Clever gardening tips for the summer! Do you want to have a thriving garden growing this summer? If you want to make sure your garden is in excellent condition, check out these 15 clever gardening tips you can use this summer (or anytime).
1. Use Your Phone to Remind You When to Water Your Plants
During the summer months, it’s common for gardeners to overwater their plants. You might feel like your plants need more water than they do because it’s so hot and humid. Instead of giving them too much water, keep track of how much you’re giving them, and use your phone to remind you. If you have a timer that goes off at the same time each day or each week, you’ll keep your plants healthy without soaking them, depending on your watering schedule.
WaterMe – Gardening Reminders on the App Store
Waterbot: Plants watering + Gardening – Apps on Google Play
9 Ways to Conserve Water in Your Vegetable Garden
2. Add Epsom Salt to Your Garden
Add Epsom salt to some of the plants in your garden. It’s known to benefit specific plants, such as tomatoes and peppers. If you’re growing tomatoes and peppers in the garden, sprinkle a bit of the Epsom salt in the soil surrounding these plants. It contains magnesium that is naturally good for these plants. Before you start spreading it everywhere, make sure you’re aware of any plants that should not have the Epsom salt added to their soil.
3. Reuse Coffee Grounds to Get Your Plants to Thrive
You can reuse coffee grounds as a soil amendment to improve the quality of the soil for different plants. It’s the perfect amendment to use when you’re growing blueberries and camellias. It’s good to use in the soil when growing many other fruits and flowers. If you want to put those coffee grounds to good use instead of throwing them out, this is the perfect chance to use them again!
Recycle Coffee Ground in the Garden
4. Work on Getting Rid of Pests Naturally
Focus on naturally eliminating pests from your garden by using essential oils like peppermint oil. Most pests can’t stand the scent of peppermint oil, so it keeps them away. It’s also better for you and your plants compared to harmful, toxic insecticides that could potentially damage your plants.
Best Essential Oils You Didn’t Know You Needed
5. Start a Compost Bin
It’s the perfect time to start a compost bin. You’ll use the compost to improve the soil’s quality when it needs it the most. If you want to create a compost bin, you’ll need to buy a large container and add small holes to it for drainage.
You can add food scraps to the bin, along with dirt, twigs, and other debris. Make sure to keep these items wet by adding water to your bin every few days. The compost will come in handy when you’re trying to get your plants to grow.
If you have limited space consider a Worm Composting Bin.
How to Compost
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Kitchen Composting Tips
6. Grow the Perfect Summer Plants
Start working on growing your summer plants at the start of the season. Tomatoes, peppers, and squash are just three of the many plants that do best during those hot and humid summer months.
Not sure what to plant? Check out my Month to Month Planting Guide!
Backyard Kitchen Gardens What to Plant
7. Repurpose Cardboard Toilet Paper Rolls
If you’re planning on planting any new crops, repurpose cardboard toilet paper rolls by adding soil and seedlings to them. It’s a simple yet effective way to get your seedlings to turn into plants that will continue growing.
Frugal DIY Seed Starter Pots Free and Cheap
8. Add Fertilizer to Some Plants
When your plants are growing and starting to bloom, it helps to use fertilizer. You can add it to the soil to encourage the healthy growth of different crops. Fertilizing your garden is one of several effective ways to get your plants to grow a bit faster. If you feel like they’re taking too long to grow, you likely need some fertilizer.
How to Use Rabbit Poop Fertilizer for a Better Garden
9. Handle Unwanted Weeds Like a Pro
Take care of those unwanted weeds in your garden like a pro. You don’t need expensive weed-killing products to make it work. You can use a combination of hot water, dish soap, and vinegar to kill the weeds. Prepare the solution, pour it into a spray bottle, and then spray a generous amount over the weeds. They’ll start wilting and dying out in no time.
10. Start a Small Greenhouse
Create a mini-greenhouse using a shelving unit and potted plants. If you have extra time this summer, it’s the perfect time to begin growing different fruits, veggies, and flowers in containers. Now, this is one of the most clever gardening tips out there.
11. Test the Soil and Use an Amendment
Check your soil every so often. If the pH level isn’t where it needs to be, and you feel the soil is too acidic or not acidic enough, you’ll need to add an amendment to it. The type of amendment used will depend on your end goal. However, you’ll have plenty of options to choose from when the time comes.
Using Biochar as a Soil Amendment
Wood Ash as a Good Soil Amendment
Awesome Soil Amendments for Your Organic Vegetable Garden
12. Use Mulch
Don’t underestimate the power of mulch in the garden. It’s an excellent time to add mulch to your garden in the summer to improve the quality of the soil. Besides helping with the soil, mulch can keep the soil moist and protect plants against extreme temperatures in the summer.
Square Foot Gardening Mistakes
Back to Eden Gardening
13. Get Rid of Any Damaged Plants
If you have any damaged plants in your garden that are past the point of saving, it’s the perfect time to remove them. The damaged plants are an eyesore that can cause other plants to wilt and eventually die. You don’t want that to happen!
14. Use Companion Plants
Make sure you’re using companion plants next to different crops. You’ll need to research some of the best companion plants to use, but you’ll notice the difference it makes when you have them added to your garden. These plants can help protect your crops and improve the quality of the space they’re growing in.
Flowers to Plant in Vegetable Gardens
Companion Planting Top 10 Plants
Naturally Controlling Aphids
15. Keep the Pets Out of the Garden
You love your pets, but you don’t need them in the garden. If your pets are known to cause damage to plants, keep them out. Instead of allowing the pets to hang out in the backyard, you can take them out for a walk to keep your flowers and crops in the best condition possible.
What are Your Favorite Gardening Tips?
Follow these 15 clever gardening tips this summer when trying to keep your garden in excellent condition. You’ll have no problem getting rid of weeds, getting plants to grow, and keeping your plants healthy throughout the season.
What clever gardening tips would you add to this list? Tell me in the comments below!
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