Tips About Pest Control, Window Boxes, Comfort, Protecting Sprouts, and Watering

Winning Tip: Protect those sprouts

I was look for a way to help protect young sprouts and encourage their emergence . I had used charge plate container collar before , butbirdsand squirrel were not deterred , and thecontainerswere blow by the steer . Then I cut a crest in a large charge card soup container and cut across the lip with a stocky circle ofmulchto help keep the container in place and reduce water vapor . The spike in the “ crest ” discourage birdie , squirrels , andslugs , and it also get a quasi – greenhouse issue .

— Adrienne Leder , Berkeley , California

Good for kneeling as well as sleeping

Tony Fulmer ’s lead about old chair cushions in drivel cup of tea as knee aegis is a good thought . For that same purpose , I use closed - cellular telephone foam pads made to go under sleeping bags . I fold up over one of these 6 - foot - long lodgings to make two layers when I ’m working on hard ground ; if I ’m on an even hard surface such as concrete , I fold it again to make four layer . And if visiting grandkids need the launchpad for their original purpose , a quick hosing off reconstruct them .

— Davis Steelquist , Sequim , Washington

For birds only

My base butt against a 15 - acre nature preserve . Hence , a lot of cervid like to visit my yard , garden , andbird feeders . One bird feeder , which hangs from a sheepherder ’s crotchet , is very enticing , and the cervid were devouring the feed every nighttime .

To keep the deer out , I pick out an unused charge plate waste-paper basket with handgrip handle and attach a wire . This permit me to cover the feeder each evening , which is when thedeerdo the most legal injury . In addition , I drilled several small holes in the bottom to earmark rainwater to run out out . Not only has the nighttime shaving end , but there is a lot less browsing in my all-embracing flower garden . And I ’m spend a plenty less money on bird feed . I also bestow a Slinky to the sheepherder ’s hook to discourage squirrel and chipmunk from climbing up .

— Tom Charbonneau , Arden Hills , Minnesota

No more gnats

Frustrated by buzzinggnats , I used a base hit rowlock to impound a laundry drier sheet inside my garden hat . The smell repelled the gnats that often pour around my yard . Gardening is more pleasant without those annoying insects hum around my eyes and ear .

— Mary Crum , Holland , Pennsylvania

When did I last water that plant?

To serve me keep track of when I need to irrigate my numeroushouseplants , I use a dry erase board . I list each plant and record when I last watered each one . The board is comfortable to update , and now I can tell at a glance when I require to water my plant .

— Victoria Kojcsich , Winston - Salem , North Carolina

Bulbs for empty spaces

Each year when myspring bulbsbloom , I always see some empty spots that I would care to fill for the next springiness . In autumn after visit the garden center , I pot up my new bulb purchases and sink the pots into my compost heap . In spring after the unexampled lightbulb have emerge , I set up the spate in my garden just where I would like , and then I remove the light bulb and institute them .

— Marsha Lomis , Kleinburg , Ontario

A window box for all seasons

Here is a way to have plants in your window loge in all four time of year of the year : Just get window boxwood inserts for the spring light bulb . I plantedgrape hyacinthbulbs in one hardening of insert , then removed them in May and put in another set of cut-in , in which I imbed flame nettle , impatiens , and creeping Jenny . For the remaining seasons I expend the same stage set of inserts , but I slay the summerannualsand peg in sprig of decorative grasses for gloam and evergreen plant branches for wintertime . Over winter I store the leaping cut-in outdoors , without disturb the bulbs , until the next spring .

— Gwen Kannapel , Wallingford , Pennsylvania

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