10 Tips You Need to Know About Gardening, Gardening Tools, and More

November 21, 2017

What are some awesome gardening hacks?

Get a spray bottle for all your spraying needs.
Draw your fingernails on a bar of soap to get dirt out of your fingernails.
Use vegetable oil on the line of your trimmer to prevent it from jamming.
Mark inches and feet on the long handles of your gardening tools to make them into measuring tools.
Use a small pot as a twine holder.
Write on rocks with a permanent marker for a natural label.
Use tape to fight aphids.
Use vegetable oil to add nutrition to patio plants.
Use leftover tea and coffee ground to increase the acidity of soil.
Use chamomile tea in the soi around seedlings to protect them from fungus.

When you’re taking care of your Philippine garden, you will need some gardening tools and skills; as well as these simple but incredibly useful tips:

Get A Spray Bottle

This can be a very useful gardening tool, not just for controlled watering, but also for removing salt deposits. Make a mixture of equal parts water, rubbing alcohol, and vinegar and spray this to the pot before placing anything inside. Then scrub it with a plastic brush. Do this for all pots before putting in your plants.

Use Soap to Get Dirt Out of Your Fingernails

Gardening is a very relaxing hobby. However, it can get a bit gross and annoying at times, especially when dirt gets under your fingernails. To prevent this from happening, just draw your fingernails on a bar of soap before getting started. This will seal the underside of your nails so that dirt can’t go there. Once done gardening, just use a nail brush to remove the soap and everyone will be none the wiser.

Apply Vegetable Oil to the String Trimmer

One of the most awesome gardening tools you can buy is a string trimmer. This will help you to maintain your grass efficiently. So it would be incredibly unfortunate if you saved up to invest in one only for it to break or jam! To prevent this, use the spray bottle again to spray some vegetable oil on the line of the trimmer before you install it.

Turn Any Long Gardening Tool into a Measuring Tool

Some gardening tools are tend to be long, such as rakes and shovels. You can double these as measuring tools just by simply making marks on the long handles. Place any of these long tools on the ground and use a measuring tape to mark out the lengths you need with a permanent marker. It’s best to mark out inches and feet, but it’s completely up to you. This will ensure that you will always have a measuring tool within reach.

Create A Make Shift Twine Holder

While twine is a useful gardening tool, it can easily get lost in a sea of plants if you just leave it lying around. So it would be best if you could have a makeshift twine holder nearby. To do this, get a small empty pot; as in the ones for desk plants. Just place the twine inside and stick an end through the drainage hole. Viola! You have a twin holder that can blend in along with all of your pots! You can turn it over so the twine won’t get too wet from watering.

Natural Labels

Don’t you just find it really ugly to label your plants with some inorganic material? Well a quick and easy way to get around this is to take some inspiration from zoos and museums. Just look for a rock with a flat face and use a permanent marker to write the names of your plants on it; plus-points if you can use calligraphy skills. Just place this rock right below the plant.

Use Tape to Fight Aphids in a Fun Way

Tape might not come to mind when you’re thinking of tools used for gardening, but you may need it to fight off some aphids. You can always use a strong blast of water from your hose, but when there’s a lot, you can be using too much water.

To use tape as a natural pest control method, wrap a wide strip of it in your hand (or gloves, if you prefer to wear it) with the sticky side facing out. Then pat the leaves with aphids on them.

Use Tea and Coffee to Increase Acidity

This is for the soil. Adding leftover tea or coffee grounds to it will increase the acidity which would be great for plants that love acid, like azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, gardenias, and blueberries.

Use “Vegetable Water” on your Plants

When you boil or steam your vegetables, the water you use for it can actually be very nutritious for plants. Don’t throw it out! Instead, use it on your patio plants.

Use Chamomile Tea to Protect Seedlings

Another use for tea – chamomile in particular – is to fend off fungus that kill seedlings. Place the tea in the soil around the seddling.

Key Takeaway

Taking care of your Philippine garden is all about knowing how to use your gardening tools and your knowledge about plants and pests. Follow these tips to always keep your garden in the best shape and to always enjoy gardening. Pretty soon you’ll have the most epic garden in the neighborhood that you can enjoy on any sunny day.