This gardening guru has a few tips to offer

ruby orimba

February 18, 2017 9:12 AM

You don't have to throw out your coffee anymore.

When it comes to gardening, you are limited by nothing but your imagination.

Staring your own garden is an exciting project. You’re limited by nothing but your imagination. From a bed of deep red roses to a field of white daisies, your garden can be your little paradise.

This is why we grazed the Internet for this amazing tips from Paul James the host of Gardening by the Yard.

1. The next time you boil or steam vegetables, don't pour the water down the drain, use it to water potted patio plants, and you'll be amazed at how the plants respond to the "vegetable soup."

2. The quickest way in the world to dry herbs: just lay a sheet of newspaper on the seat of your car, arrange the herbs in a single layer, then roll up the windows and close the doors. Your herbs will be quickly dried to perfection. What's more, your car will smell great.

3. Got aphids? You can control them with a strong blast of water from the hose or with insecticidal soap. But here's another suggestion, one that's a lot more fun; get some tape! Wrap a wide strip of tape around your hand, sticky side out, and pat the leaves of plants infested with aphids. Concentrate on the undersides of leaves, because that's where the little buggers like to hide.

4. To prevent accumulating dirt under your fingernails while you work in the garden, draw your fingernails across a bar of soap and you'll effectively seal the undersides of your nails so dirt can't collect beneath them. Then, after you've finished in the garden, use a nailbrush to remove the soap and your nails will be sparkling clean.

5. To remove the salt deposits that form on clay pots, combine equal parts white vinegar, rubbing alcohol and water in a spray bottle. Apply the mixture to the pot and scrub with a plastic brush. Let the pot dry before you plant anything in it.

6. Use chamomile tea to control damping-off fungus, which often attacks young seedlings quite suddenly. Just add a spot of tea to the soil around the base of seedlings once a week or use it as a foliar spray.

7. Use leftover tea and coffee grounds to acidify the soil of acid-loving plants. A light sprinkling of about one-quarter of an inch applied once a month will keep the pH of the soil on the acidic side.