Fall bulb planting tips

Well its that time of year again, time to start thinking about planting your bulbs for spring.  I found this grate picture that shows planting the depth for the most popular flower bulbs.    

A nice tip is to plant a few of them upside down.  They will still come up (unlike my grandmother always told me) but it will take them a few days longer to come up then the ones planted right side up.  Doing this will give you a few extra days of bloom.  

Another nice trick is to plant several types of bulbs on top of each other in the same pot.  Some bulbs come up later then others, this will extend the flowering life of your pot.  The ones that come up at the same time will give you a really pretty display, when they flower together.

If you plant them now all winter you can look at your pot and look forward to the spring. Now its time to go bulb shopping :)

Epsom salt for greener plants.

Epsom salt or Magnesium sulfate is a cheep source of magnesium for your garden.  By mixing 1 Table spoon of Epsom salt into each hole before you add your plant, or if you have already planted it you can add a table spoon to the soil around the plant.  It will help it to grow larger, greener and leafier.   You can also dissolve 1  tablespoon into a gallon of water and use it to water your plants,  trees, fruit trees, roses, all types of flowering plants and veggies.

exact amounts are not all that important.

Eggs In the garden.

Plant en egg.

Place one raw egg in the bottom of the pot before you add your plant.  As the egg decomposes, it will serve as a natural fertilizer adding calcium to the soil.

Save those shells

Every time you use an egg, don't discard the egg shells, put them in a container in your fridge.  When the container  is full, crush up your shells into small bits and spread them all around the base of your plants. The sharp edges of the egg shells may stop some slugs, snails, and other bugs from nibbling on your plants and will add a touch of calcium to the soil.

Hanging basket watering system

I just found this picture of a cheep and easy watering system for hanging baskets.

My problem with hanging baskets is most of the flowers i want to put in them require full sun.  But a hanging basket in full sun needs to be watered every day.  I'm not very good at remembering to go out and water things every day after work so they normally die on me.    Nominally when i water my hanging baskets of most of the water spilling out on the ground.    This system seams to be a grate idea, the bottle should release the water slowly.  I think i will have to try this this summer.  

I have also read that you can get some powered jelly stuff that should absorb water and release it slowly, i haven't been able to find it in my area  yet.