Garden Tips? These are the craziest things I ever heard!

Gardening tips.  I'm sure most of you have gotten plenty and given plenty. I'm sure you'd agree that the most basic, fundamental tips in having a successful garden are plenty of sunshine, good soil, water, and fertilizing your plants on a regular basis. Using this strategy, the outcome should be ... if you plant seeds they will grow.

Seems simple enough. You carefully planted your seeds. With your nurturing, they became sturdy little seedlings.  And then ... bamm! Your precious little sprouts are deader than dead! You see, Nature doesn't always play fair. Unpredictable weather, damaging insects, and hungry wildlife will always be the uninvited guests that will come and wreak havoc on your garden party.

As I mentioned earlier, you more than likely have gotten your share of garden tips. Now, let me tell you about some of the crazy, weird tips I've come across. Whether they work or not, who knows? Any gardening tip is worth a try.

  Do you have acid loving plants like azaleas,        rhododendrons, and hydrangeas?

Soak some rusty nails in an old coffee can and occasionally water your plants with the water. Your plants will love it!

           Try gardening by moonlight. 

It's said that gardens grow faster and the plants are stronger. Try tilling the soil by moonlight since weeds need sunlight to germinate.

      Got old, well used sneakers you're                       ready to toss?

   Hide them in your gardens. They might keep          deer and other wildlife away.

              Do you grow peppers? 

  They love sulphur. Plant them with matches.

Got an aquarium?

When you clean the tank, save some of the water for your plants. It's a great fertilizer.

A few other weird tips...

If you have a deer problem, lightly sprinkle carpet deodorizer over the plants they like to snack on. Do this about every three weeks. The deer will leave your plants alone. As a bonus, the powder's strength is supposedly not weakened by rain.

If you've got stray cats that like to use your garden as a litterbox, stick some plastic forks (pointy side up)in your garden. The kitties should stay away.

Use dental floss to tie vines to a trellis? Why not? Dental floss is pretty strong. Got nothing to lose by trying it.

One last crazy tip ... To take rust off your garden tools, dampen some aluminum foil with water and rub the surface of your tools. The rust should come right off onto the foil.

If any of you have tried any of these tips, or will be trying them in the near future, let me know. I really need to keep the deer away!

Good Gardening