General Gardening Tips

• If you are wondering why your plants are not thriving, take a soil sample to your extension office to determine your soil’s pH. Most plants grow best between a pH of 6 and 7.5.
• Use ground cinnamon in place of rooting hormone, it also kills fungus and bacteria.
• Attempting to grow grass under a tree is nearly impossible. The shade from the tree will block the sun, while the tree roots can suck up to 500 gallons of water a day leaving planting grass a futile effort. The answer: Plant native ground cover.
• Coffee or tea grounds: spread around plants, amends the soil, and tomatoes especially love this: pure tannin acid.
• Place used dryer sheets in bottom of pots – keeps soil in and bugs out.
• Plant chives among roses to prevent black spot, drive away Japanese beetles, and provide aphids a more tempting source of food. 
• After digging your hole for planting, drop in an egg then your plant. The egg will eventually break down and nourish your new plant.
• Pickle juice or vinegar, pour around drip line of acid loving plants, examples: azaleas, gardenias, etc.
• After steaming or boiling vegetables, save water to water plants with. This water contains lots of vitamins for the plants instead of dumping it down the drain.