I grew up in a tradition of gardening. My grand parents on both sides were passionate gardeners. They passed on their love of gardening to my parents. My parents likewise inspired me to take a keen interest in gardening. Along my garden path there were also other people (colleagues, customers and friends), who contributed to my understanding of gardening today.

I would like to share the little gardening secrets that I have picked up through the years with you. These are not the type of tips that you read about in books. These are the things you pick up from your family, friends and colleagues. The things you find out the hard way from trail and error and the things you you learn from experience and problem solving. These are the things that make gardening a bit easier:

• Add a breadknife in your gardening tool kit. This one comes from my mother. It is great to use when you have to divide tough perennials like Agapanthus. It is also handy when you want to cut plastic planter bags
• Use Germination Mix instead of Potting Soil in your hanging baskets. Germination Mix usually have a very high percentage palm peat content. It prevents your hanging baskets from drying out too quickly and it is also weighs less.
• Mulch acid loving plants like Hydrangeas, Camellias, Azaleas, Gardenias and Brunsfelsia (Today-Yesterday-and-Tomorrow) with pine needles. This will not make the soil acidic. You would still have to feed with acidic plant food but it will help to maintain a acidic PH.
• If you are struggling to grow perennials under trees where you have a lot of root competition, It is a good idea to plant them in sunken plastic pots into the ground. If you use a good quality Potting Soil these plants don’t have to compete with the big trees for nutrients and water.
• A recipe for awesome Arum Lilies – Cut of all the leaves after winter. Take a big garden fork and dig over the bulbs breaking them up. Work some Kraal manure into the area and sprinkle it with washing powder. Level the area with a rake, keep them moist and you will soon be rewarded with a beautiful display.
• Chop up dried autumn leaves by spreading them on your lawn and mowing over them with your lawnmower. You can then either use them in your compost heap without using too much space or use it as a winter mulch over you garden beds.
• Sprinkle Cinnamon powder around newly planted seedlings. Cinnamon has some anti-fungal qualities and smells great as a bonus. Use it to prevent and stop diseases on seedlings.
• Soak big seeds like Beans, Peas and Sweet peas overnight in luke warm water. It will speed up the germination.
• If you have to sow very fine seeds in an open bed, mix the seeds in the packet with a cup of flour and sow the mixture. This will allow you a more even spread and you would be able to see where you have sown the seeds.
• Epsom Salts do wonders for Citrus trees. Dilute two table spoons of Epsom Salts in water and pour it around your trees once a month.

These are just some of the little hacks that I have picked up over the years. If you have some to share send it to me via e-mail sueb@gardenshop.co.za and we can share it with the rest of our gardening fraternity.