I am committed to organic gardening. My vegetable garden is treated for insects with home made remedies and I control weeds by pulling and with vinegar. I do not use chemical fertilizers, but instead add organic matter formed through composting. I don’t use a compost bin, but instead use a rolling compost pile. Rolling compost…
All gardeners know the task of keeping tall flower stalks from flopping over. There are lots of retail supports that you can purchase, but they can be pricey and also sometimes are not the right lengths. A great creative gardening hack is to use expandable curtain rods as plant supports. It’s Curtain Time for your…
When it comes to creative planters, the sky seems to be the limit. Almost anything with an opening can become a garden planter. I recently asked The Gardening Cook Facebook fans to submit their favorite planters Do you have favorite planters that you want to share? My Facebook page fans did. Here are some of…
Anyone who has grown cucumbers knows that they take up a LOT of room in the vegetable garden. One way to overcome this space problem is to use trellises or other climbing structures to give your cucumber supports to grow on instead of letting them crawl along on the ground and using up precious garden space. Give…
There is nothing like a creative and funny garden sign to add a touch of whimsy to your garden. They invite guests to explore your garden space in a friendly and, often comical, way. I thought it would be fun to put together a collection of creative garden signs to give you some inspiration. Do…
Indoor plants need nourishment, particularly in the dead of winter when sunlight is lower than other times of the year. Plants love starch and potato starch is a good way to give it to them. To add starch in a “green way”, save the water you boil your potatoes in. Starchy water will spur the…
My husband loves the car show Pimp my Ride. He gets a kick out of how people dress up their cars in neat an innovative ways. But the show has never yet shown how people use their cars as car planters! Transportation Meets Gardening in these Car Planters These unused vehicles have been turned into…
I speak to people all the time who admire my large yard and gardens but say “I don’t have the room to do this.” While a large yard gives you lots of space to garden, those with small yards can still grow both flowers and vegetables by using Vertical gardens. Growing up instead of out…
There are lots of ideas for how to brighten up your patio space for night time entertaining. Tiki torch Planters add a nice bit of ambiance to your parties and have a more natural look than normal lighting does. Tiki Torch Planters give a great light to your patio. We purchased a set of tiki torches last…
There are a lot of planters for sale at garden centers, but you could break the bank buying many of them. Why not see what you have handy that would make great planters? Old wheelbarrows and wagons fit that bill perfectly. Wheelbarrow planters are one things on my bucket list of must do gardening ideas. …
I have long dreamed of having a test garden. I’ve loved to garden ever since I was a young girl. My first apartment was just full of house plants, and when I moved to Australia with my husband in the 1970s, I had a business devoted to the sale of indoor plants. Welcome to my…
I am always on the look out for new and interesting ideas for planters. Nurseries and Plant shops have lots of them, of course, but it is also great to see re-purposed items used as planters. These lovely Bird Cage Planters fit that bill just beautifully. Bird Cage Planters Turn Trash into Treasure. Whether you…
These Burlap Flowers are just the thing to add an interesting touch to your decorating theme. The hand made design is an easy project and their bending and shaping ability makes them look very natural. Burlap Flowers – Interesting Tutorial I can see them being used in a centerpiece or even to decorate a door…
This Bird’s Nest Centerpiece re-purposes field-guide bird images and natural objects found outside into a unique floral piece that beckons you take time with your brunch with a friend. The creator of the project Diane Flowers (how appropriate is her last name?) has used coneflowers in this project but you could use whatever you have…
I am always on the lookout for new and interesting DIY garden accent pieces. These beaded Frost luminaries are so subtle and just lovely to look at. The subtle colors add a touch of the romantic, especially if used near a herb or leafy garden without much color. Imagine these Beaded Frost Luminaries glowing on…
It seems that I am on a growing from scratch kick today. This time it is a short tutorial on growing ginger. If you’re looking for an easy plant to grow indoors Ginger is the one for you. Growing Ginger is a fun DIY gardening project for the kids. Directions: Soak the Ginger root overnight in…
Readers of my blog know that I love to talk about the creative uses of jewelry in other than normal use and wear. Zoey’s blog about tablescapes (which was recently named as blog of note on Google) sometimes features table settings where she uses jewelry in inventive ways. This jewelry tablescape is a creative use…
Seed Tape is easy to make with common toilet paper. Why waste money on store bought seed takes when you can make your own with this commonly found item? Seed tape makes it easy to get tiny seeds planted in a vegetable garden. Often these are so small that you end up wasting them by having…
Words and Numbers can do so many things. They can set a mood, or showcase a location. They can tell a time or label something so it is noted. Words and numbers can also dress up your home and garden in many ways as garden decorations. Garden Decorations – DIY Garden Words and Numbers These…
I’ve been trying to get my husband to build me a greenhouse in our back yard for years, but it seems that this is one project that just gets put on the back burner indefinitely. I went searching on Google to see what I could find for DIY greenhouses which make use of recycled materials. …
These DIY hose guides are made out of short pieces of rebar with small Dollar Store balls painted in a bright orange color. They keep my hose out of the nearby vegetable garden and act as a decorative look to the garden as well. Do you have something special that you use for hose guides? …
