Gardening Hacks You'll Use From Now On

Before you toss those plastic water or soda bottles in the recycling, consider turning one into a slow-drip waterer. Keeping plants hydrated through a hot summer is a chore, and this makes it easier. Puncture a few holes around the sides of an empty bottle, remove the cap, and stuff a sock inside. Bury the bottle in the soil next to your plant, leaving about two inches of the top above ground. Fill it with water and screw the cap back on. The fabric wicks the water out slowly, delivering it right to the roots.

Some plants love to take over. Wisteria, English ivy, honeysuckle, and trumpet vine are a few of the worst offenders. A trellis helps corral them, but vigorous climbers still need direction. Beyond regular pruning, you can guide their growth: loosely fasten zip ties around the stalks to steer them where you want them to go. Just don't cinch them tight, since the plant needs room to move and grow.

Clearing grass for a new bed or path usually means a lot of digging. Here's an easier way. Cover the area with overlapping sheets of cardboard, then pile four to six inches of compost on top. Weigh it down with rocks if needed, and water it well to settle everything. Over about two months, the cardboard smothers the grass and weeds underneath while breaking down into the soil. Do this in the fall and the area will be clear and ready to plant by spring.

For this one you'll need a large empty juice or soda bottle. Cut the neck off and poke holes around the sides. Starting at the bottom, tuck small onion bulbs into the holes, adding soil as you work your way up. Set the bottle by a window, and green shoots will soon poke out through the holes. They taste mild, much like scallions. You won't get full onions, but you'll have a steady supply of greens for salsas, soft cheeses, eggs, quesadillas, or garnishes.

Don't toss your eggshells; they can feed your plants. As they break down, they add calcium to the soil, though it happens slowly, so think of it as a long-term contribution rather than a quick fix. Crushed shells mixed into potting soil, added to the compost, or used in homemade fertilizer all work. Some gardeners also steep dried, crushed shells in water for a few days to make a mild calcium water for indoor and outdoor plants.

Starting seeds in cardboard tubes is cheap and eco-friendly. Begin about six to eight weeks before your last frost. Cut paper towel or toilet paper tubes into two-inch sections, snip a few slits in one end, and fold the flaps in to make a base. Stand them up in a waterproof tray, like a plastic food container, fill with potting soil, and sow your seeds. When the seedlings are ready to go outside, plant the whole tube, cardboard and all. It breaks down in the ground and feeds the soil.

This trick saves you from poking every seed hole by hand. Push a wine cork onto each prong of a bow rake or spading fork, then press the tool into the soil to make a row of evenly spaced holes at the depth your seed packet calls for. Drop in the seeds and cover them over.

If you grow apples or pears, pests often get to the fruit before you do. Rather than spraying chemicals on something you'll eat, try bagging the fruit. Once a blossom has set into a small fruit, slip a plastic bag over it and seal it around the stem; snip the bottom corners off first so rain and condensation can drain out, since trapped moisture can rot the fruit. The fruit keeps growing inside, protected, until it's ripe and ready to pick.

You don't need a backyard plot to grow vegetables; some will regrow from kitchen scraps. Celery is one of the easiest. Cut about two inches off the root end of a bunch and set it cut-side up in a shallow bowl or jar with about an inch of water. Put it somewhere bright but out of harsh midday sun. Within days, new leaves appear from the center and roots form at the base. Once it's rooted, move it to a pot of soil. It won't match a full store-bought bunch, but you'll get tender, usable stalks and leaves.

A vertical garden needs no ground space at all. An over-the-door shoe organizer makes a cheap one: the deep pockets hold soil well and keep it moist. Hang it from a sturdy curtain rod or mount it to a wall. Before planting, test a pocket by pouring in water; if it drains slowly, poke a few holes in the bottom for drainage. Then fill the pockets with soil and plant herbs, flowers, spinach, or compact tomatoes.