20 secret gardening tips and hacks for improving your garden
For those Greenfingers among us, we love spending time in the garden! Whether it’s planting flowers or feeding the soil, there’s plenty you can do to improve your garden. We’ve picked 20 secret garden tips and hacks for improving your garden, whether you’re a beginner or an avid gardener!
1. Make your own compost
One of the very first things any avid gardener should do is create their compost. It’s true that nutrient-rich compost is gold in a garden, providing essential nutrients to help your plants grow. Balance wet, green contents with dry, brown contents to avoid a soggy and smelly compost pile.
2. Add eggshells to the soil surface
Breaking eggshells into smaller pieces and sprinkling them over the soil surface is a great way to add nutrients to the soil. It also helps deter pests, such as slugs, from getting at your flowers. Next time you eat an egg, don’t throw the shells away. Alternatively, some people use eggshells to start growing seeds inside.
3. Best time to weed
Weeds are a never-ending problem. No matter how much you get rid of them, they always seem to spring back up somewhere else! Weed control is essential to stop them pinching water and nutrients from your other plants. The earlier you remove the weed, the better.
4. Protect fruits with straw
Delicate fruits, such as berries and strawberries, sadly bruise and damage easily. The soil, rain, or wind can ruin good fruity crops. Fortunately, you can add a layer of straw underneath the fruit to protect them from damage. A fine layer of barley straw will suffice.
5. Detract earwigs from Dahlias
Dahlias are a great summer flower to have in the garden. Not only are they easy to grow, but they come in a range of different colours too. The only problem is that Dahlias are a natural magnet for earwigs. Not so pleasant!
Sometimes, this can put people off planting them. However, there is a solution! You can still enjoy blooming Dahlia displays without those creepy crawlies eating away your flower leaves. These insects like to hide away in dark places.
Take some small unused pots, fill them with straw, and balance them upside down on a stick or cane. You’ll be surprised how many crawlies you’ll discover each day! Check our list of other summer plants to consider for a blooming summer display.
6. Bees love purple
In recent years, bee numbers have sadly been declining. As an essential pollinator, these busy little insects are essential to sustain a natural ecosystem. Without them, the circle of life for plants would be non-existent! It would also mean no more beautiful flowers or the fruit we eat.
Small changes in your garden can help bees by providing a rich pollen source. In particular, purple flowers rich in pollen are the most beneficial as bees can see the colour purple more clearly. Flowers you should consider adding to the garden include lavender, crocus, foxgloves, and phlox.
7. Soaking seeds before planting
Do you plant flowers from seeds? If you do, there is a handy little tip to help germinate seeds. However, done wrong and the seeds can drown. For a seed to germinate, it requires moisture. While seeds will germinate fine on their own, soaking them beforehand improves speed and success.
There are some tips to follow for successful germination. Firstly, never use boiling water. You should cover the seeds with warm water (preferably hot enough to still stick your finger in without burning yourself). Use a clean container or a saucer for this.
Secondly, is the time you should leave seeds germinating. This is a controversial area, with different gardeners having different opinions. However, you should aim to soak your seeds overnight for the best results. Never leave them for more than 24 hours.
Once you’ve soaked seeds, they need to be planted straight away into moist soil. Letting seeds dry out after germination could stop them from growing! Only use enough water to ensure the seeds are covered. Don’t drown them in a swimming pool!
Discover the times you should start planting seeds for summer flowering.
8. Stop those pests!
There is no end of pests that will come and raid your garden, ruining all your hard work and effort! When pests take hold, they can destroy your plants which can be very disheartening. So, how do you stop these critters from stealing your garden?
There is no end of home remedies and tricks to try and stop pests. Some work, others don’t. Whilst pesticide may seem an obvious choice, these can contain chemicals that may do more harm than good.
Instead, there are natural alternatives that can keep your garden healthy and pest free. Firstly, adding or encouraging beneficial insects to make a home in your garden. Ladybirds, ground beetles, bees, spiders (yes, spiders!), and dragonflies are all beneficial insects that will eat the pests but won’t harm your plants.
You could also consider other natural solutions, such as adding sage, lavender, basil, and coriander, which all help repel nasty pests from your garden.
9. Deadhead your plants
This one may seem obvious, but it's surprising how many people forget or don’t do it. Deadheading your plants involves removing dead areas or flower heads of the plant. Doing so helps encourage fresh growth so you can continue enjoying healthy blooms.
10. Save seeds and bulbs from flowers
Most flowers naturally produce seeds so that the plant can grow again. Once a flower is finished, remove the head and let it dry out. Then, shake the seeds into a bag and save them for next year.
You can also save the bulbs from bulb plants too. Keep these safe over winter and plant them again in the spring to enjoy another display of your plants. See our tips and tricks for planting bulbs.
11. Grow lettuce and tomatoes together
Lettuce and tomatoes are great additions to any salad and go exceptionally well together. As it turns out, they also grow very well together. Planting tomatoes with lettuce provides shade and a cooler temperature to grow better.
Check out our guide to starting a vegetable garden.
12. Save rainwater
Waterbutts are a great addition to any garden for collecting rainwater. You can reuse this water to water your plants. Not only does this cut down your water bills, but it also provides you with a water source in hot weather when your plants need it most.
You can also reuse water used for cooking vegetables or washing salad.
13. Look after your gardening tools
We all know the saying - “look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves”, well the same is true for your gardening tools. Look after your gardening tools and your garden will benefit. Store your tools away when not in use to prevent rust, clean regularly to stop diseases from spreading, and sharpen when cutting tools start going blunt.
14. Prune back your plants
Similar to deadheading your plants, pruning plants is a great gardening tip to follow. Cutting back stems and branches that are overgrowing results in stronger, more dense growth the following year. Perennials and shrubs benefit the most from a good prune.
15. Watering your plants
Water is essential to plant growth as it is to us humans. Yet a mistake many make without realising is how they water plants. Shallow watering on the surface only causes the root to grow at the surface level. Instead, watering deeply encourages deeper and strong root growth.
You should always check how moist the soil is before watering. Dipping your finger up the knuckle and seeing if the soil is moist or dry is a good way to check. Water either in the morning or evening when plants need it the most.
16. Don’t throw fallen leaves away
In the autumn, gardens can become bogged down by fallen leaves (especially if there are plenty of trees around). Most people rake them up and throw them away. In fact, leaves make a great addition to a compost pile. Consider cutting them up and adding them to soil or compost to enrich the soil.
17. Never dig wet soil
Some people may leave digging and gardening for when the soil is wet as it is easier to work with. This may be a mistake as it can damage the soil structure. Instead, wait until the soil is dry and crumbly for the best results.
18. Plant drainage
Plants need oxygen to survive. Waterlogged soil and overwatered plants cannot receive oxygen from air pockets because the roots are continually underwater. Always ensure that planting beds and containers have sufficient drainage to prevent drowning plants.
19. Add a water feature
Water features are a great addition to any garden, providing many benefits such as a positive effect on mental health and attracting beneficial wildlife. A big concern that puts people off is the increase in water bills. Most self-contained water features use a small amount of water when setting up, and that’s it.
Check out our range of water features.
20. Looking after the lawn
Our last tip for improving your garden is to look after your lawn. Your lawn is just like any other plant and needs careful attention. During dry spells, the lawn will need water to keep it green and healthy. You should also only cut the lawn when it’s dry, either weekly or fortnightly.
During the summer, you should raise the blades on your mower for a lower cut. Lawns can handle the dry weather much better when slightly longer. Lower the blades to cut the grass during the cooler Autumn and Spring months. The first cut should be in the Spring and the last in Autumn.
Download our checklist to preparing your garden ready for spring.
We hope this has given you some valuable gardening tips and hacks to use going forward. Using some of the tips and tricks above can help improve your garden and see it thrive better for blooming displays.