One Good Thing by Jillee

Home Hacks, Cleaning Tips, & DIY

Header Right

  • Homekeeping
    • All Homekeeping
    • Cleaning
    • Laundry
    • Crafts & DIY Projects
    • Gardening & Outdoors
    • Organization
  • Natural Remedies
    • Essential Oils
  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Main Dishes
    • Gluten-Free
    • Breakfast
    • Baking
    • Appetizers
    • Desserts
    • Snacks
    • Side Dishes
    • Instant Pot
  • Bright Ideas
    • All Bright Ideas
    • Advice
    • Saving Money
    • Green Living
  • Beauty
    • Hair & Makeup
    • Skincare
  • Shop
  • Get OGT Plus
  • Log in

sticky-header-right

Home · Homekeeping · Gardening & Outdoors · 11 Clever Hacks That Every Gardener Will Want To Know

24

11 Clever Hacks That Every Gardener Will Want To Know

I can never resist a good hack, especially when it comes to one of my favorite hobbies: gardening! Get 11 genius-level gardening hacks here.

Jill Nystul  ·  July 27, 2019
4.8 stars · 5 votes

Gardening Hacks

As an avid gardener for many years, I’ll be the first to admit that gardening can often be dirty, time-consuming, and just plain hard work! (Although the fruits of my labors are so gratifying!)  In my experience, there are two things you can do to make the work of gardening more enjoyable.

More Ideas You'll Love
Perennials

Why I Love Perennials and How to Grow Them

Perennials are the gift that keeps on giving! Continue Reading

The first thing you can do is adjust your perspective and learn to love those “less glamorous” parts of gardening. The older I get, the more I find the work of gardening to be very therapeutic. Getting dirty and sweaty are part of the process, and besides, it’s good for you too!

And the second thing you can do to make gardening more enjoyable is to learn a few tricks that can make things easier. And you’re in luck, because that’s exactly what I’ll be sharing with you in today’s post! :-) Here are 11 clever hacks you can put to good use in your own garden!

MY LATEST VIDEOS

Related: This Is The Best Thing You Can Start Doing For Your Garden

11 Clever & Useful Gardening Hacks

Gardening Hacks

1. Make Your Own Seed Tape

Planting seeds can be hard work, but you can make it easier by making your own seed tape beforehand! It’s an easy project and it’s pretty fun too!

To make seed tape, you space out the seeds along a roll according to the planting directions and “glue” them down. Then when it’s time to plant, all you have to do is unroll your seed tape and bury it at the proper depth!

Related: 6 Important Things You Need To Do In Your Garden Before Winter

Gardening Hacks

2. Save Space With Container Gardening

You don’t have to have a lot of extra space to be able to grow things at home. You can grow all sorts of things in space-saving containers wherever you have a few extra feet of room outside!

You can even grow potatoes in containers, and it’s surprisingly easy!

Gardening Hacks

3. Milk Jug Watering Can

No watering can? No problem! You can fashion one out of an empty milk jug in about 30 seconds.

More Ideas You'll Love
How To Block Those Bright LEDs

How To Block Those Bright LEDs So You Can Actually Sleep

Those annoyingly bright lights on your TV, alarm clock, or other gadgets in your bedroom can make it hard to fall asleep. But these genius tips will solve the problem fast! Continue Reading

Just wash out the milk jug, then use a craft knife to poke several small holes in the cap. Fill the clean jug with water, screw on the cap, and you’re ready to water your plants!

Gardening Hacks

4. Save Your Eggshells

Instead of tossing out empty eggshells, save them to use in your garden! Eggshells make a great fertilizer because they are rich in calcium and other minerals that your garden needs.

Sprinkle crushed eggshells into the holes before planting, or sprinkle them around the base of established plants every few weeks. You can also scatter crushed eggshells around your vegetables and flowers to deter common garden pests like slugs, snails, and even stray cats!

Related: 8 Smart Reasons You Should Be Saving Your Eggshells

Gardening Hacks

5. Multi-Purpose Tool Holder

It’s important to keep your garden tools clean and sharp, but why do the hard work yourself when you can make something that will do it for you? ;-)

Making a self-cleaning, self-sharpening garden tool holder is as easy as filling a spare garden pot with oil and sand. Get the full instructions in the linked post!

Gardening Hacks

6. Use Water Twice

No matter what kind of plants you grow, they all need water! And they’re not picky about where that water comes from.

Save the water you use when you boil or steam veggies, pasta, eggs, etc. and use it to water your plants! (Just make sure to let the water cool to room temperature before using it—you don’t want to scald your plants!)

Related: “Why Didn’t I Think Of That?” – Part Eleven

More Ideas You'll Love

Kicking The Paper Towel Habit!

Awhile back I wrote about how it was one of my goals to do away with paper towel waste in my home. I decided to replace our paper towel holder (that ... Continue Reading

Gardening Hacks

7. Pamper Your Hands

There’s something undeniably satisfying about working in the dirt with your hands, but cleaning up the aftermath? Not so much.

Unless you’ve mixed up a jar of my Gardener’s Hand Scrub, that is! This stuff is a must-have for anyone who gardens, because it gets your hands nice and clean and leaves them soft and moisturized too.

Gardening Hacks

8. Recycled Seed Starters

We could all stand to do a little more reducing, reusing, and recycling, and gardening offers a lot of opportunities to do reuse household items! One option is to start your seeds in empty toilet paper tubes.

Once your starts are ready to transplant to the garden, just saturate the cardboard with plenty of water to help it break down in the ground.

Related: 12 Surprisingly Practical Things You Can Do With Cardboard Tubes

Gardening Hacks

9. Milk Jug Mini Greenhouse

Cut the bottom off an empty milk jug and use it as a mini greenhouse of sorts! Put it over small, tender plants to protect them from frost when it’s still early in the season.

You can also use your milk jug to keep bugs and pests away from those temptingly tender leaves of your young plants.

Related: 5 Things That Smart Gardeners Plant In The Fall

Gardening Hacks

10. Keep Your Seeds Organized

Having a hard time keeping your collection of seed packets organized? Try storing them in the sleeves of a photo album instead!

Not only does the album make it easy to keep track of your packets, but the photo sleeves will also keep their contents from spilling all over the place.

Gardening Hacks

11. Properly Hydrated Pots

Adding sponges to the bottom of a potted plant can help address some of the most common water-related issues that affect plants: over- and under-watering.

Just cut up a few old sponges and place them in the bottom of the pot before planting. The sponges will absorb excess moisture and create additional airspace to help prevent root rot, and they’ll act as a water reserve to help keep the soil from drying out too.

Do you have any clever hacks that you use in your own garden?

Read This Next
  • 9 Ways To Use Floss When You’re In A Pickle
  • 19 Best Ways To Reuse A Plastic Bottle
  • Benefits of Joining a CSA Farm Share

Hi, I’m Jillee!

I believe we should all love the place we call home and the life we live there. Since 2011, I've been dedicated to making One Good Thing by Jillee a reliable and trustworthy resource for modern homemakers navigating the everyday challenges of running a household. Join me as I share homemaking and lifestyle solutions that make life easier so you can enjoy it more!

Every day I share creative homemaking and lifestyle solutions that make your life easier and more enjoyable!

Read More
Categories
Gardening & Outdoors

More Ideas From Homekeeping

Insect-Proof Your Summer

10 Ways To Bug-Proof Your Summer

mason jar luminary

Blue Mason Jar Luminary – No DIY Required!

homemade flypaper

Get Rid Of Flies Naturally With Homemade Flypaper

Make Your Own Citronella Candles For Backyard Bugs!

window sill herb garden

DIY Mason Jar Herb Garden

Warming Salve For Pets + 20 Other Natural Pet Remedies

Homemade Sunscreen

Simplifying Sunscreen – What To Avoid, And How To Make Your Own

Turn Your Old Charcoal Grill Into A Cooler

Turn Your Old Charcoal Grill Into A Cooler

Garden Markers

Beautifully Simple Garden Markers You Can Make In 15 Minutes!

Uses for Garden Hoses

10 Brilliant Ways To Repurpose Your Old Garden Hose

rust

6 Unexpected Ways To Remove Rust With Things You Have At Home

DIY Topsy Turvy Tomato® Planter

Late Summer Gardening

5 Things To Do Late In The Summer For A Beautiful And Healthy Garden

Earth Day

14 Ways To Celebrate Earth Day . . . Every Day!

Wasps

These Are The 7 Tips You Need If You Hate Wasps

Garage Door Makeover

A Beautiful and Surprisingly Affordable Garage Door Makeover

Outdoor Living Room

How To Create The Outdoor “Living Room” Of Your Dreams

Do’s and Don’ts To Keep Your Home Safe While On Vacation!

newest oldest most voted
Bry Jaimea
Bry Jaimea
Love this post? Rate it: :
     

I love ALL of these ideas! Absolutely brilliant! Thanks for sharing them with us xx

Vote Up0Vote Down 
4 months ago
Dinu.
Dinu.
Love this post? Rate it: :
     

Hi .iam dinu from India..
U r doing great job .mam.great u r..I love ur working method.keepit up

Vote Up-1Vote Down 
4 months ago
Amy Allen
Amy Allen

I capture all the runoff water from my air conditioner. It gives me several gallons a day and the plants seem to love it

Vote Up5Vote Down 
4 months ago
Marlene
Marlene

The soft containers are awesome. I bought some three years ago and love them. I had been looking for pots that were wide but not deep. Most herbs and flowers only need 4 – 5 inches of soil. The pots I was finding got taller as they got wider. And more expensive. I didn’t and couldn’t afford both pots and soil to fill them. I found these pots and for $15 had what I wanted. They come in packs of ten and I bought 2 sizes. I did fold down the tops and put them at different heights next to… Read more »

Vote Up2Vote Down 
4 months ago
Kathy
Kathy

I use rice water on my plants short grain or long grain save the water and pour

Vote Up2Vote Down 
4 months ago
Lynn
Lynn
Love this post? Rate it: :
     

Placing sponges (or pieces of) at the bottom of the pot to absorb excess water and/or provide moisture for a plant is a clever idea indeed. Who’d have thought. Thanks.

Vote Up3Vote Down 
4 months ago
Annie Walther
Annie Walther

I have very large pots for my herbs and Rhubarb. Instead of sponges I use the bad styrofoam popcorn. I fill it 1/3 up. They don’t degrade over time . I cover with coffee filters then soil. I do this for flower pots as well. This allows me to move the pots even with my bad back, gives drainage, and lasts for 10 years so far. The sponges are great for smaller pots. I really like your site.

Vote Up3Vote Down 
4 months ago
F.S.
F.S.

The cardboard tubes don’t work as seed starters. As soon as water hits the cardboard it gets soft and unravels.

Vote Up1Vote Down 
4 months ago
Annie Walther
Annie Walther

Why not use the egg cartons?

Vote Up0Vote Down 
4 months ago
F.S.
F.S.

Egg cartons are a bit tougher than cardboard tubes, but they’re also very small. As long as the germinated seed is transplanted before it grows too fast, an egg carton should work just fine.

Vote Up1Vote Down 
4 months ago
Susan L Gould
Susan L Gould
Love this post? Rate it: :
     

You can also use inexpensive pool noodles in the bottom of larger pots, just cut them to the size you need

Vote Up0Vote Down 
4 months ago
Cheryl
Cheryl

I re-use my K-Cups by using them as seed starters. Remove the old contents, put in potting soil and seeds, then punch a few extra holes in the bottom. When sprouted to the right size, replant.

Vote Up1Vote Down 
4 months ago
Barb
Barb

On your first hack you talk about “gluing” the seeds to the tape. I’m assuming the tape is a roll of crepe paper, but what did you use for the “glue”?

Vote Up0Vote Down 
4 months ago
Karen
Karen

she has a link to the process, but i believe it is corn starch and water

Vote Up1Vote Down 
4 months ago
by Jillee
by Jillee

Just click on the underlined words “making your own seed tape” for the full instructions :-)

Vote Up1Vote Down 
4 months ago

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I’m Jillee!

Every day I share creative homemaking and lifestyle solutions that make your life easier and more enjoyable!

Read More
  • Contact
  • About
  • Work With Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy

copyright © 2019 One Good Thing by Jillee · All rights reserved