Happy Garden - March 12, 2009

We have quite a few gardening requests this week. Please look them over to see if you have any advice to offer. If you have a gardening question for the ThriftyFun community feel free to submit it here:

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Thanks for reading,

The ThriftyFun Team

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Photos:

• Gardening: Butterfly Garden Art
• Gardening: Wintering Plants
• Scenery: Snow Scene
• Gardening: Morning Glory Cuttings

Tips and Articles:

• Gardening On a Dime
• Color Seeds With Flour for Planting
• Use Masking Tape to Make Seed Tapes
• Reuse Take Out Containers for Starting Seedlings
• Sprouting Vegetables in Water

New Requests:

• Homemade Dog Repellent
• Reviews of Spray-n-Grow Products
• Keeping Peacocks Out of the Garden
• Seedlings Keep Dying
• Keeping Dogs from Digging
• Pop Bottle Bird Feeder
• Can You Reuse Potting Soil?
• Getting Rid of Euonymus Fortunei
• What is Strip-Cropping?
• Bamboo Stalks Are Yellow
• Applying Castor Oil and Detergent to Lawn
• Growing Primroses in Indirect Light
• What is This Plant?

Crafting for Fun and Money!

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Gardening: Butterfly Garden Art

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Gardening: Wintering Plants

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Scenery: Snow Scene

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Gardening: Morning Glory Cuttings

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Gardening On a Dime
By Tawra Kellam

People are often surprised to find out that even though I'm a cookbook author I went to school for Horticulture. (I never wanted to be a writer. I wanted to own an herb farm.) Growing your own plants can not only save you lots of money on your grocery bill, but a nice landscape can improve the value of your home. If you're creative, you can have a great garden with very little cost. Here are some of my favorite tips to get you started:

Tools:

• Watch people who are moving. Ask if they are leaving their lawn equipment and if you can have it or buy it cheap.

• Use an old mailbox out in the garden to store your clippers, plastic bags and gloves. (This is my most used item in my garden!) It is especially wonderful because the kids and Hubby don't know where my tools are, so I don't have to worry about them borrowing the tools!

• Use wedding tulle found at fabric stores instead of shade cloth to shade plants from the sun or to keep the birds from eating your fruit. It's much cheaper. Better yet, ask a just married bride if you can have the tulle from her wedding.

Cheap Plants:

• If you see plants at a store that are in bad shape but not dead, talk to the manager. Ask him if he will give you a 'deal' if you take them off his hands. Most of the time they will because the plants look bad and they don't want to mess with them anymore.

• Last year I was able to purchase over 50 large 1/2 gallon-gallon sized perennials for $50. (over $600 retail) All but about 5 of them lived and I was able to take those back and get my money back. Most home improvement and discount stores have a guarantee that if your plant dies within one year, you can bring the dead plant and the receipt and they will give you your money back or give you a new plant.

• Buy seeds on sale at the end of the season. Put them in a brown paper bag in the refrigerator for better storage. Seeds usually last many years beyond the 'past due' date on the packet.

Mulch:

• Ask a tree trimming service to give you their wood chips for mulch if they are in the area.

• Some cities also have a free mulch program where the city tree trimmers dump all the wood chips. Call your local County Extension and find out if there is one in your area.

• If you just need a few bags, look for torn open bags at the home improvement store. Our local store has a pile where they dump all the torn open bags of mulch and rocks. They sell the bags for $1 each, saving you up to 75% off! Most just have a few chips missing.

• Use shredded paper or newspaper under mulch. This way you can use fewer wood chips.

• Keep a shower curtain or tarp in your car at all times. This way if you find a good deal on mulch or plants you can take advantage of the deal right away without messing up your car.

Containers:

• Use deli trays with lids to start seeds. They are mini greenhouses!

• Ask the cemetery if you can have the pots they throw away after Memorial Day. (You can dry the almost dead flowers for potpourri.) Look in dumpsters. Many garden centers at the discount stores throw away the dead plants, pots and all. Ask permission first.

• Use Styrofoam peanuts in the bottom of pots for drainage. You can also use small plastic six inch pots, soda cans or plastic bottles in the bottom of larger pots so you don't have to use so much soil and to make the pots lighter in weight.

Misc. Tips

• Use milk jugs as drip irrigation. Poke 2 or 3 small holes in the bottom of the jugs and place next to plants. Fill with water and they will slowly water you plants all day.

• Use Christmas lights around fences to add sparkle in the middle of summer. Hang them in trees or line paths with them for extra effect.

• Use vinegar in a spray bottle to kill weeds. ONLY spray the weed. It will kill any grass or plants you want to keep if you get it on them.

For Kids

Have kids water the plants after they swim in the kiddy pool. Have them take buckets of water from the pool and water the plants when the pool needs to be emptied.
• Buy or ask for sandbags after heavy rains. Use the sand for paths or for the kid's sandboxes. (Only use sand from clean floodwater situations.)

• Save scraps of soap when they get too small to bathe with and put them in an old nylon stocking. Knot and hang the nylon on an outdoor faucet.

Homemade Tough Hand Cleaner

• 1/4 Cup grated Fels Naphtha soap ends
• 2 Tbsp. mason's sand or pumice
• 1 Cup water

Tawra Kellam is the editor of http://www.LivingOnADime.com/. Tawra and her husband paid off $20,000 debt in 5 years on $22,000 a year income.

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Color Seeds With Flour for Planting

When you are about to sow your vegtable or flower seeds, you will find that he colour of the very small seeds, blend in with the colour of the earth. My tip is to mix the seeds with a little baking flour. You will then sow the seeds evenly in the dark soil. The result being even rows, and not over seeded.

By Dunno from Malvern, UK

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Use Masking Tape to Make Seed Tapes

I empty the packet of seed on a plate. I unroll masking tape in front of me. Sticky side up, I dampen my index finger. It helps, to pick up the seeds. I then place two seeds, down on the tape, then two more seeds down on the tape, six inches apart. Add two more seeds down until you run out of seeds. I roll up the tape on a Popsicle stick, or a stick from outside, or an ink pen. I don't use pencil because of the lead inside.

At planting time, I use a stick to help unwind. I plant 6 inches under, loose soil mixed with one part sand 3 parts potting soil. I plant straight, to the garden. I cover if before, last frost. There is no danger of root shock. My plants are always straight. They do well. I store my seeds in a dry plastic zip lock bag, with a paper towel to absorb any moisture. I store all my seeds this way.

Good luck.

By Ellen Lou from Tennessee

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Reuse Take Out Containers for Starting Seedlings

Anyone every wonder what to do with those hard plastic containers which hold a roasted chicken? I get salads with these hard plastic containers too. I just couldn't see throwing them away, so...
I was watching a gardening show and they were talking about those packs to start seeds for the garden. I plant a small garden, I just couldn't justify the expense. Then I began looking at a chicken container I'd just emptied and was going to toss. Hey here's the same thing only smaller!

Using these containers I can stagger my plantings and label each mini seed starters. I also am using egg cartons, cutting a dozen egg carton in half is just right and will sit on the raised part of the bottom. so if/when I over water, the pots don't sit in water. When planting, I just slit the carton and put it in, no transplant shock either. So now, my produce won't be ripening all at the same time and my growing season will be extended. I look forward to seeing these seeds grow.

And hey, if you have kids, let them do this and watch their interest in eating their produce. (smile)

Source: My own idea, unless you count inspiration.

By Dee from Salem, OR

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Sprouting Vegetables in Water

Question:

I was talking with a fellow shopper in the supermarket today and she mentioned something about sticking the end of a celery bunch in water to sprout it. This got me to thinking about my grandparent's kitchen, they had things sprouting all over the place. I was wondering which veggies you can do this with and how and when to plant them in soil.

Hardiness Zone: 6b

DeeDee from Springfield, MO

Answers:

Try It

This is a great question. Right now I am working on the celery one that was a post here at Thrifty Fun not long ago. (Editor's Note: Click the celery image to the right for more information.)

I know you can sprout avocado trees from their seed (I am doing that right now, too) but it seems to me that anything onions, garlic, leeks, radishes, etc could sprout roots if you placed the bottom side (where the roots originally were) down in water like you do avocados, with the top side being held up out of the water with toothpicks.

When you should plant them in the soil would depend on having a new healthy root system. Each time I purchase a different veggie I'll give it a try.

By Deeli

Lettuce

I tried romaine lettuce and it works. The only thing I discovered is that you can't totally rip out the center or it won't grow. I had two and one still had the center leaves and one didn't. So my new romaine is up about 2 inches.

By Alicehakes

Sweet Potatoes

I know you can grow sweet potatoes in a cup or dish by putting a little water in the cup and the vines will grow. You can cut off the vines and plant them in your garden in the spring time. They don't like cold weather. You can keep clipping the vines till you get all the sweet potatoes you want to grow. You can also clip off the ones you plant in garden after they start growing.

Let them grow until the first frost in the fall then dig them and store them in a dry place. I store mine in garage, covered with newspapers or plastic. I save the very small ones to plant the following year.

By K.W.

Garlic

I've sprouted lots of avocado seeds and they do grow plants, but don't expect fruit unless you live in the tropics, and even then, you're going to be waiting a long while.

Garlic grows well from the cloves if they're somewhat old, you can see the green sprout coming out the top). I'd start them in damp soil and not water though. I've been told that ginger grows well if you put the stem lengthwise in the ground or a pot, but I haven't tried it. That's not water, but I have put the end of ginger upright in water with toothpicks, but there wasn't a nodule out the side and I just got scummy water.

By Tennesue

Do you have any ideas to share? Feel free to post them below.

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Homemade Dog Repellent

I want to make a homemade, cheap dog repellent. Something I can put on outside plants to keep my dogs away. I need help fast!

Lee from Cape Cod, MA

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Reviews of Spray-n-Grow Products

Has anyone tried any of the Spray-N-Grow products?

Peg from Springboro, OH

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Keeping Peacocks Out of the Garden

How can I keep guineas and peacocks out of the flower beds and vegetable gardens? Without hurting the birds. Thanks.

Meanma from Derby, KS

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Seedlings Keep Dying

When I plant my seeds they grow thin and spindly to about an inch and a half then fall over and die. Any idea why?

Dave from UK

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Keeping Dogs from Digging

My dog Sammy likes digging holes in our backyard and he won't stop. We have about thirty holes in our backyard now. Any advice on how to get him to stop?

Priscilla from Seattle

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Pop Bottle Bird Feeder

How do you keep the bird seed from falling out of a pop bottle bird feeder?

Leona from KS

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Can You Reuse Potting Soil?

Do you have to use new potting soil every year when potting flowers? I usually do, but I didn't know if it was really necessary or not. Thanks!

Melissa from Charlotte, NC

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Getting Rid of Euonymus Fortunei

How can you kill euonymus fortunei?

Mary from Mitchell, IN

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What is Strip-Cropping?

What is strip cropping? Tytiana from East Orange, NJ

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Bamboo Stalks Are Yellow

I have a bamboo plant that is turning yellow and squishy. There are three stalks and only one is still green. I have tried everything, but it is still looking bad. Does anyone know what is happening and how to fix it? I have had it for three years and this is the only time I have had problems.

Sarah from Statesville, NC

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Applying Castor Oil and Detergent to Lawn

I'm going to try using the Castor oil/detergent remedy to rid my lawn of moles. How do I go about applying it to a large lawn?

Maxine from Grandview, MI

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Growing Primroses in Indirect Light

Will primroses grow well in pots in indirect light? We live in Louisiana.

Hardiness Zone: 8a


Sandra from Alto, LA

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What is This Plant?

Does anyone recognize this "fruit"? I saw it at the local zoo but the only sign nearby claimed it was an American Pineapple. The tree looked like it was from the palm family. I am pretty good at identifying flora but this one has me stumped.

Irene from Naples, FL

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Crafting for Fun and Money!

If you are an avid crafter, capable writer and own a digital camera, you are eligible to participate. Submit your craft projects to ThriftyFun and we will pay $15 for any crafts that we publish.

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