Expert Advice on Home Improvement

To secure a plastic bag to the rim of a garbage can when bagging leaves, cut the center out of the garbage can lid then snap it on the can over the bag. Remove the lid when the bag is full to dispose of the leaves. Watch this video.

It’s important to test the soil in your lawn and garden and correct it if it’s too acidic by adding lime. This will provide the optimum growing conditions for grass and other plants. Soiling testing kits are available at home centers, garden supply stores, as well as through your local extension service. Watch this video.

Dispensing tiny seeds for planting can be a tedious task. Watch this video to see out how to pick up and plant small seeds individually. Watch this video.

You don’t have to buy expensive herbicides to kill weeds in the cracks of a driveway or sidewalk. Simply pouring boiling water on the weeds will do the trick without toxic side effects. Watch this video.

When landscaping your yard, start by drawing a simple, color coded, aerial plan to scale with the important dimensions and permanent features of the yard included on it. Then use layers of tracing paper to experiment with the placement of new elements you would like to add. Watch this video.

Drip irrigation is one of the most efficient methods of watering, since it is delivered gradually and targets plants directly. This conserves water by minimizing waste through evaporation and overspray. Watch this video.

The Ames True Temper 7 in 1 Planter’s Buddy is a multipurpose tool with a stainless steel blade that’s designed to make fast work of your gardening jobs. The trowel has a serrated edge on one side, which is great for cutting open bags of fertilizer, and a sharpened straight edge on the other side for cutting sod. It also incorporates a twine cutter and notched trowel for prying up weeds. Watch this video.

Adding compost to your soil is one of the best ways to improve your garden. Make a compost pile from a mixture of organic matter—such as leaves, grass clippings, vegetable scraps, eggshells, and coffee grounds. Turn the pile once a week with a pitchfork to introduce oxygen, and keep it covered with plastic to hold in moisture and heat. Adding red worms to the pile will speed up the process, since they digest and process their body weight in organic matter every day. Watch this video.

After having drawn a detailed plan of the layout, Tommy Martiniere of Martiniere Landscaping turned a neglected corner of this yard into a secluded retreat by adding a stone walkway that leads to a patio. Plants added include Japanese yew, African iris, yellow anise, oakleaf hydrangea, camellias, and ferns. Watch this video.

House plants in containers depend on us for food and water, so it’s important to recognize the warning signs indicating that they have received either too much or too little water. Watch this video.

Grapefruit rinds can serve as nutrient rich, biodegradable pots. After eating, clean out the interior of the rind, cut slits in the bottom for drainage, fill with soil, and add seeds or seedlings. When the rind start to decompose, dig a hole, and plant it in the ground. Watch this video.

There are several options when choosing a pool for your backyard including concrete, vinyl, or fiberglass. Each has advantages and disadvantages in terms of cost, ease of installation, and durability. Watch this video.

Using heavy equipment to dig the hole for a backyard pool can be a challenge in tight quarters. Once the hole has been dug, steel reinforcement is laid and specially modified concrete is sprayed and shaped to form the sides and bottom of the pool. Watch this video.

Installing a pool in your backyard can take quite a lot of planning and preparation, from removing trees and shrubs to dealing with building codes and access for heavy equipment. Watch this video.

To grow new African violets, use a sterile knife and cut off a healthy leaf as near the base as possible. Dip the stem in rooting hormone then push it through a piece of paper and place the stem in water until it develops roots. Watch this video.

If you spend a lot of time gardening, you know how handy a potting bench can be. Not only does it give you a convenient place to work with your plants, it also keeps the inevitable mess that goes with it confined to one spot. Watch this video.

There are several reasons when you need to know exactly where your property lines are located, such as putting up a fence, or creating new landscaping. You’ll want to find out what the local building codes are in relation to any construction, and you must locate your property line. Watch this video.

Creating great soil is like making good lasagna according to Florida landscaper Rachel DeToro. It’s all about layers. Not pasta and cheese. Organic material on top of organic material. Watch this video.

Starting your own plants from seed is a great idea and here’s a trick for simplifying the process of transplanting them to the garden. Save your old eggshells and situate the empty half shells in an egg carton. Watch this video.

We’re all interested in making our money go farther, and the money we spend on landscaping is no exception. The first and most obvious idea is to not waste your money. Lots of homeowners spend huge amounts on plants that end up in the wrong locations. Watch this video.

A bare spot in the lawn can be unsightly and annoying. You can pamper the area and wait for the surrounding grass to fill in, but this takes time and patience. Watch this video.

We all know our lawns need water. But “how much”, “how often” and “when” are the questions. Turf expert Dr. Trey Rogers explains that early morning is the best time to water (between 4am and 9am) because the rising sun will dry off grass leaves. Watch this video.

Many fuzzy leafed plants, such as African violets, don’t like water on their foliage because it leaves spots and can cause fungus. Deliver water past the leaves and directly to the roots with a simple funnel made from the handle of a plastic milk jug. Watch this video.

The potassium in wood ashes encourages strong stems in plants while the phosphorus in the ashes encourages root growth. Soils low in potassium often benefits from wood ash but be careful with acid-loving plants such as blueberries, rhododendrons and azaleas. To use wood ash safely, add a small amount to your compost pile. Watch this video.

Organic Landscaper Rachel DeToro offers these tips for natural pest management. Nesting boxes and food sources will keep birds nearby and they in turn will keep insects under control. Watch this video.

Tomatoes are one the most popular fruits grown by homeowners, but many of us aren’t really sure what the best method is to insure we have healthy plants and good fruit. First, protect the plants from cutworms. Watch this video.

A lazy susan comes in handy when potting or trimming a plant. Partially fill the pot with soil and set it on the lazy susan. Position your plants and slowly spin the lazy susan as you finish topping off the soil. When trimming plants, you can easily cut with one hand while carefully turning with the other. This technique would also work when decorating or painting pots. Watch this video.

Keeping your lawn and garden watered is a chore that can be greatly benefited by sprinklers. Unfortunately, the options have been dragging around a portable sprinkler and guessing at the right location, or spending large amounts of money on an in-ground irrigation system. The Naan Undercover Sprinkler may be the compromise you’re looking for. Watch this video.

Even the most novice gardeners know the benefits of using compost in their gardens, but nobody wants to look at a compost pile. One solution is a pre-fab compost bin made of plastic. Watch this video.

These days we hear a lot about mosquitoes and there are some great organic methods to control these pests. An aquarium filled with water and Gamboozia (a type of fish) will help eliminate mosquitoes. Watch this video.

Strange as it may seem, shaking your fruit trees will help them produce more fruit. This is because it loosens the vessels that carry sap to the leaves and buds. Some people even opt to “whip” their fruit trees with a rolled up newspaper. Watch this video.

Raised vegetable beds are an excellent way to manage your produce patch, especially if your home is on a hilly lot. Here are a few tips if you’re considering building one. Watch this video.

Removing buds (or debudding) is sort of like thinning a fruit tree. You hate to do it because every bud you take off will eventually bloom. However, for the biggest flowers, or in the case of fruit trees the biggest fruits, you should debud or thin out. Watch this video.

For many of you, fire ants are a familiar foe, and for many more they soon will be. These little reddish/brown insects came into the U.S. along the Gulf Coast from South America earlier this century and are rapidly spreading North and Westward. Watch this video.

Gardens require maintenance, there’s no getting around that fact. Most of us, however, don’t have very much time to dedicate to those chores, so we’re looking for ways to at least reduce the amount of maintenance our gardens require. One solution is to begin with good soil. Watch this video.

Choosing the right fertilizer for your lawn can be a confusing proposition. The Turf Expert Dr. Trey Rogers tells us it doesn’t actually have to be that way. According to Trey, your local garden center usually selects only what you need in your area for that given time of year. Watch this video.

For a quick and easy way to paint clay pots give them a spin! Before you begin, you’ll need to cut a wooden disk with a hole saw. Place a carriage bolt in a drill (one with a speed adjustment knob works best) and attach the wooden disk on top of the bolt. Watch this video.

Spray individual weeds without catching your favorite plants in the crossfire. Cut the bottom off of a plastic 2-liter soda bottle. Set the bottle over the trouble-making weed, stick the sprayer nozzle in the mouth of the soda bottle, and spray away. Let the chemicals soak in for a few seconds before lifting the bottle. For larger problem areas consider using a cardboard box. Watch this video.

Dr. Trey Rogers, Briggs and Stratton Yard Doctor, gives us some great tips for applying fertilizer. If possible, use a broadcast spreader instead of a drop spreader. This minimizes the chances of leaving lines in the lawns. Watch this video.

A good way to increase humidity around potted seedlings is to set a couple of seedling pots in a larger container of pebbles. The pebbles should be about fingernail size, and there should be just a small amount of water in the pebble container- enough to create humid conditions but not enough to touch the bottom of the pots. Watch this video.

Here’s a handy tip to help you clean out the gutters without having to climb onto your roof or a ladder. Create a long spray-wand from PVC pipe (1/2″ works well) with a “U” shape at one end. Watch this video.

All of our landscapes need rain, and yet often it creates as many problems as it solves. The runoff from our roofs often destroys our flowerbeds. Instead of simply letting downspouts dump water into the garden, consider installing drainage grates underground to receive the runoff and carry it away to safer areas. The grates can be removed for cleaning from time to time. Watch this video.

Helping your plants make the transition from the pots or containers you buy them in to the garden is an important step to developing a healthy landscape. Begin by digging a hole large enough to accommodate the plant, its root ball and some additional material. Watch this video.

Making seed tapes can save future planting and thinning time. Cut newspaper into 1-inch wide strips and then glue your seeds to the paper. We used a paste of water and flour, about the consistency of thick gravy. Add a pinch of water-soluble fertilizer to each half cup of paste. Mark the appropriate seed spacing on the paper strip. Watch this video.

Moss covered planting pots can give your garden an old world charm. But if you live in a dry climate you may be out of luck. Here’s a trick to help out Mother Nature. Watch this video.

Where houses are close together, privacy fences become a “must have” on every homeowner’s wish list. Before you build, however, pause for a moment and consider whether a planted screen would do the trick for you. Screening plants generally have a softer appearance than a fence or wall. Watch this video.

As a gardener, mulch can be one of your greatest allies. This often-neglected stuff maintains soil moisture and temperature while blocking the growth of weeds around plants you do not want. Watch this video.

Everyone knows that their gardens need water, but how much and how often can be a mystery. The key thing to be aware of is that fewer waterings for longer periods of time are better than many brief waterings. Watch this video.

If you waste time and energy running back and forth from the garden to the shed for tools and garden supplies, use an old golf bag and cart to “caddy” both long- and short-handled garden tools. Watch this video.

Weeds popping up through paving stones or cracks in sidewalks can be a huge annoyance. Here’s a solution to stop them without back breaking work or toxic pesticides. Fill a spray bottle with household vinegar and spray it liberally on the offending weeds. Watch this video.

Provide a casual but sophisticated look to your groundcover by planting bunches of daffodils or tulips amidst low-growing green foliage, such as pachysandra or ivy. Another option is to outline an existing bed of ground cover or other plantings. Watch this video.

Spring means spending time outdoors and for many of us that means our own little backyard paradise. However a suitable surface for the barbecue grill, table, and chairs is a must. Here are some tips for creating your own custom paver patio. Watch this video.

If you’re looking for low maintenance plants for your garden you don’t need to look any further than your own backyard. Organic Landscaper Rachel DeToro tells us that native plants are a great addition to the landscape because they are readily available and they require little special care since they occur naturally in the wild. Watch this video.

Roses that you purchase at a nursery are grafted onto rootstock. They’re sold that way so that they’ll grow faster and bloom more quickly. To avoid suckers that form from rootstock take your own cutting from year old stems of your favorite roses in autumn. Watch this video.

Removing limbs from trees and shrubs is a necessary part of gardening, but you must do the job correctly. To avoid splintering the cut, make a relief cut a foot or so outside the branch collar. Watch this video.

One of the easiest mistakes homeowners can make in their lawn or garden is not anticipating the eventual size of a plant. Most of the plants you buy at the nursery will be labeled to tell you what their mature size will be. Watch this video.

If you look hard enough you can find solutions to many of your lawn and garden problems “naturally.” The pungent aroma of many herbs acts as a natural insect repellent. Planting herbs like parsley or basil among your vegetables will offer them some protection from bugs and simplify harvesting a salad. Watch this video.

To keep seedlings healthy and growing feed them gelatin. Any flavor is okay as long as it’s sweetened with sugar - not artificial sweeteners. The gelatin contains the nutrient nitrogen, which helps plants form green leaves. The sugar actually feeds beneficial microbes already in the soil that help young plants defend against disease causing organisms. Watch this video.