Our Top 10 Favorite Gardening Tips
Inside: Know what you get when you combine 56 plus 30 years of gardening experience? Ann and Amy’s top 10 favorite gardening tips! Read on to find out our faves.
A Lifetime Digging in the Dirt
When you’ve been in the garden as long as we have, you learn a few things. My earliest memory of garden life goes back to around age four when Grandpa planted the acre below our house in tomatoes, melons, corn, cucumbers, and even peanuts. He lined us up in assembly-line fashion to help–my uncle Mark, brother Vince, and me–each with a job. We followed behind him, Grandpa making holes, Mark planting seeds, Vince covering up the seeds, and me stepping my two little feet on top to seal the deal.
Mom’s first appearance in the garden was around six when she helped her grandma pull onions and radishes out of the ground.
In both cases, gardening is in a our blood, and we’ve been at it for a while, that’s for sure. What follows here is a list of our top 10 favorite gardening tips, in no particular order.
Those Top 10 Favorite Gardening Tips
- Pinch off flowers when transplanting. So you bring home all those gorgeous plants that already have flowers and you can’t possibly imagine removing those early buds. But if you prune the top of your plant a few inches (Mom suggests taking the top third off, unless it’s really small) you will have a fuller, healthier plant with more flowers. The proof is in the pictures.
A pot full of profusion zinnias, thanks to early pruning. 
Zinnias I didn’t prune, looking a little Charlie Brown-ish. Both of these pots have profusion zinnias, one reddish orange, the other salmon colored, but the container with reddish orange flowers was pinched off, the pot of salmon colored wasn’t. . . If Mom had a dollar for every time she’s given this piece of advice, she’d probably, well, buy a whole lot more plants!
- Take cuttings and start new plants. If you follow tip number one, you will have a lot of cuttings. Mom takes hers and sticks them directly into soil. You can use rooting compound if you’d like, but usually I don’t. Below is a picture of coleus cuttings turned healthy plants. Begonias work great, too.
One of my favorite pots full of plants grown from coleus cuttings. - Keep a filled water can next to your container plants. If you’re like me, you tend to discover a particularly parched plant on your way to the car. No time to bring that hose around and do a decent watering job, but you can give a little drink to keep your plants happy until you get home later.
- Use purple cabbage as an ornamental. I love doing this! The cabbage has such lovely purple leaves and adds texture to your flower beds or containers
Purple cabbage–it’s not just for eating any more! - Keep planting into summer. Seems like once Mother’s Day is past, most wannabee gardeners decide they can no longer plant. Not true! Check out your frost date and do a little planting math to make sure you’ll get a crop or flowers. June and July are wonderful months for planting. And don’t forget those sales at your garden center!
- Create one area of beauty. This tip comes from advice Mom gave for saving money in the garden back when I interviewed her a couple of years ago. While I have a few different beds, I think this is perfect advice for those who lack the funds for an elaborate garden or don’t have a lot of spare time for taking care of a big set-up.
My favorite area of beauty–the Stump Garden. - Fill the bottom of your pots with natural material. I’m talking twigs, grass clippings, leaves, etc. Mom had so many helicopters (maple tree seeds) that she used those in a lot of her pots. You might be wondering, why bother? To save money on potting soil, for starters. Also those twigs and grass clippings and leaves are quite a bit lighter than pots filled totally with potting soil. Plus, depending on what you use, you’re more than likely adding a bit of natural fertilizer to the mix. Which leads me to the next favorite tip. . .
- Use natural fertilizers. Mom sprinkles her coffee grounds around her plants and chops up old bananas and peels, burying them a couple of inches into the ground around other plants.
Trench composting. Dig a hole and dump in your kitchen scraps. I make weed teas and collect my food scraps for compost. And, one of my favorite tricks is, after dumping out the compost bucket, running water into it and using that rinse water for plants that need a little boost. I accidentally stumbled upon this a couple of years ago when I absentmindedly rinsed the compost bucket and poured that water around my pepper plants–a habit I continued for several months. Toward the end of the season I was scratching my head as to why the peppers were doing so well when I remembered my compost bucket habit. By the way, you can also use water you’ve boiled vegetables in after it’s cooled.
- Upend pots to use as a pedestal to raise other containers higher. I’ve got a hodgepodge of various flowers and containers around my steps, and sometimes a plant gets lost in the jungle. I take a cheap terra cotta pot and turn it over to use as a pedestal to give height to a plant that would otherwise disappear among its neighbors. Mom taught me that one.
- Grouping pots together that have the same plants to create a larger, fuller display. I learned this tip from Mom when I was watering her plants while she was on vacation. At first glance it looked like she had a huge peace plant. Upon closer examination, I noticed she had positioned several smaller pots around a large one in the center, which created the appearance of one huge, lush plant. Beautiful!
So there you have it–Ann and Amy’s top 10 favorite gardening tips! Why not try one or more of these tips, and, while you’re at it, leave a comment and share with us your favorite tip. That way we can learn from each other.
The great thing about gardening is that there’s always room to grow.
Putting coleus pots together for one of our top 10 favorite gardening tips.
What’s your favorite gardening tip?
*This post contains affiliate links to some of my favorite things.
Resources and related posts:
Tips for the Lazy Gardener by Linda Tilgner
Compost 101 and Other Cheap Organic Fertilizers
Planting the Late Summer Garden
Unique Containers for Gardening
10 Quick Fixes for the Neglected Garden
Posts from a year ago:
Make Our Simple Spicy Pumpkin Seeds
Early Harvest, Seasonal Signs, and Other News Fresh From the Farm
Two years ago:
Slipping into Fall, Internet-less, and Other News Fresh From the Farm
When Seasons Linger
Inside: There are times when life slows down and seasons linger. . .
I’ll let you in on a secret. . . . I’m not busy.
It’s not that I chose this season of slow. In fact, I’ve spent a lot of time questioning it. Everyone around me is busy–busy working, traveling, writing, doing.
Not me.
Early summer was a flurry of activity getting ready for Mom’s birthday party and visiting with my brothers and their families from out of town, plus editing projects. But then I got a case of hives that caused my face to swell, and we went to the emergency room for a long night.
Since then everything has slowed down. The Fourth came and went with a showery day and a quiet barbecue for two. July actually didn’t fly by. It crawled, really.
August arrived, bringing my brother and his two girls back again for a short visit while he worked on Mom’s house. Then the three of them persuaded Mom to go back with them for ten days while I agreed to take care of the animals for her. So I started making plans, jotting down a list of what I wanted to accomplish in those ten days. I’d be super focused, tackling some long overdue projects, plus writing and yard work and decluttering. My plan was to stick close to the farm for the duration because of the animals, so it made sense to get things done around home.
But it didn’t happen. Instead, a sadness came over me that I couldn’t shake, and I had trouble focusing on anything. To make matters worse, Mom’s dog was upset, her owner missing. Three of the kittens had matted eyes and needed some TLC. I hated leaving them to walk the short path from her house back to mine, so I found myself lingering on her porch swing, holding little kitties, staring over the fields to the north, tears spilling out occasionally.
Hours I spent that way, looking over the bean field, watching the wind play over the leaves in waves as thoughts drifted through my mind. Somewhere in the course of these moments I’d swing back around to I need to get some things done.
There’s nothing that can’t wait, the Lord would answer.
My friend Joy in her book Living Free. . . Standing Tall talks about a similar time when she was between jobs: “To my amazement, I didn’t fall into the ditch of depression. I reveled in having hours to myself. What then seemed merely a time to rest and get organized turned out to be the beginning of my long, slow healing process. . . . My condo had a delightful sunroom with windows on three sides looking out onto beautiful, tall trees. This became my therapy room as I spent countless hours watching the pine needles grow.”
It had been a solitary time, those ten days. I talked to only two people–my sister-in-law briefly and Mike who I didn’t see much due to working longer hours that week. It was obvious to me those days were set apart just for me. This whole slow, lingering summer, in fact.
On that final day of taking care of the animals, I again found myself staring out over the land–my uncle’s bean field next to us, my cousin’s cornfield beyond that. Acres and acres of abundance as far as my eyes could see. I couldn’t help thinking of God’s goodness to generations of my family . . . to us.
And to me.
The flow of thoughts is like breathing to us thinkers. Why do I so often compare myself to doers? Being productive. . . Doing. . .
There will be plenty of time for that, the Lord assures me.
September has arrived. I’ll wait and see.
What has your summer been like? Tell us about it in the comments.
*This post may contain affiliate links.
Related posts and resources:
Living Free. . . Standing Tall: Learning to Trust the Invisible God by Joy Wooderson
Finding my Pace: Slowing Down to Enjoy Life
Posts from a year ago:
My Top Ten Must-do Fall Activities
From two years ago:
Make Some Summer Simmering Potpourri
Inside: The thermometer is showing no sign of budging, and the windows are closed up tight. A little fresh air would be nice, but we’ll have to make our own. Enter summer simmering potpourri.
We’re on day four of the heat wave, and the air conditioner is working overtime. Fans are stirring up a little breeze, but I’m missing my open windows. If I want fresh air, I’ll have to make it myself–in the form of summer simmering potpourri, that is.
If you are a regular on Pinterest, as I am, you find many good things under the sun. Last fall when I was interested in finding Christmas potpourri, I happened upon some recipes for a lighter scent perfect for summer. So I can’t take credit for this particular scented concoction, but as it is listed repeatedly on various websites, I don’t mind passing along this recipe.
Summer Simmering Potpourri
You will need:
- 1 fresh lemon, sliced
- 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
- 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 quart of water
Gather the ingredients together in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. You can also transfer the potpourri to a slow cooker and keep on warm or low, or simply make the potpourri in the slow cooker to begin with, though it will take longer for the scent to fill the room.
Check the water level every so often and add a little more to replace what has evaporated. Potpourri aficionados store the potpourri in the refrigerator when not in use, though I didn’t. I heated it up at least once per day, and it lasted for about four or five days before being spent.
You might have noticed the lack of cinnamon sticks in the photo. That’s because the basic recipe doesn’t call for them. But, honestly, the first three ingredients added to the water didn’t wow me. So, several hours later, I put in the cinnamon sticks that a couple of versions suggested. The lemon mixed with the vanilla, rosemary, and cinnamon soon filled my kitchen with a refreshing, sweet aroma.
Enjoy the light, lingering scent of summer simmering potpourri.
Have you ever tried simmering potpourri? Tell us about it in the comments.
Resources and related posts:
Neighborly Encouragement and the Power of Flowers
Posts from a year ago:
My Top Ten Must-do Fall Activities
From two years ago:
Totally Eclipsing, Ferry Rides, and Other News Fresh From the Farm
Sunflower Disposition, Peachy Harvest, and Other News Fresh From the Farm
Inside: In a sunflower frame of mind, this year’s peach harvest, and where frogs choose to live. Check out all the latest fresh from the farm.
*This post may contain affiliate links.
In a Sunflower Frame of Mind
Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while knows I love sunflowers. And, thankfully, for the past two years, we’ve been blessed to have our own field, courtesy of my brother Vince. But this year he wasn’t able to plant them, and going into the warm weather I wondered what would happen. Sure, I figured there might be some volunteers with all the fallen seed, but would they be as thickly planted and as large and vibrant yellow.
Well, I won’t say they’re quite as lovely, but they are still pretty. A few more weeds are in the mix but still a sight to behold, flowers heavy with seed, nodding toward the morning sun. At first they appear quite tall and yellow, reaching for cloud and sky. Then, as the weight of their seeds causes them to lean, they remind me of maids wearing bonnets, the now-brown petals like shocks of hair peeking out from underneath their hats. There is nothing quite like a field of sunflowers. A treat not only for birds, but also for this rural girl.
This Year’s Peach Harvest
Last year’s peaches were a disappointment. Our tree, fighting off a bout of leaf curl, was in healing mode. Consequently, the tree blossomed and peaches formed only to drop one by one before they got off to a start. Fruit trees, I have come to realize, will always prioritize the preservation of the tree itself over fruit production. In other words, they won’t take on more than they can handle. There’s a lesson to be learned here, I think, though it will have to wait for another day.
But I digress.
So early on in the spring, with no sign of leaf curl (thank you, last year’s drought) and plenty of baby peaches, I just assumed we’d go from “lack” straight to “abundance.”
Not so.
The crop this year suffered from bugs and worms. Some fruit still fell to the ground before maturing. And then, right as I was patiently waiting for the last three (and only) perfect, blemish-free peaches to ripen, some marauding coons beat me to two of them–the third out of their reach. I gave my one peach to Mike who needed some cheering up.
All in all, I cut off bad spots from enough peaches to get about a half gallon yield, which, when paired with some store-bought peaches, will end up as preserves.
So what is the moral of my story? Sometimes we aren’t ready to go from one extreme to another. This year I got “some fruit.” Maybe a bumper crop would have been more than I could have handled this year, given my time and energy reserves.
At any rate, I’m thankful for the fruit I did get.
And ever hopeful.
Where Frogs Choose to Live
If there has been an abundance of anything this year, it would be frogs. Not a plague, mind you, just more than usual. Mostly small ones, really, and I’m not complaining because even though it has been a flood year, the increase in mosquitoes I had anticipated ended up as food for my froggy friends living among my container flowers and garden beds. The little frog in the photo above surprised me when he peeked out through an egg carton I was using to grow seeds in. I had ripped off the top of the carton so the egg cup part could fit inside it. Ended up it was the perfect place for the frog to hang out during the heat of the day.
Another little guy was perched on top of one of my watering cans, and a bucket by the bottom of the steps that’s stayed full from rainwater is home to a pair of larger frogs with stripes on their backs and spots on their legs. They’ve kept the bugs away from around the steps and out of my house.
Think I’m becoming a fan!
Still a little summer left. How are you spending yours? Tell us about it in the comments.
Resources and related posts:
Possum in the Pawpaw Tree: A Seasonal Guide to Midwestern Gardening
My Yellow Horizon, Pickling, and Other News Fresh From the Farm
Flood Year Blues, Old-timers’ Almanac, and Other News Fresh From the Farm
Posts from a year ago:
Brighter Sides, New Leaves, and Other News Fresh From the Farm
From two years ago:
Open Windows, Food Shoot, and Other News Fresh From the Farm