions for your gardening efforts.   Remember that August is a good time to weed, and get things ready for fall season planting. September is an important time to plant perennials so they […]

Newest Postings Here

  • February Gardening, Last of Winter in the Flower Garden
  • Compilation of Past Mini-Posts of 2003
  • Wayback in Ilona Garden Time
  • 3 Tips For Landscaping Successfully With Ornamental Trees
  • Mid-Ohio Gardening Update

Finding your way home via the garden path


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3 Tips For Landscaping Successfully With Ornamental Trees

posted in Landscape Design Know-How, Landscape Trees

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Mid-Ohio Gardening Update

posted in 2018, How's the weather?

All Season Garden Color with Bold Foliage Effects, Masterful Contrasts

posted in Garden design ideas, Landscape Design Know-How

saving money

Moneysaving Tips for Gardeners

posted in do as I say, Frugal Tips, gardening tips



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