Mint plants are perennial aromatic herbs from the Mentha genus, that are widely grown in temperate areas around the world, and have spread worldwide, due to their culinary, medicinal and aromatic value. These are amongst the easiest plants for beginner herb gardeners to grow, as mint plants can be grown outdoors in pots and inContinue reading “How to Stop Mint from Spreading in the Garden”
Category Archives: DIY instructions
The Best Ways to Harvest and Dry Fresh Herbs
Herbs are plants that are used for culinary and medicinal purposes, for making teas and also for their aromatic qualities. The leaves, flowers, seeds and roots of many herbs can be harvested for these purposes. For best flavour, aroma or potency, herbs are usually harvested and used fresh as required. They can also be driedContinue reading “The Best Ways to Harvest and Dry Fresh Herbs”
How to Stop Plant Pots Blowing Over in The Wind
If you grow plants and trees in pots, some will eventually grow large enough to become rather top-heavy. considering that most potting mixes are fairly light, they need to be for proper aeration and drainage, they may not provide sufficient weight to prevent tall or heavy container-grown plants and trees from blowing over in strongContinue reading “How to Stop Plant Pots Blowing Over in The Wind”
How to Grow, Prune and Propagate Goji Berry Plants
The goji berry plant (Lycium barbarum), also known as a wolfberry (gouqizi, 枸杞) in Chinese, is a scrambling deciduous shrub with long, sparsely spiny weeping branches. It’s a Lycium (boxthorn) species that is a member of the Solanaceae (nightshade or tomato) plant family, and is native to China. These plants crop on current year’s wood,Continue reading “How to Grow, Prune and Propagate Goji Berry Plants”
How To Make Safe and Effective Rat and Mouse Baits Using Baking Soda
Introduced, non-native, feral rodents, such as the Black Rat (Rattus rattus), Brown Rat, aka Ship Rat or Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus) and House Mouse (Mus musculus) are serious pests that need to be controlled. The danger with using commercial poison baits to control rats and mice is that pets or native wildlife (mammals and birds)Continue reading “How To Make Safe and Effective Rat and Mouse Baits Using Baking Soda”
How to Make a Bottle Trap to Control European Wasps
The European wasp (Vespula germanica) is a social wasp that lives in large nest colonies. It’s native to Europe, North Africa and Asia, and has now spread throughout the world. In the US, these wasps are known as German yellowjackets. Why Are European Wasps Considered Pests? European wasps are a pest because they are anContinue reading “How to Make a Bottle Trap to Control European Wasps”
How To Save Tomato Seeds For Planting Next Year
Tomatoes can be grown quite easily from seed, and you can use seeds collected from tomatoes you’ve grown yourself, or from ones you’ve purchase from the greengrocer! There are a few tricks to saving tomato seeds, as they are wet seeded crops, which have seeds embedded in the damp flesh of fruits. When tomato seedsContinue reading “How To Save Tomato Seeds For Planting Next Year”
How to Make a Queensland Fruit Fly Trap and Bait
One of the most damaging pests of fruit and vegetables in Australia is the Queensland fruit fly or Qfly (Bactrocera tryoni). To control this pest, you can make your own home made traps using empty clear plastic bottles, and also make the homemade bait lure liquid to put into them, as described in this article.Continue reading “How to Make a Queensland Fruit Fly Trap and Bait”
How to Make Horticultural Oil Spray for Organic Pest Control
Horticultural oil, also known as white oil, is an easy and inexpensive pesticide to prepare at home from readily-available materials. It is used to control scale, aphids, mealy bug, citrus leaf miner, mites and caterpillars on roses, ornamentals, citrus and other fruit trees. The commercial white oil or horticultural oil insecticides sold in garden centresContinue reading “How to Make Horticultural Oil Spray for Organic Pest Control”
The Best Way to Use Pest Animal Scent Repellents So They Don’t Wash Away
Odor repellent (scent repellent) products are an effective way of deterring unwanted pest animals from visiting the garden and causing damage. They either contain ingredients which pest animals find offensive and objectionable, or those that evoke an instinctive reaction of fear in pest animals, because they smell like predators, or the remnants of their work.Continue reading “The Best Way to Use Pest Animal Scent Repellents So They Don’t Wash Away”
How to Make a Simple Earwig Trap That Doesn’t Need Bait
European earwigs are usually considered to be garden pests, but they rarely damage leafy green vegetables. When they do, they leave many rough irregular holes with a shredded, jagged appearance in the leaves, much like snail and slug damage. They also chew leaves around the edges, similar to the damage caused by caterpillars. Before treatingContinue reading “How to Make a Simple Earwig Trap That Doesn’t Need Bait”
How to Make an Outdoor Ant Trap to Protect Fruit Trees from Aphid and Scale Pests
Spring is the time when the weather warms up, and nature springs to life. Fruit trees flower and put out their new leaves ready for the growing season. Sugar rich sap rises from the roots of fruit trees to fuel the new season’s growth. Gardeners look forward to the beginnings of spring, but so doContinue reading “How to Make an Outdoor Ant Trap to Protect Fruit Trees from Aphid and Scale Pests”
How To Prune and Train Blackberries and Their Hybrids
Blackberries and blackberry hybrids, such as thornless blackberries, loganberries, boysenberries, youngberries, taybberries, silvanberries, marionberries and lawtonberries all belong to the genus Rubus, along with raspberries. Unlike raspberries which have vertical growing canes, blackberries and their hybrids have long trailing horizontal canes, which are usually supported on trellises, or horizontal wires attached between fence posts. HowContinue reading “How To Prune and Train Blackberries and Their Hybrids”
How to Make an Earwig Bait Trap Using Oil, Water and Soy Sauce
The European earwig (Forficula auricularia) is one of our most common earwigs found worldwide in gardens. These insects are scavengers, and they are omnivores – they are voracious feeders on soft-bodied insects such as aphids and insect eggs, they also prey on mites, spiders, and various insects, so they do serve a role as beneficialContinue reading “How to Make an Earwig Bait Trap Using Oil, Water and Soy Sauce”
How to Plant Two or More Trees in the Same Hole for High Density Tree Planting
High density tree planting, where two or more trees can be planted in the same hole to form a single canopy with multiple trunks, is drawn from the system of Backyard Orchard Culture, developed by the Dave Wilson Nursery of Central California. In this system, fruit trees are kept small in size by planting themContinue reading “How to Plant Two or More Trees in the Same Hole for High Density Tree Planting”
A Better Way to Stake Up and Support Vegetables in Pots
Many gardeners grow vegies in pots, tubs, planters, and self-watering pots. Container gardening is an excellent solution when space is limited or more growing area is required. When growing climbing vegetables such as beans and peas, indeterminate (vining) tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, and zucchini in pots, staking them up to support them in containers can beContinue reading “A Better Way to Stake Up and Support Vegetables in Pots”
How to Neutralise Glyphosate (Roundup) Herbicide Contamination in Soil
Glyphosate (chemical compound N-phosphonomethyl glycine), also known by the trade name of Roundup, is a non-selective, post-emergence, broad-spectrum systemic organophosphate herbicide used for control of annual and perennial plants. This weedkiller is the largest selling herbicide chemical in the market today, and the most used herbicide in human history. From 1994 to 2014, 825.8 millionContinue reading “How to Neutralise Glyphosate (Roundup) Herbicide Contamination in Soil”
How to Prune a Mulberry Tree for Multiple Crops in a Single Season
Mulberry trees are deciduous trees which are traditionally winter pruned when they’re dormant and have no leaves, with the pruning carried out in late winter. When spring arrives, the buds on the bare branches open to produce new leaves, as well as new branches which carry the mulberry fruit. Yes, I did say fruit. Botanically,Continue reading “How to Prune a Mulberry Tree for Multiple Crops in a Single Season”
How to Sterilize and Disinfect Pruning Tools
Plant diseases, caused by pathogens such as bacteria, viruses and fungi, can easily be spread from one plant or tree to another if pruning tools are not disinfected before use. Sap from trees and plants usually sticks to the blades of secateurs, loppers, saws and other pruning tools. Any infected sap can transfer diseases toContinue reading “How to Sterilize and Disinfect Pruning Tools”
How to Repair Broken Terracotta Pots and Garden Features
Terracotta is a hard, fired clay that’s reddish-orange in colour, and is commonly used for making pots and garden features. This material has been used by human civilisations for centuries, dating back to the times of ancient China, Greece and Egypt, a testament to its usefulness. Unlike plastic pots which degrade over time with exposureContinue reading “How to Repair Broken Terracotta Pots and Garden Features”