A to Z Guide For An
Environmentally Friendly Garden
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Index |
Environmentally Friendly Gardening |
Tips and Ideas |
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B |
Banana
Peel |
- Put banana peels in the bottom of the
hole dug out before planting
your tomato seedlings to give them the nutrient to grow
- Toss banana
peels on top
of your staghorns and elkhorns and watch them grow
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Beer,
leftover |
- Leftover
beer and soft drinks can kill weeds. Just empty over unwanted weeds.
- Pour it on unwanted jar lids
(eg, jam jar) and
place them near plants snails like to attack. Snails are attracted
to the beer and will slide into it.
- Tilt an unwanted jam jar into the ground and fill it with beer.
The snails will drink it and fall in.
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C |
Capsicum |
Do
not throw away that packet of grinded chillie you received with your take
away food. Use it to make
your own Pesticide.
- Combine
it with chopped onion, and garlic.
- Add water and
bring it to boil.
- Strain and let
it cool before adding washing up detergent and more water to make up 2 litres of
pesticide.
- Spray on plants.
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Coconut
Fibre Basket |
Always buy
your natural coconut fibre type basket a size larger as it shrink after
some time. Once it is too small for your plant, repot and use the
fibre in the coconut to line your pot bottoms or to plant your orchids.
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Coffee
Grind |
Snails
do not like sliding over gritty stuff. So, you can put either sand,
broken egg shells or coffee grinds around your plants to stop them from
getting to them.
Organic stuff are best as
they are biodegradable and good for your plants.
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Compost
Ingredients |
Check
Master
Composter website for their indexed list of ingredients you can add to
your compost pile.
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Dishwashing
Detergent |
- Finding
lots of ants in your pot plants generally indicates that the soil is very
dry and is repelling water. A overnight soak in the sink with a little dishwashing
detergent in the water will drive them away.
- You can also water plants
in your garden with soapy water to
get rid of ants or bugs.
- Combine
chillie with chopped onion, and garlic and boil them in
water. Strain and let it cool before adding washing up detergent and more water to make up 2 litres of
pesticide to spray on plants.
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E |
Egg
Shells |
Snails
do not like sliding over gritty stuff. So, you can put either sand,
broken egg shells or coffee grinds around your plants to stop them from
getting to them.
Organic stuff are best as
they are biodegradable and good for your plants.
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G |
Garlic |
Combine
chillie with chopped onion, and garlic and boil them in water.
Strain and let it cool before adding washing up detergent and more water to make up 2 litres of
pesticide to spray on plants.
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Greens Waste from market vendors |
- Try
getting your regular market vendors keep some of the damaged vegetable, beans or fruits they intend to discard for
you.
- For greens
you cannot replant, feed them to your pets such as rabbits, hamster or
tortoise.
- Or remove
any seeds and use them for making your compost.
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Greens Waste from your home and garden |
The
best way to reduce food and garden waste is to compost it. Compost
provide nutrients to your soil, which helps your plants grow.
- Almost
all kitchen waste except meat and fish can be composted.
- Garden
waste, you can use for your compost pile are tree pruning, sticks, twigs,
leaves, grass clippings and weeds.
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H |
Honey |
Do not throw away that leftover
packet of honey you get when you buy your waffles. Use it to make a
honey solution for nourishing your cuttings to promote quick root growth. Read this from
Care2.com.
- Combine 1/4
cup honey with 3/4 cup of boiled water.
- Let solution cool down
before soaking your cut ends for one to two
days before
planting
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N |
Newspaper,
soiled |
Newspaper used to
wrap vegetable, meat or fish can be used to make your compost.
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O |
Onion |
Instead of throwing
that unwanted part of the onion you have cut away, use it to make
pesticide.
- Rub a cut onion around the
outside of the toilet roll centres place it over your seedlings.
This
prevent snails from getting at your seedling to eat it up. The
cardboard will rot down adding nutrients to
your soil.
- Combine
chillie with chopped onion, and garlic and boil them in
water. Strain and let it cool before adding washing up detergent and more water to make up 2 litres of
pesticide to spray on plants.
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P |
Paint, leftover |
Make
locating your garden tools easy by painting
them in bright colours. If you do not misplace them, you
will not have to buy new ones.
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Plastic Bag |
If
you run out of space to grow your plants, make use of your old plastic
bags by punching some holes at its bottom and cutting 4 to 6 small squares
in the sides, above your expected soil level. Put in your soil and
seeds or seedling and hang them over your fence. Best
way to grow climbing plants or tomatoes as you can tie the plant to the
fence as it grows.
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Plants |
Get rid of bugs and algae using plants
- Plant
marigolds and basil around your tomato. plants and they will no longer be
damaged by bugs.
- Mint
in pond keeps algae in control.
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Plates, old, chipped or excess |
Place it at the bottom of your potted plant to collect
access water.
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Plastic Bottles and Containers |
- Cut the top
off your mineral water bottle and you can use the bottom to hold your
cuttings. Punch some holes at the bottom of the bottle and you
can plant your seedlings.
- Use vending
machine coffee cups as
"pot" to grow your seedlings by piercing three or four small holes at its base.
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To
prevent birds or animal from taking away your seeds, place a clear, upside
down, plastic
box (can use take away food container) over your
"pot". Snails cannot get at them when seeds start to
shoot. To have an idea how it should be done, see diagram at
Plant
Propagation.
- To save
water, use your 1 litre shampoo bottle to squirt water on your plants
in hanging pots. Great for watering out of reach potted plants.
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Plastic
Cover |
Keep
the plastic shower curtain you no longer need for your bathroom or that
plastic table cloth you no longer like.
- Instead of rushing out to take in your laundry when it is only drizzling,
use it to cover your clotheslines to keep your laundry dry.
- Place it over
black mould area to cover and keep area dry till the mould disappear
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Plastic
Flower Pots |
Keep
those plastic pots you get when you buy new plants. Use it to plant
seedlings or as containers for your gardening bits and pieces, such as,
broken bricks or charcoal for your orchids. Grow your favourite
plant in them. Place them on the ground and hide the fact that you
are using plastic pots by placing stones around it right up to the top of
the pot.
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Polly
Pipe or plumbing pipe |
To
get rid of snails, place leftover polly pipe or plumbing pipe around your
garden, in dark, shady, cool places. These will attract the snails
to live in them. You can tap the snails out during the day and get
rid of them.
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Pruning |
Most plants can be reproduced by cuttings.
Bring along a pair of clean garden scissors and a plastic bag during walks in
your neighbourhood. You never know what you can find discarded
outside their home or in
the neighbourhood garden. Bring along a small bottle of
water or a wet kitchen towel if you will be out for a while. Wet the
plastic bag before placing
cuttings in or wrap wet kitchen towel around the cut ends to prevent them from drying out.
There may also be some
interesting seeds to pick up along the way.
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S |
Salt |
- Salt
is a slow, but safe and cheap way for killing weeds
- If you can find the nest of the ants, sprinkle lots of salt
crystals and spray salt water on the ground along their trails to get rid
of them.
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Sand,
Sawdust |
Snails
do not like sliding over gritty stuff. So, you can put either sand,
broken egg shells or coffee grinds around your plants to stop them from
getting to them.
Be careful should
you consider using sawdust as it uses up the nitrogen from your soil as it
breaks down. Stop using it if
your plants start changing colour.
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Soft
Drinks, leftover |
Leftover
beer and soft drinks also kill weeds. Just empty over unwanted weeds.
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Styrofoam
boxes wholesales used for storing vegetable |
Use
them to store your gardening equipment or things you require for your
gardening project, such as, soil, compost or bits and pieces, such as,
broken bricks or charcoal for growing your orchids. Or use it to
collect rain water for watering you plants. Place a netting over top
to prevent mosquito from breeding in the pool of water.
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T |
Toilet
Roll Centres
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To
prevent snails from eating up your seedlings, place a used toilet roll centres over it. It helps to rub a cut onion around the
outside as well. The
cardboard will rot down in time adding nutrients to
your soil.
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U |
Used
Tools |
Older tools are usually higher quality than newer ones. That goes for
garden tools, too. Garage sales, flea markets, auctions and estate sales
can yield great deals.
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Here are some tricks to spotting good used tools: |
- Look for solid construction on welded points
- Pay attention to where the metal attaches to the handle
- If parts are supposed to move, make sure they do!
- Heavy pitting and flaking on the metal is a sign of weakness
- Look for wooden handles made from straight-grained hickory or ash
- Inspect for cracks, past repairs and rotting
- Painted areas might be hiding flaws or damage
SOURCE: The Mother Earth News
http://www.motherearthnews.com
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V |
Velcro |
Use velcro for tying
seedlings and older plants, especially tomatoes. It is
reusable and does not damage the plants. Use narrow velcro on smaller plants
and wide velcro on shrubs and small trees.
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Vinegar |
Use
vinegar to get rid of black mould on your pavement.
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W |
Water |
- Water from
washing your rice grains and vegetables
can be used to water
your plants
- The bloody
water from washing your meat or fish can also be used for watering
your plants. Make sure that you do not include any bits and
pieces of meat.
- The next time
you want to get rid of weeds in your garden bed, or a rock wall or any type of edging,
use the boiling hot water you have from cooking your food like vegetables
or spaghettis.
Just pour the hot water over area.
- Save water
by hanging at least two baskets of plants under each other. Always
hang the smaller basket at
the top. When watering the plants, the lower basket catches any water not soaked up by the top
basket. Save more water by placing a potted plant on the ground under these baskets, and the
plant will be
watered by the excess water from watering the plants in the baskets
- To save
water, use your 1 litre shampoo bottle to squirt water on your plants
in hanging pots. Great for watering out of reach potted plants.
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Weeds |
Make
fertilizer out of weeds you have cut from your garden:
- Put
all your weeds into a fairly large container with a lid.
- Cover them
completely with
water and leave for 3-4 weeks
- Check occasionally to ensure that
the water has not evaporated and the weeds
are still under water.
- Use the liquid
from this container on the garden as fertilizer
- Submerge the weeds in water again for another 3-4 weeks.
- After the second
usage, pour the sludge on the garden and start all over again.
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Worn
Out Material |
Do
not discard your worn out
material, such as, face towels, dish clothes or old household sponges.
Wash and use them as lining
for the bottom of your pot before you add
soil. This will prevent fine soil slipping through the holes at the bottom of
the pot and also retain moisture.
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