EGGSHELLS: Simple gardening tricks

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EGGSHELLS: Ideal for seedlings. Photo credit Shutterstock

THERE are hundreds of minor tweaks and techniques you can make to improve your garden and gardening skills.

Here are a few: collect eggshells and use the halves to pack with soil and grow seedlings, you can use the egg packet to hold them and keep your six seedling plots inside using minimum space.

Plastic forks stuck in the soil will help prevent pesky animals from ruining your budding garden. You can also protect vulnerable seedlings by making a mini-greenhouse from half a plastic milk carton.

The same works with cut-up water bottles, allowing you to give each seedling its very own protective environment.

Newspapers wrapped up carefully can make excellent pots all by themselves, while if you’re completely out of papers and pots then a crate filled with straw and soil will do just the trick.

Rice water should be saved as it works as a fantastic fertiliser, and the same applies to coffee grounds, both of which many people simply throw out regardless of their benefits.

Milk is also an under-appreciated anti-fungal resource which is chock full of plant-friendly nutrients.

And don’t forget citrus peels which are an abundant source of nitrogen, sulphur, magnesium and calcium. They can also fight aphids, repel mosquitoes and attract butterflies.