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Garden Tips–Tools and Weeds

Recently, I provided tips for the beginner gardener in hopes it would motivate self-described “brown-thumbers” to give planting a try. If you think that you don’t have time to cultivate a garden, think again. You could enlist help from your spouse or children and make it a family affair. Or, you can participate in some rigorous weeding and consider it part of your daily exercise routine—spend less time on the cardio machines in the gym and more time in the garden. Convinced yet? If so, I have a few more gardening tips to share with you. Hopefully, they will come in handy once you decide to enjoy the benefits of growing your own garden. (Perhaps, even you avid gardeners can benefit from them as well.)

Gardening Tools

If you have ever left your gardening tools in the rain or stored them in a moist spot over the winter, you likely have had to deal with rust. Some of my hand tools have been so rusted that I was convinced that I would have to replace them. But, my mom (my family’s resident garden expert) suggested that I spray them WD-40 and wipe with steel wool. It worked like a charm. My tools were shiny in no time. Some gardeners say they can achieve the same results by rubbing fresh lemons halves on their tools, but I haven’t found success with this method. Perhaps, my rust stains were a bit too advanced for the lemons to work effectively. If you are facing a mild rust problem try the lemon method first. Don’t get me wrong, lemons do get rid of rust and I have used them on rust stains left on the concrete from metal outdoor furniture. In that case the lemons worked like magic.

Weeds

Nothing can ruin a lawn like weeds. Sometimes, pulling weeds out by the roots or trying to stifle their growth with mulch is enough to kill them. Other times, you may be forced to use stronger weed killers. If this is the case, consider the following the tips:

1. Don’t spread a weed killer on a newly seeded lawn; often it does more harm than good.

2. If you are planning to spray a weed killer with a garden-hose attachment you’ll want to wait for a calm day to do so. Moderate or high winds may cause the weed killer to spread to adjoining flower patches and harm them.

3. If you mow your yard every weekend, spray weed killer in the middle of the week so that the product can sink into the weeds and do its work undisturbed.

A final tip: Any gardener knows that weeding is dirty work. To make your work a bit cleaner spritz cooking spray on your hoe, shovel and other gardening tools before you go to work. The spray prevents soil from sticking to them and makes your gardening and cleanup much easier.

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About Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. She spent the next ten years as a television anchor and reporter at various stations throughout the country (from the CBS affiliate in Honolulu to the NBC affiliate in Green Bay). She has won numerous honors including an Emmy Award and multiple Edward R. Murrow awards honoring outstanding achievements in broadcast journalism. In addition, she has received awards from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for her reports on air travel and the Wisconsin Education Association Council for her stories on education. Michele has since left television to concentrate on being a mom and freelance writer.