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In this edition of the Garden Notebook, we share your advice on recycling ordinary household items for use in the garden, ways to get rid of unwanted garden pests, and ideas for easy mulching. These tips are some of our favorites sent in by subscribers and customers.
We'd like to thank everyone who has taken the time to share their gardening knowledge and useful tips with fellow gardeners. If you wish to submit your favorite gardening tips, see the bottom of this email for more information. We'd love to hear from you!
Don't forget to visit ParksGardens.com today and take advantage of our money-saving weekly bonuses. This week: order $50 or more and get a Doubledecker Coneflower ABSOLUTELY FREE! Hurry, this offer expires 3/14/05!
  Save the cardboard centers from toilet paper rolls, plug one end with a bit of crumpled newspaper, and then fill this container with potting soil. Plant seeds in these. Use an indelible marker to label with the date, seed type, etc.
When the plants are ready for transplanting, just plant in your garden without removing the cardboard roll or newspaper. The cardboard and newspaper will decompose as the plants grow. And since the roots haven't been disturbed by being removed from the starter pot, transplant shock is minimized. (You can also give yourself a pat on the back for recycling and saving money).
— Stephanie Muff of Mocksville, NC
Once a year, my garden club in my small town has a sale. The proceeds benefit the town as the money is used to beautify the town. It is a large event, and people wait in line for the doors to open. I use the bottoms of 2 liter pop bottles to transplant seeds and small starts. The bottles make great containers, are inexpensive, and the tops can be used for something else.
 — Barbara Groff of Chouteau, OK
I slip the large plastic lids from 39 oz. coffee cans (you can use the smaller ones, but the bigger they are the better) under melons with the smooth side up. This keeps the melons from coming in contact with the wet soil on rainy days.
— L. D. Lundquist of Topeka, KS
I have found a great way to save on the garden spikes or pegs that are used to keep weed block secured to the ground. Instead of spending $3.00 for every 8-10 pegs that we need, we use the ends of wire hangers. I give my husband about 20 wire hangers, and he uses wire cutters to cut the ends of the hangers off, about 5 inches on each side, leaving a great two pronged spike to secure any type of weed block to the ground. They last for years, cost nothing, and are another great way to recycle something that everyone has 'hanging' around their house!
— Karen Carroll of Wakefield, RI
 I take 2-liter soda bottles and get a safety pin which I hold in a pair of pliers as a heat sink. I heat the pin over the gas flame and burn a hole in the cap and the bottom. Then I fill the bottles with water (and plant food if needed) and put them upside down into the soil. The water seeps out slowly or quickly depending on how many holes I punch. A drill could be used also. This works great with Park's grow bags -- my strawberries are going nuts!
— Park Gardener, Mary-Jane Eagar
 I have used the spicy seasonings, blood meal, and sharp objects sticking up around the affected plants to deter rabbits, but when bunnies ate my first blooming Lupine last year--aarrgghh! I asked my dog's groomer to save his hair after an appointment, and she gave me a 40 gal. trash bag of hair from the whole day! It has served me well. I put clumps of dog hair around plants that have been ravaged by the bunnies in the past and have had no major problems since.
My Lupines bloomed like crazy this year, as have others that have been eaten before. Sometimes, if it's a windy day, I anchor the hair with wooden kabob skewers (broken in half) as an extra deterrent. With gardens at two homes, I need all the help I can get! The huge supply of dog hair was just what I needed. — Kathie Menker of Dayton, OH
This past spring, we were plagued with slugs and snails from a long, wet winter. They were everywhere! They came in all sizes and devoured tender plants in a snap. We live in the country and had sighted several snakes early on. I had always heard that moth balls would discourage snakes from around and under your house, so I bought a box and scattered them all around. I soon noticed the decline of snails, and our plants' leaves no longer looked like green lace. The moth balls didn't seem to disturb the flowers or birds in our yard. The rain didn't even destroy them.
— Sandra Hollis of Huntsville, TX
 I have no clue why this works, but it works great! Here in Colorado, our yards are overflowing with ants. Cucumber peelings will make the ants disappear! I had serious doubts about this, but decided it was worth a try, so I placed the peelings on my front steps. The next day, the ants were gone, and the peels had dried up! Just yesterday I tried them on the large red ants, and today they are gone.
— Mary Grasmick of Pueblo, CO
I had a weed problem in my veggie garden that was out of hand. It was so bad, I couldn't find my veggies! I was at a nursery to get some shrubs and noticed a black fabric lining the area where the potted shrubs were stored. This gave me an idea.
I picked up one of my horticultural supply catalogs and ordered some fabric. I installed it in the garden after I limed, tilled, and graded. I just cut slits and folded the fabric under for row crops and cut an X and folded the edges under for the Tomatoes and Squash plants. The result: No weeds! The fabric is air and water permeable and comes in white or black (I tried black.).
— Andrew Simko of Dix Hills, NY
I have found a way to recycle my "personal papers" -- all those things we are warned not to throw away because of the danger of identity theft. I, like many others, purchased a shredder. I now have shredded paper to use as mulch around my plants. It does not blow away like sheets of newspaper and is not unsightly. The shredded paper holds in moisture, and the redworms love it and make lovely castings of my secret papers. If you don't have a personal shredder, or not enough shreds, check with you Dr.'s office, etc. They will love to have someone carry off their trash.
— Marti Zoerb of Whitwell, TN
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