As the weather warms up, it's time to start thinking about how you can make your outdoor areas more beautiful. It can be a tall order, especially if you have a larger property.
Fortunately, there are tons of unconventional hacks that can make a big difference. You can always do things the conventional way, of course. But trying just a few of these hacks might just become new favorites in the never-ending quest to achieve the perfect yard and garden.
Rinse your veggies in the garden.
Picking a bunch of vegetables, lugging them inside, and then hosing off the dirt and debris in the kitchen is a surefire way to make a big, muddy mess. Why not just do your rinsing in the garden?
Instead of spraying them with a hose, try filling a large bucket with water, and putting your freshly picked veggies in a smaller basket that can drain. Dunk this basket into the bucket of water, slosh things around, and lift it out.
Keep big fruit and veggies secure.
If your gardening mantra is "go big or go home," this one might be for you. When you have a vine-based plant that grows big, it can be tough to nurture the fruit without having it weigh down the whole vine.
This hack sees a watermelon being given a little extra help with the use of a crocheted basket. The crochet looks nice and all, but this could also be accomplished with a reusable shopping bag.
Stockings and vines are a great combination.
Another simple way to support any kind of vine-based fruit is to use old stockings or pantyhose to create a kind of net. The stretchy, pliable nature of the material makes it easy to make something the right size.
When it comes to old stockings, there are about a million potential uses in the garden. They can also be hung up high and attached to vines or ivy as a way to encourage the plant to grow upwards.
FYI: pests don't like eating soap.
There are lots of methods for controlling smaller pests (some of which we'll get to in this list). But what to do about larger, destructive pests like deer, rabbits, and raccoons? The answer, weirdly enough, is soap.
Shred up some soap in a cheese grater or food processor, then mix it into the soil in your garden. Because the soap will blend with the soil, it'll make things extremely unappetizing for anything that might otherwise try rooting around in the garden.
Shoe racks make for great planters.
If you have some of those over-the-door shoe organizers, here's a hot take: while they have plenty of potential uses, they work even better as planters than they do as shoe organizers.
You can set up a space-saving vertical garden for smaller plants like herbs and certain veggies by simply using one of these organizers as a planter. Just make sure you get one that either has pockets or can accommodate soil in some way.
Give bees a place to drink.
There are plenty of good reasons to encourage bee populations in your area. If you want to make your local swarm a little happier, why not give them a watering hole in your garden?
Just fill up a small receptacle with a bit of water, and create "islands" using rocks and marbles. This gives bees (and butterflies as well) a place to grab a drink, and the islands you've created will help save them from drowning in the water.
Use coffee filters for more than just coffee.
Coffee filters: they're compact, compostable, and a pack of a million of them costs a buck or two. They're also useful for stuff far beyond the realm of simply making your cup of morning joe.
Try lining your plant pots with coffee filters. They'll still allow water and excess moisture to drain out the hole on the bottom of the pot, but the filter itself will keep soil in the pot where it belongs.
Use coffee grounds as well.
While you can simply throw used coffee filters into the compost, grounds and all, you can take a more targeted approach by saving the grounds and applying them directly to your flower beds.
The fact that the coffee beans have been pulverized and moistened means they're ready to be used as fertilizer and mulch. They also have the added bonus of acting as a deterrent for various larger pests, since cats and raccoons tend not to like coffee.
It isn't a pantry accident, it's new life.
We've all been there once or twice: when looking through the pantry for some garlic cloves, it turns out said cloves have sprouted. This might get in the way of your favorite recipe, but it's no reason to throw them out.
Instead, put the sprouted garlic in a glass of water. It's a great way to nurture new sprouts that can be edible. Garlic isn't the only sprouting plant, either. Waste not, want not.
Serve your garden a nice cup of tea.
We're not talking about actual tea here (although teabags are not only compostable, but probably good for your garden as well). This is fertilizer tea, or compost tea. You'll want to look up specific instructions, but the idea is to create a nourishing liquid to supercharge your garden.
The nice thing about this hack is that it's a great way to repurpose yard waste like weeds and grass clippings. Instead of throwing them out, you can use their nutrients to give back to your yard.
Use sponges to help your plants breathe.
It's hard to find a practical use for old sponges, but it feels wasteful to just throw them out. You can repurpose them as a plant aerator. Start by cutting them up into small pieces.
From there, mix those pieces into the soil blend at the bottom of a pot. The airy sponges will create room for additional air at the bottom of pot, which in turn will not just absorb excess water, but also prevent root rot in your plants.
Use milk jugs to protect seedlings.
Seedlings are incredibly fragile in their early stages, and milk jugs - with the bottoms cut off - make for a perfect way to protect them. They can still be easily watered and will absorb the sun's light.
Plus, as an added bonus, the inside of the jugs creates a humid environment, effectively creating a miniature greenhouse to help your seedlings along. This technique is also a good way to get your garden started during the winter months.
A safe, non-toxic weed killer.
No one wants a bunch of weeds in their garden and yard, but using toxic herbicides isn't always a great option either. Fortunately, using some stuff you already have in your kitchen can work wonders when it comes to killing weeds.
Just use white vinegar and Dawn dish soap to create a simple, non-toxic weed killer. This one works best if you apply it on a sunny day - and be mindful to keep the solution away from the plants that you do want to keep.
Eggshells are great slug repellants as well.
If those pesky slugs aren't falling for your beer trap, try this one: save your old eggshells, then crush them up into small pieces. Spread them at the base of plants that slugs are known to frequent.
The idea here is that slugs, with their squishy and soft bodies, aren't going to want to slither over the jagged eggshells because they'd get hurt. It's debatable how well this hack works, but it's certainly worth trying if your garden is tormented by slugs.
Customize your markers.
If you have an extensive herb garden, it can be tough to know at a glance which plant is which. This is where markers come in - just little signs that quickly identify what you're growing.
To make these markers, try using old wine corks. Just write on them using a Sharpie, then mount them on forks or any kind of pointy skewer. It not only serves a practical purpose, but also gives your garden a unique look.
Use TP roll tubes to help plants grow straight.
Those cardboard toilet paper tubes have a number of uses around the house, from cable management to various crafting projects. They also work great in the garden as a way to encourage young seedlings.
By planting inside one of these rolls, you'll give the plant a guide that will help it grow straight up, giving it the best chance of success. The roll itself can stay in the ground, as it'll eventually decompose in the soil.
Use cinderblocks for raised garden beds.
If you're looking to make a raised garden but don't want to bother cutting and assembling wood, try using cinderblocks, or any other kind of large brick. There's no need to mortar them together, as the weight of the soil will help them keep their shape.
Not everyone is going to have extra cinderblocks lying around, of course. But as building materials go, it doesn't get much cheaper - and this method allows you to easily customize the size and shape of your raised garden bed.
Keep your fruit pristine.
Have you ever grown something delicious, only to see it get ruined by caterpillars and bugs, or plucked altogether by a larger pest? Try using a Ziploc bag to protect it as it ripens.
This hack couldn't be easier. Just put the fruit in the bag, then seal things as tightly as you can around the stem. All going well, things will ripen without the intervention of pesky critters, and you can remove the bag when you're ready to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Keep cats at bay the plastic fork way.
Outdoor cats can be a nuisance when it comes to gardening - mostly because they like to view flowerbeds and planters as their personal toilet. Fortunately, plastic forks (or metal if you have extras) are a great way to deter them.
Evenly spaced out forks will make gardens an unattractive target for cats, because it'll prevent them from finding a soft area to do their business. I mean, you try going to the bathroom while you're getting poked with plastic forks.
Clean your garden tools the smart way.
Garden tools will inevitably get rusty over time, but you can slow the progression by cleaning and rust-proofing them - all without any kind of scrubbing or active effort on your part.
Fill a large bucket with clean sand, and mix in a little bit of oil (most types of oil will do, but linseed works particularly well). Storing the metal parts of your tools in this mixture - and stirring them a bit - will keep them lubricated and rust-proofed.
Use a muffin pan for simple spacing.
If you're planting seedlings in a certain pattern, or need to keep them a certain space from each other, toss that yardstick and grab a muffin pan - either mini or regular size, depending on your needs.
Just press the pan into your soft soil for a dead-simple way to create spacing in your garden. You can create dozens of perfectly spaced indentations in a matter of minutes, all with just one muffin pan.
Got slugs? Get them drunk.
This one's the perfect hack for any gardener who loves beer. Use a little of that beer (just a little bit, you can have the rest of the can) as a slug trap. All you have to do is pour it into a small receptacle.
The key is that slugs will be attracted to the scent of the beer, crawl into the bowl, and drown. You may also capture other small pests. It's gross and all, but a great way to keep slugs away from your garden.
A mailbox can be like a mini garden garage.
A classic post-mounted mailbox is the perfect size for garden tools. It's also designed to protect anything that's stored inside from the elements. These factors make mailboxes an unconventional, but ideal choice for storing your garden accessories.
This is a great way to keep smaller things close at hand without having to walk all the way to the shed or garage. Mailboxes are relatively inexpensive, and you can probably thrift a used one if you search hard enough.
Make yourself a gardening apron.
When you're spending hours on end out in the garden, it seems like there are never enough pockets or caddies for all of the tools and accessories you need. The answer here is a gardening pouch or apron.
Obviously any kind of sling or apron will work, but this hack utilizes old jeans - in this case, the backside with its big pockets - for use as an apron. The rugged denim should stand up to all kinds of abuse, too.
Get an autonomous mower on the cheap.
This one takes a lot of work and fine-tuning to set up, but might just be the perfect project for someone who loves to tinker - and hates pushing a lawnmower around.
In essence, this is all about tying your mower to a rope, tying the other end of the rope to a stake, and setting your mower to go in concentric circles. As the rope wraps around the stake, the circles will get smaller and the mower will cover more grass.
Birds hate this trick.
A garden isn't complete without a little bit of wildlife, which can include birds. Unfortunately, some birds can be persistent little pests, particularly when they pluck the berries and fruit you've worked so hard to grow.
If you're growing something red, like tomatoes or raspberries, try scattering some bright red ornaments throughout your garden. This will confuse the birds, and the more they peck away at a useless object, the more they'll be deterred from getting at the good stuff.
Get creative with cardboard.
If you have a bunch of old cardboard boxes piled up from the last time you moved, or maybe you just order a lot from Amazon, there's a great use for that excess cardboard in your garden.
After you've planted your garden, try putting down a layer of flat cardboard over the garden before you mulch. It's a quick and cost-effective way to stop weeds and grass sprouts from getting in the way - and the cardboard itself is biodegradable.
Fresh flowers, on demand.
Your refrigerator can help preserve food for longer. But when it comes to delicate things like flowers, there's no way to preserve them using a fridge, right? Wrong - at least in some cases.
If you have peonies, you can store the fresh-cut flowers in your fridge for up to a month. Take one of them out, freshen it up in some water, and it will revive itself and bloom for up to a week.
Get creative with seed starters.
Starting a garden generally involves making lots and lots of little cups, each with a little bit of soil and a little seedling within. The nice thing is that lots of things can be used for these seed starter cups.
Try using just about anything organic as a seed starter: eggshells, old fruit and veggie husks and rinds, bits of cardboard like egg cartons, and even ice cream cones all work really well in this role.
Spice up your garden with cinnamon.
This one might sound a little weird, but hear us out: cinnamon, that staple spice that everyone has in their cupboard, actually provides antifungal qualities and can be pretty useful for gardeners.
Just a sprinkle of cinnamon in any soil where you're planting stuff should help protect new seedlings as they take root, preventing rot and fungal diseases. As an added bonus, the spice in cinnamon should help keep destructive pests like mice and raccoons at bay.
