20 Insanely Clever Gardening Tips

Let’s face it–gardening is hard work, so 20 insanely clever gardening tips sound like a fantastic idea! While we all love beautiful flowers and delicious homegrown fruits and vegetables, it’s not always easy to get down on our hands and knees and take care of those plants. They won’t take away all the work, but these tips promise to make gardening easier. 

20 Insanely Clever Gardening Tips

Use Coffee Grounds

Garden plants love coffee almost as much as humans do! Add some coffee grounds to the soil to give the plants nutrients they need. Not a coffee drinker? Get coffee grounds from a local coffee shop.

Car Wax

 If your tools are stiff with grime, just clean them and apply a little car wax. Car wax helps loosen them so the blades glide easier.

A Pot of Sand

Rusty tools are the worst! Store them in builder’s sand or pea gravel to keep your tools from rusting.

Coffee Filter

Place a coffee filter inside the bottom of your pots to keep the soil from coming out the drainage holes. It saves the soil and keeps the area around your pots clean.

Raise Your Garden Beds

This is easiest to implement if you’re just starting. But it’s still a great modification to an established garden. Raised garden beds are easier on your back, get better drainage, and help keep pesky animals out of your garden.

Save Fruit & Veggie Scraps

Kitchen scraps are great for all sorts of things in your garden! Add them to compost to make the soil more nutrient-rich. Keep the seeds from fruits and vegetables to get your own starters. No matter what you do, there’s always a use for them.

Test Old Seeds

Nothing is worse than planting seeds only to have them fail to sprout. If you have a pack of old seeds and want to know if they’re still good, place them on a wet paper towel. If sprouts start coming out of them, plant them in the garden!

Rain Barrel

 Save money and the environment by creating your own rain barrel. Very little effort is required, and it is worth the time and money you put into it.

Forks

As a gardener, there’s nothing worse than to find your plants eaten by pests or neighborhood pets. To keep all kinds of curious critters out, put plastic forks in the ground {with the tines sticking straight up} throughout your garden. It’s a cheap and effective way to keep your whole garden safe.

Mini Greenhouse

 A normal-sized greenhouse is expensive, but with some creativity you can make your own mini version! Just use a two-liter bottle. Cut the top off and start seedlings inside to make a great environment for growth.

More Clever Gardening Tips You Can Use

Paper Towel

If you’re going out of town, here’s the perfect tip for you! Take a paper towel and tightly roll it up, then put one end in a cup of water and the rest in a garden pot or houseplant. Although this doesn’t work for a large garden, it does help keep soil moist while you’re gone.

Fertilize with Vegetable Water

This is one of my favorites of these 20 insanely clever gardening tips. It’s like the circle of life–cook the vegetables you grow, then use the vegetable water to fertilize your garden! Vegetable water has tons of nutrients. Pour, grow, eat, repeat!

Homemade Watering Can

Instead of running from store to store to find the perfect watering can, make your own. Poke a few small holes in the lid of any container, such as a milk jug, and you’ve got one. Anything with a handle does the job.

A {Not Dirty!} Diaper

 Place an open, unused diaper at the bottom of a pot or plant basket, then add soil. This is an easy way to conserve water and keep your plants as healthy as possible!

Transplantable Pots

No one likes having to landscape the garden all over again when the seasons change. With a little bit of foresight, all you need to do is pull one pot out and add in another. Put a can or container in the ground, with plenty of holes in the bottom and sides to provide for drainage and root growth. Now just add your potted plants to the cans. When the weather changes, switch plants easily!

 Lemon Rind

Who would think that lemon rinds help start a seedling? Poke a hole in the bottom of the rind for drainage, add a little bit of soil and a few seeds, and you’ve got yourself a homemade seedling pot!

Yogurt Container

If you’re not a lemon fan, hopefully you’re a yogurt lover! Follow the same steps with the lemon rind and get the most out of the things you used to throw away.

Homemade Trellis

For a more natural looking trellis, make your own with bamboo poles. A homemade trellis is not only cheaper, but makes your garden more appealing to the eye.

Seed Tape

Seed tape is an awesome way to plant tons of seeds fast. However, it can be more expensive than a pack of seeds. You can also try using a roll of toilet paper as a DIY “seed tape” to save both time and money!

Toilet Paper Rolls

Once you use your toilet paper seed tape, don’t throw away the empty roll. With a little creativity, you can turn it into a biodegradable pot for seedlings. When you plant them, this pot can go straight into the ground.

Just Add Baking Soda!

We’re getting close to the end of our 20 insanely clever gardening tips, but we can’t forget baking soda! From the kitchen to the garden, baking soda has lots of uses. In the garden, baking soda makes a good fungicide, weed killer and grub killer.

Crushed Eggshells

Eggshells have uses, and gardening is no exception. When you make eggs for breakfast, crush the shells to create a fine powder. Now sprinkle it into your soil to give your plants a calcium boost.

With these 20 insanely clever gardening tips, you’re on your way to easier-than-ever gardening. Let me know which is your favorite, and why!